How to avoid CRS opening a foreign bank account inside or outside Europe?

You can avoid issues with CRS in four ways:

1. Go live in a place whose taxes are aligned with your wishes. CRS isn't a problem if you're not reliant on secrecy.
2. Open bank accounts in fake name. This is a crime. In fact, it's probably multiple crimes.
3. Open bank accounts in places that don't have CRS. Rinse and repeat the process over and over, as CRS eventually comes for us all.
4. Don't use fiat.

No Income/Cap Gains countries

• Monaco ”“ No personal income tax or capital gains tax.
• United Arab Emirates (UAE) ”“ No federal personal income tax or capital gains tax (Note: VAT applies and corporate taxes are being introduced for certain industries).
• Bahamas ”“ No income or capital gains taxes.
• Bermuda ”“ No income or corporate taxes.
• Cayman Islands ”“ No income, capital gains, or corporate taxes.
• Vanuatu ”“ No personal income or capital gains taxes.
• Saint Kitts and Nevis ”“ No personal income tax or capital gains tax.
• British Virgin Islands (BVI) ”“ No income or capital gains taxes.
• Brunei ”“ No personal income tax or capital gains tax.
• Kuwait ”“ No personal income tax, but some corporate taxes.

Territorial Tax Countries (Income/Cap Gains)

• Hong Kong ”“ Only income earned within Hong Kong is taxed. Foreign income is not taxed, whether repatriated or not.
• Singapore ”“ Similar to Hong Kong, only income earned in Singapore is taxed. Foreign-sourced income is generally not taxed unless remitted.
• Malaysia ”“ Income earned within Malaysia is taxed, but foreign-sourced income is not.
• Panama ”“ Foreign-sourced income is exempt from tax, and only domestic income is taxed.
• Costa Rica ”“ Only income generated within Costa Rica is subject to tax.
• Gibraltar ”“ Income earned outside of Gibraltar is not taxed.
• Guatemala ”“ Only income earned within Guatemala is taxed.
• Paraguay ”“ Income earned domestically is taxed, while foreign income remains untaxed.
• Uruguay ”“ Only domestic income is taxed, with some exceptions.
• Philippines (for certain expats) ”“ The Philippines offers a territorial tax system for specific residents, especially those on certain work visas.

Incompetent Tax Collection Countries

• Venezuela:

  • Issue: Unstable tax policies, hyperinflation, and mismanagement of public finances. The business environment is crippled by economic instability.
  • Impact: High inflation reduces the real value of any taxation collected, while frequent policy shifts create uncertainty.

• Argentina:

  • Issue: High inflation and erratic tax policies. Frequent tax changes and emergency tax measures, along with economic instability, make long-term planning difficult.
  • Impact: High tax burden combined with inflationary pressures severely impact businesses and consumers.

• Brazil:

  • Issue: One of the most complex tax systems in the world, with multiple overlapping taxes at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
  • Impact: Businesses often spend significant resources on compliance, slowing economic growth.

• India:

  • Issue: While India has improved its tax regime (e.g., with the introduction of GST), it is still criticized for complexity, inefficiency, and a burdensome bureaucracy. Inconsistent tax enforcement and corruption are also noted issues.
  • Impact: High compliance costs for businesses, especially smaller ones, and issues with tax refunds and delays.

• Nigeria:

  • Issue: Complex and opaque tax systems, combined with high levels of corruption and inefficiency in tax collection. Many citizens and businesses operate in the informal sector to avoid taxes altogether.
  • Impact: The government struggles to raise adequate revenue, which affects public services and infrastructure.

• Pakistan:

  • Issue: Tax evasion is widespread, with only a small percentage of the population paying income taxes. The tax system is seen as overly complex and corrupt, discouraging compliance.
  • Impact: Weak revenue generation leads to reliance on external debt, affecting economic stability.

• Zimbabwe:

  • Issue: High inflation, currency instability, and erratic government policies. Overreliance on high taxes to address fiscal crises, combined with poor management, leads to a weakened economy.
  • Impact: Businesses and individuals often turn to the informal economy to avoid punitive taxes.

Relocation, relocation, relocation.

If you move abroad physically or on paper [typical Dubai relocation] you will eliminate or reduce CRS risk vastly.

cuno said:

Since we now have this thread Armenia starts exchanging tax information under OECD by 2025? filled with posts where people complain about Armenia implementing CRS in 2025, and some think it's a benefit or that it can be avoided, I believe this thread is relevant.

@jafo , you mentioned starting a new thread to discuss solutions for avoiding CRS. What is your suggestion? And could we avoid humorous comments or anecdotes and stick to a factual discussion?

Never EVER open an ANY account in a "Fake Name."
familystoryproject.org/when-the-man-takes-hi…s-last-name/
Extrapolate from this and then from this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMen/comments/8eayzj/comment/dxu0him

;)

PS. For God's sake, spend some money going to a great psychologist and psychiatrist! Not because you have a mental problem, but because you MUST have documentation in case of trouble in the future! Think of it as bull-proofing your vehicle...just in case. €300K sitting in a bank account after a few hoodlums fire on your car with AK-47s is going to do you NO good. Does this make sense to any of you guys? Or do you all need to get indicted and go through the process to understand this?🙄

Note! Someone on OCT has ALREADY explained this and in DETAIL! My AFF has done it 5 times now! ;)

Invert!

Last edited: Sep 29, 2024

wellington said:

No Income/Cap Gains countries

• Monaco ”“ No personal income tax or capital gains tax.
• United Arab Emirates (UAE) ”“ No federal personal income tax or capital gains tax (Note: VAT applies and corporate taxes are being introduced for certain industries).
• Bahamas ”“ No income or capital gains taxes.
• Bermuda ”“ No income or corporate taxes.
• Cayman Islands ”“ No income, capital gains, or corporate taxes.
• Vanuatu ”“ No personal income or capital gains taxes.
• Saint Kitts and Nevis ”“ No personal income tax or capital gains tax.
• British Virgin Islands (BVI) ”“ No income or capital gains taxes.
• Brunei ”“ No personal income tax or capital gains tax.
• Kuwait ”“ No personal income tax, but some corporate taxes.

Territorial Tax Countries (Income/Cap Gains)

• Hong Kong ”“ Only income earned within Hong Kong is taxed. Foreign income is not taxed, whether repatriated or not.
• Singapore ”“ Similar to Hong Kong, only income earned in Singapore is taxed. Foreign-sourced income is generally not taxed unless remitted.
• Malaysia ”“ Income earned within Malaysia is taxed, but foreign-sourced income is not.
• Panama ”“ Foreign-sourced income is exempt from tax, and only domestic income is taxed.
• Costa Rica ”“ Only income generated within Costa Rica is subject to tax.
• Gibraltar ”“ Income earned outside of Gibraltar is not taxed.
• Guatemala ”“ Only income earned within Guatemala is taxed.
• Paraguay ”“ Income earned domestically is taxed, while foreign income remains untaxed.
• Uruguay ”“ Only domestic income is taxed, with some exceptions.
• Philippines (for certain expats) ”“ The Philippines offers a territorial tax system for specific residents, especially those on certain work visas.

For HK & Singapore is that on both the corporate level and the personal level?

jafo said:

Note! Someone on OCT has ALREADY explained this and in DETAIL! My AFF has done it 5 times now! ;)

who is someone and what did he explain ?

Martin Everson said:

If you move abroad physically or on paper [typical Dubai relocation] you will eliminate or reduce CRS risk vastly.

Dubai the only place to relocate ?

wonderfulboy said:

who is someone and what did he explain ?

This guy, for example, Dual Citizenship: What's the Real Advantage of Holding Two Passports?

but there are more.

PS. I ONLY searched it for you because your name ends with "boy"! In my teens, the old guard (businessmen age >50 used to call me "boy" or "kid", so those monikers have a special place in my heart! ;)

If British there's a rather easy way to become almost a ghost - naturally means cutting all financial or other ties

I know this for a fact because it inadvertently happened to me by circumstances that were outside of my control (child) at the time but even today any Brit could do it

Naturally not spilling the beans but CRS filings probably go into a black box of who the f**k is this person

wonderfulboy said:

Dubai the only place to relocate ?

No, but for many its the quickest and easiest to travel to and provides all the creature comforts and security a lot of people seek....until Iran decides to lob a drone at Burj Khalifa and make it the worlds tallest torch.

There are other places naturally as @wellington has listed.

I

Martin Everson said:

No, but for many its the quickest and easiest to travel to and provides all the creature comforts and security a lot of people seek....until Iran decides to lob a drone at Burj Khalifa and make it the worlds tallest torch.

There are other places naturally as @wellington has listed.

Its soulless but does the job

Plus previously a good chunk of the people you meet would likely get a slug to the head if back in the West - that was one drawback when I was there

Everyone from arms dealers to drug dealers to fraudsters

It's had a lot of new people come in though over the past few years just trying to escape taxes

Martin Everson said:

No, but for many its the quickest and easiest to travel to and provides all the creature comforts and security a lot of people seek....until Iran decides to lob a drone at Burj Khalifa and make it the worlds tallest torch.

There are other places naturally as @wellington has listed.

okay thank you, sounds appealing to me.

Martin Everson said:

until Iran decides to lob a drone at Burj Khalifa and make it the worlds tallest torch.

I wonder what in real would happen if that would be real :D

EliasIT said:

I wonder what in real would happen if that would be real :D

Very real!!!! Iran has stated it clearly that if it is attacked by Israel then countries in middle east will be hit. If UAE etc allows Israel to use their airspace in an attack on Iran then damage will be done to those countries by Iran 😕. Dubai risks losing everything in such a situation. Sleep well in Dubai folk and make sure you don't live in Damac Hills 2 area located next to that military airbase also ;) .

Iran threatens regional neighbors not to assist Israel, or come under attack, report

ynetnews.com/article/sj2v0d8kjg

--- quote start

Iran threatened Arab nations that if they assist Israel in its retaliatory attack on Iranian targets, they would be punished, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Arab officials told the Journal that Tehran used discreet diplomatic channels to warn Gulf states and other regional American allies that it would strike them if they help Israel.

---- quote end

Iran warns its neighbors not to help Israel attack

msn.com/en-us/news/world/gran-warns-its-neig…/ar-AA1s6mWK

----- quote start

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates ”” Bracing itself for a retaliatory strike for last week's ballistic missile attack, Iran has been urging its Arab neighbors not to allow Israel to use their airspace as part of any potential attack, two diplomats from Gulf nations told NBC News Friday.

Israel has vowed to respond to the strikes and while the nature and timing of the attack remain unclear, Iran warned countries that do help Israel in any way could potentially become part of a war, one of the diplomats said. Both asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive issue.

----- quote end

Iran Threatens to Retaliate Against U.S., Neighbors Who Aid Israel

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/is...neighbors-who-aid-israel-LObSk6tlnQF6oPdErxIu

Martin Everson said:

Very real!!!! Iran has stated it clearly that if it is attacked by Israel then countries in middle east will be hit. If UAE etc allows Israel to use their airspace in an attack on Iran then damage will be done to those countries by Iran 😕. Dubai risks losing everything in such a situation. Sleep well in Dubai folk and make sure you don't live in Damac Hills 2 area located next to that military airbase also ;) .

😮 sounds bad.