Should I get a Swiss Bank account?

[infernostudio]

Are swiss accounts really that private?

I am in Canada and need to have a private bank account within the next 2 months ...

The taxation for an incorporated business here in Canada is 17% for the first 400K and up to 32% on anything over that.

This is a huge chunk of cash!!
I am looking into getting a secrecy bank like a swiss account but have no clue where to start, if its worth it and if it is really private or not.

I have 20K to deposit and will be making deposits of 20K-40K/month of legal funds (All funds are recorded on invoices, payout records, etc...).

Does anyone have any experience with this and could shed some light on this?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Tia Wood]

There are many reasons to have a swiss account for domainers. I won't go through all the reasons but here are a few links to help you:

http://www.howtoadvice.com/SwissBanks/
http://money.howstuffworks.com/swiss-bank-account.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_bank_account

 

[PRED]

From what i remember looking into years ago you can actually have just a numbered account no name, think you have to start with min. deposit $250k. then you get like a private manager. 007 styley k:

pretty much everything can be nabbed anyway now if you're from UK, offshores, swiss, you name it

 

[Gerry]

I can give you some numbers to my accounts so you don't have to wait until you amass 250K.

I accept all currency, clean or dirty laundry.

 

[DomainsInc]

One way to go might be to incorporate in a place like Gibraltar, which doesn't require you to pay any taxes.

 

[infernostudio]

Thanks for all your help!

Yes i am thinking of incorporating in a tax haven country.
This way funding my private bank account in that country will not be a problem.

 

[Theo]

Thanks for all your help!

Yes i am thinking of incorporating in a tax haven country.
This way funding my private bank account in that country will not be a problem.

There is a difference between residing in a tax haven and solely having bank accounts there. Check with the tax laws of your country.

 

[actnow]

I realize infernostudio is a canadian citizen. This more for U.S. citizens.
It doesn't pay to be sneaky with the U.S. IRS. If you are going to set up something,
do it totally legal.

"There are no US restrictions on having Swiss bank accounts, but current IRS regulations require
you to tell them what foreign accounts you have when you file your annual income tax form."

That is how they catch "organized crime - mobsters". They catch them in a lie and send them to prison.

When Martha Stewart went to prison, it wasn't for "insider trading". It was for lieing to federal agents.

I'm sure Canada has the same question on their annual income tax form.
Check and let us know if they do. I'm curious.

 

[nametrader]

Yes Canada needs every Canadian Citizen to declare everything they have voluntarily in their returns(That includes all assets and sources of income including bank interests earned! inside or outside Canada)
If you wish to hide something you are taking risk without a doubt. Revenue Canada will not check each and every return manually, they do it randomly and you may be the next pick, if found guilty you have to pay it all(taxes)

 

[dolansco]

Switzerland offers no great protection , the US has made sure of that over the last few years . There are treaties in place to find Tax-evaders & criminals , information is shared readily in these circumstances.

Numbered accounts are no different to regular accounts , only that the number represents the beneficial owner ( rather than a real name ) so only a select few at the bank know your personal business ( thus keeping it personal ) , but again if the bank are asked about John Doe's accounts , they will be revealed as normal .. They are basically just a form of privacy for hign net worth individuals and such.... and no more.

Look at Panama or similar ( set up a company there even ) , where "foreign" tax evasion is not considered criminal , and thus at the moment they dont share such info with other countries. ( and 0% tax on your income )

Just an opinion ... not financial advise. BTW

 

[infernostudio]

Switzerland offers no great protection , the US has made sure of that over the last few years . There are treaties in place to find Tax-evaders & criminals , information is shared readily in these circumstances.

Numbered accounts are no different to regular accounts , only that the number represents the beneficial owner ( rather than a real name ) so only a select few at the bank know your personal business ( thus keeping it personal ) , but again if the bank are asked about John Doe's accounts , they will be revealed as normal .. They are basically just a form of privacy for hign net worth individuals and such.... and no more.

Look at Panama or similar ( set up a company there even ) , where "foreign" tax evasion is not considered criminal , and thus at the moment they dont share such info with other countries. ( and 0% tax on your income )

Just an opinion ... not financial advise. BTW

Great advise.
I am thinking about incorporating an offshore company.

There is a company that offers offshore services. Not sure about their reputation but you can even buy Ready-Made Corporations from them.

www.ocra.com



I would have to disagree with having your personal information revealed if you own a swiss account though.

According to swiss law tax-evasion is not considered a crime (Not to be confused with Tax Fraud) and they will not reveal your personal information. Violation of the secrecy can thus be subject to punishment.

http://swiss-bank-accounts.com/e/banking/secrecy/legal.basis.html

http://swiss-bank-accounts.com/e/banking/secrecy/tax.html

http://swiss-bank-accounts.com/e/banking/secrecy/cooperation.html

 

[katherine]

As said above Swiss bank secrecy is overated these days. But it mostly applies to American citizens as Uncle Sam is working hard to make sure that US nationals have a hard time securing their hard earned assets away from the clutches of the IRS.
Good bank secrecy can be found elsewhere in Europe: Andorra or Liechtenstein and a few other countries.

IMO opening a personal bank account may not be enough. You may want to restructure your business so that your assets are owned by a corporation with no direct ties to you for example. It takes a really good CPA. It is important yet possible (and desirable) to optimize your tax burden in a legal way.
OCRA is very well know and has expensive stationery but I'm not sure they really are in a position to provide dedicated advice tailored to your specific situation. At least be prepared to pay for it.
For just a bank account you can do the job yourself either remotely or by paying a visit and you cut the middleman.

Personally I tend to spend my extra cash in domains: excellent ROI, not subject to inflation

Disclaimer: this is not tax or legal advice

 

[infernostudio]

As said above Swiss bank secrecy is overated these days. But it mostly applies to American citizens as Uncle Sam is working hard to make sure that US nationals have a hard time securing their hard earned assets away from the clutches of the IRS.
Good bank secrecy can be found elsewhere in Europe: Andorra or Liechtenstein and a few other countries.

IMO opening a personal bank account may not be enough. You may want to restructure your business so that your assets are owned by a corporation with no direct ties to you for example. It takes a really good CPA. It is important yet possible (and desirable) to optimize your tax burden in a legal way.
OCRA is very well know and has expensive stationery but I'm not sure they really are in a position to provide dedicated advice tailored to your specific situation. At least be prepared to pay for it.
For just a bank account you can do the job yourself either remotely or by paying a visit and you cut the middleman.

Personally I tend to spend my extra cash in domains: excellent ROI, not subject to inflation

Disclaimer: this is not tax or legal advice

Thanks for the advise!

What do you mean by CPA?
[SIZE=-1]Certified Public Accountant?[/SIZE]

 

[actnow]

Thanks for the advise!

What do you mean by CPA?
[SIZE=-1]Certified Public Accountant?[/SIZE]

In Canada, is it not CGA?
(Certified General Accountant)

 

[HomerJ]

if it is for investment sake, you might consider a swiss annuity over a swiss bank account. it does not have the liquidity, but it is still very flexible, and you dont pay taxes on it as until the policy has matured and you start receiving payments.

 

[katherine]

Another thing to think about: if you have 20K to stash every month you need to figure out how you are going to transfer the money offshore. Suitcases of cash are probably not a good option and banking instruments like cheques or wire transfers are traceable.
If you don't want your government to be in the know or able to track you then you've got to be creative.
These days Uncle Sam has no problems sniffing the Swift network or tapping in to your telephone calls. Fortunately you are in Canada but it's only a matter of time the bureaucrats in Ottawa follow suit.

Going offshore is not a magic wand and as you can see there are more questions than answers :smilewinkgrin: