Post: #26

(07-12-2018 04:39 PM)DaveR Wrote:  Whenever opening or operating your accounts, or contacting your bank, it's essential to avoid leaving any traces or other information (telephone numbers, mailing or ip addresses, transactions, etc.) that may lead them to believe that you're located in a country other than the one you indicated as your (or your company's) place of residence.

This is impossible. When you open an account abroad, they ask for your passport and residency, and you also have to fill out a mountain of forms, else they won’t even process your request.

The finer details vary depending on which country you’re from, where you’re opening an account, and which bank, but the trend is that KYC laws will make it impossible for anyone to do what you are depicting. It already is for US citizens, and probably will soon be for everyone else.

Post: #27

(07-12-2018 04:55 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

(07-12-2018 04:39 PM)DaveR Wrote:  Whenever opening or operating your accounts, or contacting your bank, it's essential to avoid leaving any traces or other information (telephone numbers, mailing or ip addresses, transactions, etc.) that may lead them to believe that you're located in a country other than the one you indicated as your (or your company's) place of residence.

This is impossible. When you open an account abroad, they ask for your passport and residency, and you also have to fill out a mountain of forms, else they won’t even process your request.

The finer details vary depending on which country you’re from, where you’re opening an account, and which bank, but the trend is that KYC laws will make it impossible for anyone to do what you are depicting. It already is for US citizens, and probably will soon be for everyone else.

My point was that it's easy to accidentally add traces to an account which may lead to unintentional leaking of one's private affairs to other governments that have no legal right to it. I myself have spent time in a lot of corrupt countries and don't like the idea of my private banking affairs being transmitted to their governments. Even if not for privacy reasons, the risk of unwanted attention and audits makes knowing the automatic reporting rules worthwhile.

For US citizens it's a different story as you have an unavoidable worldwide tax obligation tied to your citizenship; something which causes mountains of paperwork for birthright citizens, even those who renounced it. For others, tax residency is the main concern and is changeable. An important goal for non-US citizens, as Gework alluded to in his opening post, is to establish residency somewhere with reasonable tax policies and avoid accidentally involving other governments in your affairs. In other words, being careful not to let your bank think you may be resident in a second (third, etc.) country.

Post: #28

Really great thread, thanks for putting the effort in. Quick question: As a Canadian is there an amount of days per year abroad which would alleviate the burden of paying taxes in Canada?

If I spend 200 days travelling abroad would that exempt me from paying taxes?

Post: #29

From Deloitte:

"Taxation can arise in respect of investment in non resident trusts and offshore investment funds. Non-residents are taxed on certain types of Canadian-sourced income."

Suggests that you must be out of the country for 183 or more days per year.

Post: #30

(08-31-2018 08:52 PM)gework Wrote:  From Deloitte:

"Taxation can arise in respect of investment in non resident trusts and offshore investment funds. Non-residents are taxed on certain types of Canadian-sourced income."

Suggests that you must be out of the country for 183 or more days per year.

The rules are more complicated than that. Someone just can't be a travel bum for 183 days and reduce their taxes down to zero.

If you ever get audited and it turns out all you did was spend 60 days in Costa Rica, 40 days in Honduras, et cetera, and just chilling at the beach and banging hookers then they'll likely deem you to be a resident of Canada (because in their eyes they think you'll run out of money eventually and then have to come home).



One has to cancel a lot of ties (credit cards, property, driver's license) and work in an oversea country and I would recommend getting a certificate from that country's tax office saying you are their tax resident.

Actually the whole getting a job overseas thing can be really difficult because youth visas limit you to 180 days. If you have a degree then the easiest thing to do is just work as an English teacher somewhere in East Asia for 183 days.

Post: #31

Republic of Georgia I was able to open accounts at two banks (TBC and BoG) with just my passport and $100. Both asked me for a "Tax ID" (mistaking my nationality for American) and I told them my country doesn't have such and they accepted it.

I remembering encountering the same thing in other countries too. Because of pressure from US IRS they think other western nationalities have tough rules too but your typical bank teller / account manager can't memorize the rules of 60 or so countries in her head.


Unless WW3 starts (and Russia is behind it) I'm largely inclined to think Georgia will exist for awhile and it seems to have good economic growth every year.

I'm also guessing because Georgia is obscure I could technically deposit all sorts of income into bank accounts there and whatever country I happen to be living in wouldn't have a clue (I doubt Rep. of Georgia does information transfers with random countries in Asia and Africa).

I know Andrew Henderson liked Georgia enough to renounce his U.S. citizenship and to live there for the majority of the year.