Hide Money

[The_Munchmaster]

teddy said: ........ as long as it doesn't come from selling a few kilos of coke........

Shouldn't that be litres of coke? :: Is pepsi OK?

[The_Munchmaster]

teddy said: Munchy got it in one. Switzerland is by far the best place in the world to 'hide' money due to the strict Swiss banking laws, ...........

The canton of Zug is particularly strict.

[David_66_UK]

make sure you give someone close to you power of attorney of your account

 

I will concede that I do have a few "trust" issues!

 

As an alternative to physically GIVING someone a POA, depending on your jurisdiction and local laws you may want to consider signing a POA and NOT telling them, then depositing it with your lawyer / future executor in a sealed envelope to be opened only by the person you want to benefit or even place it in a safe deposit box (onshore or even offshore) - with perhaps a frank covering letter explaining that perhaps remitting the money back home in one go may result in a few tax issues surfacing!

[Mentors]

Easy, send your amount to my account here in Switzerland. ::

 

Or if you don't trust me, try LIECHTENSTEIN!

[changnoi]

teddy said:

So ironically you can stick your money in a swiss bank and then invest in the NYSE without paying any tax on what you make, apart from a little Swiss witholding tax.

 

With regard to profits on interest the Swiss have been in effect signatories to the European Savings Tax Directive since July 2005, and will apply a retention tax at the current rate of 15%, rising to 35% by 2011. European residents will be unable to avoid paying this tax.

 

Not that I condone this sort of thing being keen to pay my taxes to dear old blighty to keep all the illegal immigrants in the luxury that they think they are entitled to.

 

I'm guessing you're Hindustani ?

[the_numbers]

If you have the unfortunate luck of being American with regard to offshore accounts you can't go Swiss

 

US Citizens have limits that many other countries do not have in having the Swiss option removed. I don't know exactly when as I haven't done all the reearch.

 

You can open an account in Switzerland still by all means, but it has to be registered with the US Government i.e. no tax shelter. This means no more private numbered accounts for Americans. A decision that lets Americans join the likes of : North Korea, Afghanistan, Cameroon, and a few other choice locales in this restriction on having the numbered accounts.

 

It is basically to prevent Americans from taking tax shelter, but was slipped in as one of the "protections" that came post 9/11 to ostensibly not allow money to be laundered or hidden by terror groups?!?! This is of course tripe because where is the scenario of an American with an offshore account using funds to finance terrorist activities? Isn't that why Afghanistan is on the list and not France or England?

 

Best,

 

the numbers

[BelgianBoy]

changnoi said:

With regard to profits on interest the Swiss have been in effect signatories to the European Savings Tax Directive since July 2005, and will apply a retention tax at the current rate of 15%, rising to 35% by 2011. European residents will be unable to avoid paying this tax.

You are correct, but misleading at the same time.

Yes, interests will be taxed upto 35 % in a few years, but profit from bonds, stocks, stockfunds, etc will NOT be taxed.

 

BB

[changnoi]

BelgianBoy said:

changnoi said:

With regard to profits on interest the Swiss have been in effect signatories to the European Savings Tax Directive since July 2005, and will apply a retention tax at the current rate of 15%, rising to 35% by 2011. European residents will be unable to avoid paying this tax.

You are correct, but misleading at the same time.

Yes, interests will be taxed upto 35 % in a few years, but profit from bonds, stocks, stockfunds, etc will NOT be taxed.

 

BB

 

Sorry if I wasn't sufficiently clear.

[samak]

BelgianBoy said:Yes, interests will be taxed upto 35 % in a few years, but profit from bonds, stocks, stockfunds, etc will NOT be taxed.

also not 100% correct, BB. interests on swiss bonds and dividends of swiss stocks will also be taxed!

[teddy]

This may help:

 

Switzerland levies 35% withholding tax on interest and dividends paid out by Swiss companies. In practice the vast majority of international clients do not pay this tax.

 

The Swiss withholding tax is payable only on a limited number of investments:

 

Dividends paid by Swiss companies . If you buy shares in Nestlé or Novartis 35% of any dividends will be withheld as a tax. This applies no matter where you live and whether you invest from a Swiss bank account or not. Many Swiss companies resort to share buy backs to bypass the withholding tax altogether.

Interest paid by Swiss companies. If you buy bonds issued by a Swiss company, the company will retain 35% of the interest coupons. Same thing for example for a Swiss franc savings account, the bank will retain 35% of the interest. The way not to pay this interest is to ask your banker to invest your money in a money market fund or a fiduciary deposit outside Switzerland.