How to discretely receive money from my foreign bank account?

[John89]

I have an account in a foreign bank the tax authorities don't know about. I would like to either:
1) discreetly transfer the money to my domestic bank account (the tax authorities know about). However, if I transfer the money to that account, the tax authorities will also find out about the foreign bank account, right?
or:
2) pay bills with the foreign bank account. If that gave me a credit card, I could use the credit card to pay my bills, and the tax authorities would hardly find out? Unfortunately the foreign bank does not issue credit cards.
Does anybody have any idea what I can do to discretely receive money from that foreign bank, or pay bills through that bank?

 

[KDX]

I think you should provide more in-detail information like:
1. Which country are you tax-resident in?
2. Where is the foreign bank account located in?
3. Is this bank account within any kind of structure e.g. trust, foundation, corporation etc.?

Chances are, with CRS/FATCA your tax authorities might be already receiving yearly reports of your foreign bank account(s).

If you are not within the governments radar via CRS/FATCA, a sure way to be discreet would be to use crypto to move money around. I'm not sure about the legality of doing so though, might want to get proper help on this.

 

[John89]

Would an anonymous debit card work? I assume I can open the debit card with IBAN using an address which is not my current residence address (in another country), have the money wired to that IBAN, and use it to pay my grocery shopping.

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

Would an anonymous debit card work? I assume I can open the debit card with IBAN using an address which is not my current residence address (in another country), have the money wired to that IBAN, and use it to pay my grocery shopping.

If you are not willing to give out information as posed by @KFX questions then any reply you get would be nothing more than a speculative philosophy.

 

[John89]

OK, let me answer the questions of KFX, even though I don't think they affect your answers:
1) France
2) Singapore
3) No, just a personal account
Thank you to all who can answer my question.
Cheers and Happy New Year

 

[KDX]

OK, let me answer the questions of KFX, even though I don't think they affect your answers:
1) France
2) Singapore
3) No, just a personal account
Thank you to all who can answer my question.
Cheers and Happy New Year

CRS Overview and Latest Developments

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an internationally agreed standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information between jurisdictions for tax purposes, to better combat tax evasion and ensure tax compliance.

www.iras.gov.sg

Singapore will automatically report to the french tax authority via CRS so unless you provided false information to your bank, it's not anonymous and its all on file already. You should double check this with your bank if you want to know what they're sending.

 

[John89]

Thank you. But the Singapore bank doesn't know I live in France. I didn't give them my French address. They still think I live in Singapore (I lived there before). They have a Singapore address on file, as my residential address.

 

[Marie Manila]

Do you need the money in your account in France or just in a random account inside the SEPA region?

 

[KDX]

Thank you. But the Singapore bank doesn't know I live in France. I didn't give them my French address. They still think I live in Singapore (I lived there before). They have a Singapore address on file, as my residential address.

Ok. That's information that changes this completely. Then the account may very well be anonymous.

A sure way of being discreet is using crypto. There are also crypto debit cards that you can use nowadays.

However, if you pay all of your bills via your offshore funds, it may look suspicious if you ever get audited.

I think you should provide more info on how much money you have in the offshore bank and how much you would like to move/use in a span of lets say a few years? I'm not an expert on this so maybe someone else can provide some insight on how this situation is usually handled?

 

[wonderwhat]

Thank you. But the Singapore bank doesn't know I live in France. I didn't give them my French address. They still think I live in Singapore (I lived there before). They have a Singapore address on file, as my residential address.

You assumptions doesn't matter to Singaporean banks. You can't predict how they think. You might be still logging your bank account from a French IP address. SG banks are not stupid. They use various measures to detect your current residency. Some of them use private investigation firms to track down clients

 

[KDX]

Also more information here: https://www.iras.gov.sg/media/docs/...s-common-reporting-standard_e-tax-guide-2.pdf CTRL+F for "indicia"

 

[zzzzzz]

Thank you. But the Singapore bank doesn't know I live in France. I didn't give them my French address. They still think I live in Singapore (I lived there before). They have a Singapore address on file, as my residential address.

SG bank will send data to SG taxman and they will see that you don't live there anymore (expired residency permit...etc.). Your account can be flagged as non-resident, and your bank can ask you to update your data (address, telephone number...).
I assume your citizenship is not France/SG/USA?

 

[John89]

I will have about 250,000 Euro, invested in high yield etfs and funds that generate about 1,000 to 1,500 euro a month. I plan to pay groceries with a debit card/credit card using that money. So it's not huge amounts of money, and will be used to lower the total tax bill.
Any advise also who would issue a debit card/credit card for me? The Swedish bank doesn't issue one, unfortunately.

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

You could open a private banking account probably for a company where you will hold your portfolio ( if you are willing to transfer your portfolio in the company ) then open an additional current account qnd issue a credit card therefrom . We might be able to assist you to do this with a Cyprus Bank or a Swiss Bank, kindly let me know if you would like to discuss this further and I will be happy to PM you.

 

[John89]

That was also my thought, but it doesn't work. I asked a Swiss lawyer already: the tax authorities of France would ask the Swiss authorities where the money of that company comes from. The Swiss authorities would show them the accounting, and the French authorities would call this tax dodging and would give me a fine (if the French authorities bother to check).

Of course if the Swiss company would actually be involved in a business and generate a legitimate profit it would be a different issue (even though I can't use the income of the company to pay for groceries, that would incur a fine of the Swiss authorities)

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

You could do your set up and start declaring taxable income to the Tax Office. This way you come forth and declare your fund. If it is from legitimate sources the risk becomes lesser and lesser. Also, usually authorities can go back up to a particular number of years to do an assessment. I dont know how many years would that be in France. This is a way for you to come forth and legitimize your funds with of course the risk of being questioned about the source of fund and whether any tax has been applied. For this risk assessment you should consult with a French tax consultant. Your alternative would be to keep hiding or maybe exchange to Crypto and keep running.