Avoid CRS REPORTING with N26

[Ryanab]

Hey offshore community, this is by no mean an advice but I noticed something very interesting with N26, they let you change your TAX resdiency country and TIN (Tax identification number) so they ask these infos to every customer and they clearly specify it's for CRS reporting reasons ( Why we need to report tax information to the EU - N26 Support Center)
I obviously changed those to a completely different country than my real EU residency country (African country ) with a dummy TIN. Now the reporting get redirected to elsewhere, you can put any country in the world, even non-CRS participating ones, it's been like this for a few months and had 0 problems whatsoever. (There's even many CRS reporting countries that chose"V voluntary secrecy" meaning they'll report infos to other countries but they don't accep reported data from anyone, as they don't tax non-resident anyway, you can look it up online). If you ever get caught (probably 0 chances of happening) you can just say you had a residency permit and visa elsewhere and now you moved back to *your EU country* and you can give them your real TIN and Tax residency.

Bunq doesn't allow to change these tax infos. Transferwise and Revolut do not report to CRS yet but I think it'll be possible to do the same trick once they start asking for those infos.
Anyway, again this is by no mean an advice, I am just sharing my toughts and what I did...
Non-gov related Blog that partially talked about the issue a few years ago: Faking residency: OECD’s Common Reporting Standard leaves the door wide open for fraud

 

[ih8socialism]

Won't they prolly ask for proof of your residence otherwise they'll just shut down your account and / or report you? lol

 

[Ryanab]

Won't they prolly ask for proof of your residence otherwise they'll just shut down your account and / or report you? lol

Well when I did it, they didn't ask for any proof of residence... Again this might not be bulletproof longterm they might start asking for proof and more in the future but for now it's quite easy

 

[sonato]

once your account is filled with money they will start collecting data and documents from you. Same story over and over again with all EMI's and banks you may even read about it with Mister Tango if you search forum like admin say:

site:offshorecorptalk.com mister tanho s**t service

 

[aquarius]

I'm sure at some point you will have to come up with proof of address documentation.

 

[JohnLocke]

I'm sure at some point you will have to come up with proof of address documentation.

Ofcourse you will, this is not a free buffet which serve money launderes or similar activity. I don't even believe the topci to be valid. But let's just play with it and see where it leads.

 

[Sols]

This is a terrible idea. I hope you have a good lawyer for when the tax man comes asking questions.

Banks are required to not only rely on what information you provide them. If they have reasons to believe you are actually tax resident somewhere else they can (and do) report to more than one jurisdiction. For example if you consistently log in from one specific country (IP and location), have a phone number from a country, and send transfers to/from yourself where your other address is included in the transaction meta data.

Well when I did it, they didn't ask for any proof of residence...

Yet.

Again this might not be bulletproof longterm they might start asking for proof and more in the future but for now it's quite easy

Good luck with that when reporting can be (is) retroactive.

 

[Ryanab]

This is a terrible idea. I hope you have a good lawyer for when the tax man comes asking questions.

Banks are required to not only rely on what information you provide them. If they have reasons to believe you are actually tax resident somewhere else they can (and do) report to more than one jurisdiction. For example if you consistently log in from one specific country (IP and location), have a phone number from a country, and send transfers to/from yourself where your other address is included in the transaction meta data.


Yet.


Good luck with that when reporting can be (is) retroactive.

yea I mean I know it’s not a solid strategy, there’s definitely many way for the bank to still report your your real residency. That’s why I said this isn’t bulletproof at all, it might work as it might not. Just an idea I wanted to share.
For me it’s still worth the try, If I get caught I’ll take responsibility...

 

[BlueMist]

Ofcourse you will, this is not a free buffet which serve money launderes or similar activity. I don't even believe the topci to be valid. But let's just play with it and see where it leads.

What is valid is whether it is perfectly fine to setup N26 account having EEA address, but not necessarily being EEA resident and then change it to overseas address. That would be a workaround to setup N26 accounts for non EEA residents. Let's say you can prove both addresses.

Also the question is whether the OP is sure that he has updated RESIDENTIAL address and not then postal address.

 

[Martin Everson]

I think OP will end up with reporting to multiple countries if he changes country data. If N26 had decent CRS software you will be reported to everywhere that indicia shows on your record. You can pretty much guarantee there is indeed no free lunch.

But hey maybe miracles do happen and N26 is incompetent with tracking changes in your tax residency for reporting purposes.

 

[JohnLocke]

What is valid is whether it is perfectly fine to setup N26 account having EEA address, but not necessarily being EEA resident and then change it to overseas address. That would be a workaround to setup N26 accounts for non EEA residents. Let's say you can prove both addresses.

Also the question is whether the OP is sure that he has updated RESIDENTIAL address and not then postal address.

it is not going to work that way and I believe you realize that. As I said let's see where this is going, at the end of the day we need to discuss things to claify if they are valid or not

 

[Ryanab]

What is valid is whether it is perfectly fine to setup N26 account having EEA address, but not necessarily being EEA resident and then change it to overseas address. That would be a workaround to setup N26 accounts for non EEA residents. Let's say you can prove both addresses.

Also the question is whether the OP is sure that he has updated RESIDENTIAL address and not then postal address.

Settings

What is valid is whether it is perfectly fine to setup N26 account having EEA address, but not necessarily being EEA resident and then change it to overseas address. That would be a workaround to setup N26 accounts for non EEA residents. Let's say you can prove both addresses.

Also the question is whether the OP is sure that he has updated RESIDENTIAL address and not then postal address.

Settings > Personal settings > Tax information > Then you can add tax residency country and Tax number.

 

[reesek]

until you start moving something more than 100 euro you can put whatever info your like
but when you get to 100k+ euro then the real fun begins

 

[NicolasMaduro]

And when your home country tax man ask you where you paid your taxes, and you tell him 'I had residency in this country', then thats not enough my friend. He will ask you for proof; residency permit, utility bills, lease agreement, payments, credit card statement etc etc. And if you can´t provide this then good luck. It won't work to say "I pay all in cash and I live in the street I dont have apartment".

 

[clemens]

it is not going to work that way and I believe you realize that. As I said let's see where this is going, at the end of the day we need to discuss things to claify if they are valid or not

I think you'm absolutely right. There are so many weird topics these days. Either people do not read the forum before they post or they are too busy posting their questions before they have thought through the scenario themselves. Those who answer here most need to be proud of their knowledge, which of course can help others who have the same question. But if these people also do not bother to read the forum before they post then the topic in this thread remains a superfluous question which is answered even before it is asked.

 

[daxbr]

If you thought it thru before opening account with them and provide alt documents, then kept full set of African documents on file, it would be a different situation altogether.

 

[kkein]

I wonder if this trick can be legally used to open an N26 account where N26 isn't available yet, like in Malta.
Could one sign up with an address in country X, get the card, then change tax residency and TIN to Malta?
I read on their website that if one needs to expat for 18 months or more should take contact with them.
Has anybody tried this?

 

[NicolasMaduro]

So you have home country in eligible country? If so just use your parents address for example

 

[kkein]

So you have home country in eligible country? If so just use your parents address for example

I could try that, but what about their disclaimer? what happens after 18 months? And will they report to the correct country?

 

[GlobalConsult]

This is bulls**t.

Every financial institution and bank is committed to CRS! With German customers they do not ask for TIN, because the customer is taxable in Germany anyway and the tax office has access to the bank data.

For foreign customers, everyone can check here whether the TIN is correct or not: TIN on-the-Web - European Commission

The times of playing hide and seek with anonymous accounts and money laundering are over!