No Tax Residence, banks and brokerages

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

It's really easy to pierce a "corporate veil", so not sure how you "disappear".

If it makes you feel good to go thru the hassle, as long as you pay your taxes and don't otherwise break the law, go for it but you really aren't hiding anything if you stay legal.

"Piercing the corporate veil" is a different concept unrelated to taxes. It means piercing the "veil" of limited liability.


There are very useful and perfectly legal uses of corporate entities to insulate you from liability (the original purpose of corporations) and to optimize taxes. Just needs the right jurisdictions, the right planning, and competent advice. And the right passport.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

I believe they have been cracking down on these citizenships for fee deals...especially since the Russian attack on Ukraine.

There are a lot of countries which still do citizenship by investment.


Malta is the easiest pathway to European citizenship. It takes just €750k and 12 months of residency, plus buy a house, and you have an EU passport.


Antigua is the best Caribbean one, and the Antiguan passport is a good one, with visa free travel to Schengen countries and a bunch of others. Requires only a $200k investment in an Antiguan property, and takes a few months.


Cyprus (another EU country) used to be popular among Russians, and yes, that one has been tightened up, and is now very expensive.


Thousands of Americans are doing this every year, and more and more, as it is really risky, difficult and expensive to be an expatriate entrepreneur with a U.S. passport. My total tax and FFBAR returns this year in the U.S. ran to more than 1000 pages. Absolutely crazy.

[Sailor Sailor]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

It's really easy to pierce a "corporate veil", so not sure how you "disappear".

It is not really easy to pierce the "corporate veil." If the entity is properly formed and follows the formalities, is run like an actual legal entity and not the alter ego of an individual, it will hold up.

The problem arises from some individuals who register an LLC or a corporation, often on their own with forms from the internet, and don't do anything else but use the name. Personal is mixed with business, and business with personal, and the entity is nothing but a shell for the individual. That does not hold up.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by Freeeeedom

20 replies in this thread and only this one is relevant, ugh.

You are a real charmer. Post a question, then back-hand everyone who replies. That is the quick way to finding yourself alone in the abyss of the internet.

Here is my unsolicited opinion.......because clearly you're not familiar with how the internet or a forum works (hint, you don't own the thread and can't dictate who replies, and with what information).

You are asking people to advise you on how to launder and hide money. This is illegal just about everywhere, with the exception of your mattress. (even then its questionable).

Either you know that you're attempting to launder money and are asking how to do so on a public forum (not bright).

OR.....you don't know that you are inadvertently attempting to launder money and are asking how to do so on a public forum (equally not bright).

In parallel you're having a little temper tantrum when people don't directly answer your question.....which is effectively (how do I launder money and keep it protected in a tax shelter?)

The fact that you don't recognize how ridiculous this question is, is absolutely amazing.

Nobody is going to lay out a money laundering scheme on this or any other forum public or private.

[letsgetsailing3]

It's funny how everyone wants the infrastructure provided by civilization, but without the taxation part...


If you get this all worked out, post how you did it.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Shrew

...you don't own the thread and can't dictate who replies, and with what information.

I never have been able to understand why that is such a hard thing for some people to understand.

If you're a moderator on the forum, yeah, then you can control what people post. Otherwise, it is very obvious that you can't. So why do people even try? It's just crazy.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Freeeeedom

I'm thinking about flagging my boat in Cayman Islands, registering a consulting company there and having no tax residency anywhere in the world.


This is quite easy legally. I'm not asking for legal or tax advice. I'm asking about practicalities.


There was a time in the past when I had not tax residency and I found out that it makes brokers and banks completely freak out. Does anyone have recommendation where I could park my cash and investment without the risk of having my assets frozen or accounts closed?



Perhaps someone has experience with safe banks that understand clients with no tax residency? Perhaps I should park my personal assets in Cayman Islands as well?

Personally I'd buy a shelf company in, say, Belize. One with some transaction history, and with banking in, say Nevis. For a couple of grand you can get one with it all set up for you, banking in place, and transaction history. The more bona fides you want the higher the price, but for the basics it really not a lot to pay for the convenience.

If you're moving your assets off shore and managing them yourself that company can open an online brokerage account as well, and trade there.

Of course if you are talking about moving tax deferred accounts off shore from the US without incurring significant tax and early withdrawal penalties it becomes much more difficult. There are ways, but.....

If you're a US citizen it doesn't eliminate your obligation to pay US taxes, although it may make them much more difficult to assess or collect, especially if you don't plan to return to the US.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Sailor Sailor

You can get a 10 year "Golden Visa" in UAE with as little as a 2 million dollar investment:

You can get the same in Belize, and last time I looked it did not expire, for WAY less. Belize is also a non-OECD signatory.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by bdgWesternMass

I'm not trying to avoid taxes, I'm trying to avoid corporations knowing who exactly I am.

The whole retirement process which I'm currently starting to focus on is completely insane. I want to do it completely legitimately I just don't want lots of banks and credit cards knowing who I am. I only have one credit card and a bunch of debit cards associated with accounts. The LLC will just be face of commercial identity. I have always joined internet groups but I have no social media access beyond forums like this.

I believe there is one corporate entity in the US that can be created with no persons names attached. A New Mexico LLC. It was that way a decade ago anyway.

Put up a job listing for an admin assistant somewhere in NM. Have them file all the paper work, set up the mailbox service, bank accounts etc, have them turn over all passwords and account information and so on, and pay them in cash.

Good luck!

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by bdgWesternMass

I'm not trying to avoid taxes, I'm trying to avoid corporations knowing who exactly I am.

The whole retirement process which I'm currently starting to focus on is completely insane. I want to do it completely legitimately I just don't want lots of banks and credit cards knowing who I am. I only have one credit card and a bunch of debit cards associated with accounts. The LLC will just be face of commercial identity. I have always joined internet groups but I have no social media access beyond forums like this.

Reference: https://www.llcuniversity.com/irs/how-are-llcs-taxed/

By default, LLCs are taxed based on the number of Members (owners). So, the IRS treats an LLC with one Member (a Single-Member LLC) differently than an LLC with two or more Members (a Multi-Member LLC)

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by jordanbigel

I actually agree with [the] supposition that the "marketing economy" is a waste of resources. I feel the same way about the Sports economy. Bloody waste of time and resources.

Pro sports is closer to religion.

Just about everything in our lives involves sales and marketing. Sales is the second oldest profession. You're selling when you apply to a school, or go to a job interview. You're marketing when you put yourself on a dating site. If two companies sell the same sort of commodity, the one that promotes its product better will win more of the...market. A free market has marketing; it's axiomatic.

Originally Posted by bdgWesternMass

...I just don't want lots of banks and credit cards knowing who I am. I only have one credit card and a bunch of debit cards associated with accounts. ... I have always joined internet groups but I have no social media access beyond forums like this.

Having a corporate credit card and account would certainly decouple one's purchases from one's own name, but there would still be a credit profile created around the activity on that card, and that's associated with an email and a cellphone number... and there would still be spam, etc. When authorities have a reason to, it's not that hard to connect that corporate identity to a person.

And unless you go to extreme lengths with your internet activity (anonymizer, cookie cleaner, VPN, etc) a personal profile is still built from all your browsing, online purchases and transactions, etc... and even including browsing/commenting on CF.

[Freeeeedom]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Next is your residency. There are many countries that won’t tax you when you don’t work there (or generate all income from outside that country) so once you set up residency there, you can have bank accounts there etc.

Yes, I know. Sadly, in order to establish residency there, you actually have to reside there and I'm not interested in that.

If you can live with high commission fees, some bribery etc. then a place like Panama can be great for “pensionados”.

I definitely wouldn't move my assets to Panama. For one thing, the corruption is really off-putting - I like to play by the rules and do everything above board. They also have a reputation for accommodating tax evaders and that would probably cause me a lot of trouble.



And even if places like Panama were reputable and rule-based, they might completely change their rules overnight. That's why I would much prefer to put my assets in the UK (or other developed country) or a British territory - the bureaucracy and the banking sector should be more trustworthy - both to me and any party I might interact with.



Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience, Jedi. It's great to see something relevant in the avalanche of uninformed noise that this thread has become.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

It's funny how everyone wants the infrastructure provided by civilization, but without the taxation part...

If you get this all worked out, post how you did it.

The problem with U.S. taxation is that:

1. You don't get much infrastructure or civilization even if you live there
2. You have to pay even if you don't live there.

and the zinger:

3. File up to thousands of pages of information returns on every detail of your foreign businesses and accounts even if there is no tax due, and pay up to millions in fines if you make a small good faith mistake.

I have plenty of sympathy for people trying to get out of that web. Otherwise, yes, pay your taxes and be a good citizen, but optimize them.

The Scandinavian countries are actually an astonishingly good deal for the taxes you pay there. Business taxes are much lower than in the U.S., property taxes are nearly zero, and you pay no capital gains tax at all unless you take money out of your investment account for consumption. Income taxes are high but they are almost flat, and you get a lot for them. And they are not high compared to U.S. income taxes plus health care costs plus education costs.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Next is your residency. There are many countries that won’t tax you when you don’t work there (or generate all income from outside that country) so once you set up residency there, you can have bank accounts there etc.

Most countries tax you on your world wide income if you are a tax resident.

There are a few exceptions: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaraugua, some African countries, Singapore, Georgia. Then some countries don't have income tax at all; much of the Caribbean, Monaco, some ME countries. You can kind of do this as a "non-dom" resident of the UK, but you have to pay a separate fee for the privilege.

Almost everywhere else, you pay on your worldwide income. You do in all European countries.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by bdgWesternMass

I'm not trying to avoid taxes, I'm trying to avoid corporations knowing who exactly I am.

The whole retirement process which I'm currently starting to focus on is completely insane. I want to do it completely legitimately I just don't want lots of banks and credit cards knowing who I am. I only have one credit card and a bunch of debit cards associated with accounts. The LLC will just be face of commercial identity. I have always joined internet groups but I have no social media access beyond forums like this.

Aside from being bothered by junk mail and spam calls, why are you trying to hide from corporations? Can you not just ignore their courting?