Twelve no/low tax countries share data on companies with no substance with UBO's country

[Konstanz]

CRS reporting based on the passport is simply not true.

There is a reason why this site exists:

Residence/Citizenship by investment - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

www.oecd.org

With the aboth given example is it irrelevant anyway - moving out of your Country of Citizenship is the first step all the time.

About Medical Check:

Yes - you have to do a HIV rapid test and Xray shot to see if you are HIV positive or having Tuberkulose.

So better not consider UAE with having HIV and/or Tuberkulose.

This is theory not practice. Banks usually protect their ass and send reports to residence country and to citizenship country

 

[Fred]

This is theory not practice. Banks usually protect their ass and send reports to residence country and to citizenship country

Pointless anonym forum discussion - if yopu want to see the thruth take a plan and speak to some Bankers in the UAE.

Can only repeat myself:

John Doe is a clever men and knows that he shouldn't live with his Dubai Setup the whole year in his home country (Country of Citizenship) but in the same time he knows that the world isn't about black and white thinking and he does undertsand that moving out of his Home Country doesn't mean necessarily moving the whole year to the UAE.

 

[Sols]

CRS reporting based on the passport is simply not true.

CRS based on passport is absolutely a reality. Maybe not in UAE, which might speak to a poor compliance culture and in turn be a contributing factor to possible pending FATF greylisting, but it absolutely does happen elsewhere.

But it's not standard practice. For most retail customers that have no other signs of unusual activity, reporting is based simply on tax residence and the bank takes the customer provided TIN and stated tax residence at face value. Saying the risk doesn't exist isn't entirely accurate, though.

 

[Konstanz]

CRS based on passport is absolutely a reality. Maybe not in UAE, which might speak to a poor compliance culture and in turn be a contribution to FATF greylisting, but it absolutely does happen elsewhere.

But it's not standard practice. For most retail customers that have no other signs of unusual activity, reporting is based simply on tax residence and the bank takes the customer provided TIN and stated tax residence at face value. Saying the risk doesn't exist isn't entirely accurate, though.

If UAE gets greylisted it will be harder to open bank accounts in UAE.
I doubt these paper residencies @Fred talks about would be sufficient itself to open accounts in near future
I think banks will start to request real EJARI, utility bills and salary slips

 

[Fred]

But it's not standard practice. For most retail customers that have no other signs of unusual activity, reporting is based simply on tax residence and the bank takes the customer provided TIN and stated tax residence at face value. Saying the risk doesn't exist isn't entirely accurate, though.

Exactly and this looks in practice with local UAE banks like this:

-> No TIN available
-> Reason: Country doesn't issue TIN.

That's the reason why we only propose local UAE banks and Private Banks in Switzerland with Subsidiary in the UAE as they do understand the UAE itself as a jurisdiction itself.

Would never advise to onboard a Dubai Company with a Lithuania Laundromat EMI or other joker financial institutions without proper compliance omboarding only desperate clients with no other options - for sure they will report you for fun based on everything to everyone to simulate a compliance while they are onboarding scam after scam.

Bank of Lithuania imposed a fine of €280 thousand on Wallter UAB

The Bank of Lithuania revealed that, during the period under inspection, the customer risk assessment procedures applied by the institution had not ensured an adequate identification of money...

www.lb.lt

If UAE gets greylisted it will be harder to open bank accounts in UAE.
I doubt these paper residencies @Fred talks about would be sufficient itself to open accounts in near future
I think banks will start to request real EJARI, utility bills and salary slips

It is already much harder and what you mention is already in place.

That's why we are here as a Service Provider.

 

[Konstanz]

How about Mashreq who open personal accounts anyone holding emirati ID?
I think you will soon have to rely very much on EMI's, because local banks will stop opening accounts for your clients Dubai free zone companies

 

[Fred]

How about Mashreq who open personal accounts anyone holding emirati ID?
I think you will soon have to rely very much on EMI's, because local banks will stop opening accounts for your clients Dubai free zone companies

This won't happen.

Before we fool people with EMI's we would mention this here and I would congratulate to everyone that went right in time for his Dubai Company Setup.

The whole point about our approach is getting a real physical Bank Account and without this you would have just another BVI.

 

[Gediminas]

Would never advise to onboard a Dubai Company with a Lithuania Laundromat EMI or other joker financial institutions without proper compliance onboarding

Sorry Fred, but this time you speak nonsense. Of course, there are various EMI's in the market, including bad actors, but some of them DO comply with regulations (and I am speaking not only about Bankera, which is great by the way).

I would bet some Lithuanian EMI's have more serious compliance than UAE banks. And it is more flexible too. Especially when you speak about crypto or other high-risk industry.

Pricing too - find me a reliable bank that would be friendly to higher risk clients and have good pricing (compared to some EMI's).

Everybody knows about the lack of DD when it comes to UAE banking. That's why most people like it.

 

[Sols]

With more financial institutions licensed than they can ever possible hope to effectively supervise, it's hard to make any meaningful, broad statements about EMIs in Lithuania. There's everything from Revolut (albeit a bank now), Connectpay, Wallter, and Paysera to the likes of Bankera, Verifo, Valyuz, and so on. What goes for the big three/four does not necessarily represent the smaller ones. It's an absolute mess and it's no wonder the ECB is watching Bank of Lithuania with suspicion.

There is garbage in both UAE and Lithuania. But I have seen more examples of thorough (and perfectly sensible) due diligence in Lithuania while still having a high risk appetite, than I have in UAE. If anything, the Lithuanians go overboard at times, in part a consequence of Bank of Lithuania being keen to not face ECB sanctions for their loosey-goosey attitude to dishing out SEPA clearing access left and right.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[lory]

From the listed countries it's by far the easiest and cheapest to get the Residence through the Company Formation in the UAE.

I consider to take a flight to Dubai... would that work with a meeting with you @Fred ?

 

[aage]

the Lithuanians go overboard at times, in part a consequence of Bank of Lithuania being keen to not face ECB sanctions for their loosey-goosey attitude to dishing out SEPA clearing access left and right.

may soon happen.. they are too relaxed with the approval of new businesses compared to most other European banks.

 

[Fred]

I consider to take a flight to Dubai... would that work with a meeting with you @Fred ?

Sure - visit us at our Dubai Marina Office - just click the banner below to get in touch.

 

[Fred]

Sorry Fred, but this time you speak nonsense. Of course, there are various EMI's in the market, including bad actors, but some of them DO comply with regulations (and I am speaking not only about Bankera, which is great by the way).

I would bet some Lithuanian EMI's have more serious compliance than UAE banks. And it is more flexible too. Especially when you speak about crypto or other high-risk industry.

Pricing too - find me a reliable bank that would be friendly to higher risk clients and have good pricing (compared to some EMI's).

Everybody knows about the lack of DD when it comes to UAE banking. That's why most people like it.

@Gediminas I'm sorry but we picked up more then 1 client with Ajman FZ and Pervesk that was frustrated about having his name on the public UAE Economic Register as the Authorized Manager as well as getting 5x times asked for the same transfer to the same recipient about the purpose of the transfer - that's something you simply don't see with physical retail banks.

 

[no1d]

CRS based on passport is absolutely a reality.

So Swiss banks do CRS based on passport nationality and my UAE residency is not considered?

I wonder if the company bank account is CRS'd too.

 

[Konstanz]

So Swiss banks do CRS based on passport nationality and my UAE residency is not considered?

I wonder if the company bank account is CRS'd too.

UAE Residency will be considered, but they can also include you nationality country as reportable country.
They can mark both countries as reportable UAE and your nationality country
Company account will probably also be reportable if you are UBO of that company

 

[Fred]

So Swiss banks do CRS based on passport nationality and my UAE residency is not considered?

I wonder if the company bank account is CRS'd too.

In terms of reporting if Switzerland Banks it depends - fully fledged private bank does the job right however I wouldn't count on something like Dukascopy or other discount banks - they earn so less that they for sure report to everywhere to be on the save side.

If you want to be on the safe side - stick to UAE Banks only - they don't report for sure.

 

[Sols]

So Swiss banks do CRS based on passport nationality and my UAE residency is not considered?

They might, if they don't trust your UAE residency. If you don't give them any reason to doubt, report would only go to UAE.

UAE residence can be phenomenal for tax savings, if you actually live there.

I wonder if the company bank account is CRS'd too.

Yes, if you are UBO or similar.

 

[5K1PP3R]

No - again - we are not talking here about Tax Residence Certificate.

CRS reporting is unrelated to a Tax residence Certificate.

You need to make yourself familiar with both CRS reporting - the mechanism behind, how it's enforced etc.

Same goes for the Tax Residence Certificate - make yourself familiar with it and not just put everything in one basket.

Practice Example:

John Doe wants to move out of his Home Country (Country of Citizenship). He decides to move physically to Thailand because he loves the beach and food there. John Doe doesn't like the local uncertain legal framework when it comes to running a Company - he doesn't want to have a local Thai part of his local Thai Company and that's the reason why he is looking at the OffshoreCorpTalk Forum. He sees the approach from DLS Dubai and does understand that he can get with this approach a Tax friendly environment for his Company and Finances with a minimum of bureaucracy.

John Doe decides to setup a Dubai Company that grants him the Dubai Residence Visa which ultimately gains him the access to the local banks. Further John does understand the point of the All-Incl. Package of DLS Dubai and that they setup additional to his Residence Visa substance for him to further satisfy the banks which leads to success in the Bank Account opening.

John Doe now received what he was looking for: an operational 0% Tax Company with reliable retail Banking and the minimum requirement of being every 6 months for 1 day in the UAE to keep the structure active.

John Doe doesn't need the Tax Residence Certificate from the UAE as he lives in Thailand - a country without CFC rules - further John Doe is a clever men and knows that he shouldn't live with his Dubai Setup the whole year in his home country (Country of Citizenship) but in the same time he knows that the world isn't about black and white thinking and he does undertsand that moving out of his Home Country doesn't mean necessarily moving the whole year to the UAE.

You can replace Thailand with any country without any CFC rules or a Digital Nomad Lifestyle where you are just travelling the world.

I don't agree here. If a bank decides to CRS you based on your passport, the fact that you don't live in your country may not help you. Your tax office will ask you where are you paying your taxes then? Where is your center of business? If the answer is, I live in Thailand but I don't pay taxes there, your tax office may consider you tax resident of your home country and good luck proving to them otherwise. It may depend from country to country, but in my case (Russia), there are legal docs that explicitly say that you have to pay taxes at home in case you don't pay taxes elsewhere and living outside of the country is not enough to be off the hook. I suspect other high income tax countries may have the same approach. You didn't say "John" is tax resident in Thailand right? But in this case you have to look for non CFC country and get a tax residency there which is not as easy as just get a Dubai residency and enjoy 0% taxes

BTW @Fred can you comment on this? Economic substance regulations in the UAE

Do Dubai banks do ESR?

There are some things like "Calculation of full-time equivalent employees and operating expenditure in relation to Relevant Activities" etc

 

[Fred]

I don't agree here. If a bank decides to CRS you based on your passport, the fact that you don't live in your country may not help you. Your tax office will ask you where are you paying your taxes then? Where is your center of business? If the answer is, I live in Thailand but I don't pay taxes there, your tax office may consider you tax resident of your home country and good luck proving to them otherwise. It may depend from country to country, but in my case (Russia), there are legal docs that explicitly say that you have to pay taxes at home in case you don't pay taxes elsewhere and living outside of the country is not enough to be off the hook. I suspect other high income tax countries may have the same approach. You didn't say "John" is tax resident in Thailand right? But in this case you have to look for non CFC country and get a tax residency there which is not as easy as just get a Dubai residency and enjoy 0% taxes

BTW @Fred can you comment on this? Economic substance regulations in the UAE

Do Dubai banks do ESR?

There are some things like "Calculation of full-time equivalent employees and operating expenditure in relation to Relevant Activities" etc

Only for specific business activities and even then when you have a Residence Visa in the UAE - you are basically the Substance as they look through the registered Agent Address directly on you - therefore no ESR reporting necessary in such a case.

You would really need to have a non-resident Offshore RAKICC Holding Company to need to make fillings and this is very rare as no bank nowadays banks you with such a structure in the UAE anyway.

 

[SoNewToAllShit]

That's very bad news I just read