To open an account at an offshore bank it helps to be there. It helps to have contacts in the country or have an account with a bank at home that has an offshore branch office in one of your future countries. Baring all of these it is still possible, unless you’re an American. In that case all of the above may not help.
As Ricky would say to Lucy, I’ve got “some ‘splaning to do.”
The IRS is a bully, they like to confiscate first, then sue and threaten any and everyone. If you are not a significant figure in American politics than in their eyes you are guilty of tax evasion or assisting people with tax evasion. They believe you are guilty enough for them to take your assets, and then let you sue them to prove they are not derived from illegal activity. Did you ever try to prove to your parents you didn’t break something, when they were convinced you did. How did that go? And tax court judges don’t love you.
The IRS treats foreign countries and foreign banks, at least the ones not big enough to hurt the US if they respond in like manner, with the same “We took your money, it is guilty of something until you prove it’s innocent” kind of way. In other words, the IRS only picks on those too small to fight back. If you are a bank with assets in the US, would you want to play with the IRS – of course not, the game is fixed. Many offshore banks are safer just because they don’t have US branches or affiliates. The best way for other offshore banks to avoid problems is to make it difficult or impossible for Americans to bank with them outside of America. This pleases the IRS because it’s real easy to take everything you own if it’s within reach.
All banks everywhere are now supposed to adhere to “know your customer rules.” This is ostensibly to stop money laundering – but the biggest money laundering banks have been accused of avoiding investigation by headquartering in New York (an offshore privacy and tax haven to anyone except Americans), or offshore in London or to a lesser extent in Paris. The real purpose of laundering laws is to fry offshore bankers if the IRS has trouble finding you. In fact the big tax countries seem to prefer taking hundreds of millions in penalties from banks to stopping money laundering. They’ve found it easier to do and the banks can’t move or fight back. Extortion works.
Diversification implies acquiring assets not correlated to your other asset classes. You will want to acquire banks that are not joined to your other banks by method or association. You probably don’t keep all your money under your mattress, you also don’t want to keep it within reach of one political system. Offshore banking will help you diversify politician risks.
So how do you open an offshore bank account? The easiest way is to open at a branch of a bank you now have an account with. Start residency procedures and get a bank account. Get a passport, find another place to get citizenship and get a passport there too. The world can be yours. If you want to play safely, travel.
You need that offshore bank to help protect you from fanged lawyers. That is just the first of its benefits. Once you begin your relationship with an offshore bank you will understand further gains you can achieve. You wouldn’t want me to mention those gains here, then the loopholes might get closed.
Open an offshore bank account. Pay your taxes, file your forms. Investigate. A wide new world will open itself to you.
Josh Morph