Private bank for Digital Nomad without Tax residence certificate ?

[troubled soul]

There is a lot buzz around TRC and bank account.....
I started thread to find the private bank who are happily onboard you as a Digital Nomad .....without any Tax residence certificate....
Which bank can do this magic for you ?
Which bank are Digital Nomad friendly ?
Who do not ask for Tax residence certificate ?

Thanks

 

[kkein]

Wise (although not a bank) never asked any TRC from me.
They do AML pretty thoroughly, though, when moving money, and will ask a bunch of very loosely related info as well

 

[meze99]

In Portugal banks will accept you as non resident if you say you are moving to Portugal soon and going to buy a villa (any local tax office will issue a local tax number for you as tax non resident). However you must be ready to answer a lot of questions from banks complience department if you move your money from a tax friendly (EU gray or blacklisted) or politically high risk country or crypto exchange (in the end they may just send your money back even you have bullet proof source of funds).

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Anyone can obtain a Portuguese fiscal number (NIF) online: NIF Online – Número de Identificação Fiscal em Portugal – NIF Online
No need to be resident.

 

[scooterguy]

Most banks don't need a TRC, just some proof of residency.

In my experience, lots of banks don't even care about proof of accommodation, I guess they know this can be easily faked or acquired by renting something cheap; they just want to see some kind of residency visa. One can easily get a visa like that in lots of countries and for all sorts of budgets, from UAE (company required, a few thousand dollars a year) to Cambodia (just walking around Phnom Penh with a few hundred dollars in your pocket required).

 

[meze99]

Paying for a free NIF won't help with banking, you can't open a decent bank account without going to Portugal.

Cambodia PROs: they use US dollars a lot, so banks there offer high interest rates for usd savings.
One can buy a working or study visa in Phnom Penh, but what about source of funds issues? How much you can deposit in cash in Cambodia or receive from your personal bank account from abroad, no SoF questions asked?
CONTRAs: high corruption means high chance of loosing all your money there if some crooked bank employee or a guy that arranged a phony residence for you fingers you for a sucker to his friendly crooked cop.

 

[scooterguy]

Cambodia PROs: they use US dollars a lot, so banks there offer high interest rates for usd savings.
One can buy a working or study visa in Phnom Penh, but what about source of funds issues? How much you can deposit in cash in Cambodia or receive from your personal bank account from abroad, no SoF questions asked?
CONTRAs: high corruption means high chance of loosing all your money there if some crooked bank employee or a guy that arranged a phony residence for you fingers you for a sucker to his friendly crooked cop.

You can get the Cambodian residency to open bank accounts in other countries. To quote an old OCT user whose name I can't remember "you gotta be kinda retarded to bring large amounts of money into Cambodia."

 

[meze99]

I see, I have a dumb question: so a person gets a residence/tax resident certificate in Cambodia, how does it help with source of funds/proof of taxes paid in Cambodia, when opening a bank account abroad? This kind of documents can't be bought in Phnom Penh, unless they have received an apostille stamp in photoshop.

 

[Forester]

There is a lot buzz around TRC and bank account.....
I started thread to find the private bank who are happily onboard you as a Digital Nomad .....without any Tax residence certificate....
Which bank can do this magic for you ?
Which bank are Digital Nomad friendly ?
Who do not ask for Tax residence certificate ?

Thanks

I think the key points are
– your passport
– how much money you are able to put at the banker's table
– how good is your source of wealth proof

I guess that with a non-toxic (not necessarilly “West-world”) passport and something 1M+ (2M+ even better) of cash with a reasonable proof of wealth, you can be fine with quite a reasonable Swiss (an introducer needed), Liechtenstein (an introducer will help) or Singapore (IDN how it is with an introducing now, perhaps not necessary) bank. (I assume ability to travel, purely on-line it can be more complicated.)
Not to be misunderstood: I do not think that this is exhaustive, I only think that the above can work...

Most banks don't need a TRC, just some proof of residency.

In my experience, lots of banks don't even care about proof of accommodation, I guess they know this can be easily faked or acquired by renting something cheap; they just want to see some kind of residency visa. One can easily get a visa like that in lots of countries and for all sorts of budgets, from UAE (company required, a few thousand dollars a year) to Cambodia (just walking around Phnom Penh with a few hundred dollars in your pocket required).

I agree.

 

[Jbb1]

Never been asked for TRC.

Maybe you can try citi international, HSBC expat or Barclays

 

[scooterguy]

I see, I have a dumb question: so a person gets a residence/tax resident certificate in Cambodia, how does it help with source of funds/proof of taxes paid in Cambodia, when opening a bank account abroad? This kind of documents can't be bought in Phnom Penh, unless they have received an apostille stamp in photoshop.

Banks don't usually ask for this, a person can have multiple sources of income in different countries and legally owe little to nothing to the country or countries where they live.

In the case of Cambodia, you can become self-employed there and pay taxes from self-employment work there. Then, in the unlikely event that some bank wants to see that, you've got the papers.

 

[meze99]

If you pay 20% tax in Cambodia there won't be problems with a bank abroad as long as your total assets in that bank are in balance with the taxes paid in Cambodia. However I still don't see the point why go to Cambodia to get 20% tax residence. You can go to UAE to get 0% tax residence. Why on earth go to Cambodia for that? Sorry if I'm asking a dumb question, I don't know anything about Cambodia in terms of tax optimisation

 

[scooterguy]

If you pay 20% tax in Cambodia there won't be problems with a bank abroad as long as your total assets in that bank are in balance with the taxes paid in Cambodia. However I still don't see the point why go to Cambodia to get 20% tax residence. You can go to UAE to get 0% tax residence. Why on earth go to Cambodia for that? Sorry if I'm asking a dumb question, I don't know anything about Cambodia in terms of tax optimisation

Why would a bank abroad care about how much tax you pay in Cambodia? In fact, you can be a legal resident of a country without being a tax resident of it, and this is for tax agencies to determine, not banks.

 

[meze99]

Why would a bank abroad refuse US citizens most of the time? Because people don't like paying taxes. A decent bank wants to be sure that you have paid your taxes before accepting your money, I believe it is an industry standard these days when a non resident wants to open a personal bank account abroad and receive large amounts there a tax return confirming the source of wealth is a must have for the bank.

 

[backpacker]

Why would a bank abroad refuse US citizens most of the time? Because people don't like paying taxes.

No.
Try evaluating what kind of compliance is required when dealing with US-persons. It is a legal nightmare. That legal nightmare has nothing to do with FATCA (which anyway dismisses your tax claim).

a tax return confirming the source of wealth is a must have for the bank.

No. A tax return proofs nothing with regards to "source".
One of the reasons why a serious bank cannot use a tax return as proof for anything is this -> IRS Guidance for Thieves, Drug Dealers, and Corrupt Officials
(same applies to most other Western nations).

Regarding TRC: Since many countries do not issue one it is not required.
Check the OECD CRS compendium!

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

Alpha Leak

Not private banking ik but VietcomBank will open you an acc with passport only.
No residency visa, no proof of address, no nothing, just walk-in with your passport and some cash to deposit.

You get a USD acc alongside a VND acc.

 

[MiltonStone]

Paying for a free NIF won't help with banking, you can't open a decent bank account without going to Portugal.

anyone with an interest in opening a bank account and the free NIF should take a tripe there to get both NIF and bank account as well enjoy the weather, food and take some free time.

 

[Bura]

Alpha Leak

Not private banking ik but VietcomBank will open you an acc with passport only.
No residency visa, no proof of address, no nothing, just walk-in with your passport and some cash to deposit.

You get a USD acc alongside a VND acc.

Several years ago I used banks in Vietnam. All was good, but I needed going in person to bank for any payment in USD outside of Vietnam. When COVID was strong, it was a real problem for me traveling to Vietnam and I stop using Vietnamese banks.

How are USD transfers out of Vietnam working now? Do you need to go in person to bank for this? May be my bank managers were too strict for me..

There is a lot buzz around TRC and bank account.....
I started thread to find the private bank who are happily onboard you as a Digital Nomad .....without any Tax residence certificate....
Which bank can do this magic for you ?
Which bank are Digital Nomad friendly ?
Who do not ask for Tax residence certificate ?

Thanks

By my experience, banks ask self declaration of my tax residence and my TIN (tax individual number). Banks need this information for CRS. Banks nevere ask me a sertificate as a papaer, but they can (if they want and know how) check online that my TIN matchs with my name. I head that people make TINs in countries where they have some residence permit (UAE or Cyprus or some thine elce) but do not have obligations to pay taxes (as they do not stay there 183+ days, or there is zero tax for interntional income) and provide banks with it. People continue to pay taxes where they want, banks send information in CRS in accordance of TINs provided by people.

I understand that I did not answer any of you questions, but may be my speculations could help to fix your task.

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

How are USD transfers out of Vietnam working now? Do you need to go in person to bank for this? May be my bank managers were too strict for me..

i dont use it much these days but overall it worked great.
I didnt have to go in person for USD wires.

VietcomBank

 

[scooterguy]

i dont use it much these days but overall it worked great.
I didnt have to go in person for USD wires.

VietcomBank

When did you open the account with them, and what do they use for your address or residency? Do they just use the address in your passport or something like that?

I'm looking into opening an account with this bank, it sounds interesting.