Silly question, simply using just a Dubai personal account.

[CambodiaPro]

Hello,

It's been a while, i have a simple question, if I am a real resident in a non CRS country that does not have (or dosen't enforce) personal income tax, would it make sense to just fly for an holiday and open a personal bank account in Dubai and get my clients invoices paid there?

How hard would it be to do so?
Or am I being really silly right now and i am missing something?
(I can fly to Dubai anytime and i have some western citizenships as well).

 

[Sols]

It's difficult to open personal bank accounts in UAE as a non-resident.

But if you live in a country with no income tax or unenforced tax laws and which is not a signatory of CRS, you could theoretically open a bank account abroad and receive payments into this bank account without your tax authority at home automatically knowing about it.

So you might want to book a different vacation destination than UAE.

 

[CambodiaPro]

It's difficult to open personal bank accounts in UAE as a non-resident.

But if you live in a country with no income tax or unenforced tax laws and which is not a signatory of CRS, you could theoretically open a bank account abroad and receive payments into this bank account without your tax authority at home automatically knowing about it.

So you might want to book a different vacation destination than UAE.

Any suggestions in south east Asia?

 

[Sols]

Speak with OCBC, DBS, UOB, and Citibank in Singapore. If you become a wealth client (starting at around 100–150,000 SGD), it's quite easy to open a personal account for day to day usage as well.

You can also make similar arrangements with those same banks in Hong Kong as well, and you can also try Bank of East Asia, Hang Seng, and maybe Fubon. Things change in Hong Kong, especially in the last few years.

If you're up for a boring vacation, there might be banks in Labuan that could work.

Brunei used to be an option but it's not as open anymore.

Thailand can be doable.

 

[scooterguy]

You have many options, but do keep in mind that countries usually join CRS quickly and information is shared retroactively.

Not sure if Cambodia would care though, but you should be aware that your plan comes with some risks.