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Good points ..Tradergirl seems a bit out there sometimes! But what about
this alternative?:
1. Get a legal second passport in your own name. Dual citizenship is
legally permissable after all (but check first). You probably wouldn't go
out of your way to inform any US officials of your second passport. But
even if they know ...it doesn't really matter.
2. Open an account with a Swiss Bank in Switzerland (not a US branch of
that bank - that way, Swiss law applies) with your second passport. This
way, you are not deceiving the Bank by creating fake ID or doing any of
those other crazy TG things. You are merely "choosing" which of your
citizenships to present to them. I know of no law that says you have to
inform an institution of ALL your citizenships!
3. Make sure the bank/trading account is in fact NOT permitted for
Americans (e.g. www.youtrade,ch among others). Don't fund the account via
a wire from the US. Go in person or use money orders/travellers checks.
Let's say the US tried to force the Swiss Banks to compromise their own
secrecy laws by telling them about the existence of all US account holders
(via the intimidation tactics you mention). Your name would not come up
because from the bank's perspective, they don't even recognise you as a US
citizen. The reason that www.youtrade.ch won't open accounts for Americans
is probably because they don't want the hassle of the potential fines and
grief that you accurately describe below. They reckon that yanks are
simply more trouble than they are worth ;-)! By refusing to open accounts
for Americans, www.youtrade.ch is probably of no interest to the US. Can
you imagine if Swiss Banks started to give the IRS information on their
German and Japanese customers for example? It's absurb! There's just no
way the United States has any claim on non-US nationals doing business at a
Swiss bank. So, having an account at a bank with strict secrecy laws that
will NOT open accounts for US citizens ...what an absolutely perfect place
for a US citizen to disappear off the radar screen! If the account was
funded via non-traceable money ...how on earth would anyone ever know that
you had such an account? Why would you even be under suspicion? Little
guys can often slip away quietly into the night without being noticed. The
few cases of bank secrecy breaking down, usually involve huge sums of
money, maybe offshore corporations etc. If a little guy with his little
money quietly opened a bank account abroad, no-one is is going to know the
difference. With <$10K the little guy doesn't even have to inform the US
of the existence of the account LEGALLY. By trading over the internet with
<$10K for a few months, you give yourself time to mentally get adjusted to
your newly found freedom while not breaking any law anywhere. Once you
have convinced yourself that you really are "off the radar screen", then
you only have one thing left to do: be kind enough to tell the IRS as soon
as your account exceeds $10K. They really will be most appreciative if you
volunteer this information ...;-)
How does one get a legal second passport? Dunno! Maybe, if you've got a
foreign parent you may be automatically entitled to their native country's
citizenship? Or you could marry a foreigner and get one that
way! Otherwise, there may be some small countries that offer citizenships
to people who invest X amount in that country. Usual caveat with these
programs - be aware of the scam artists and investigate only the legitimate
ones. There may be costs involved in getting another passport this way and
a wait, but maybe the lifelong advantage of compounded tax-free capital
gains is worth it ...for some people? I really don't know much about these
schemes because I have no need of them myself. Since I'm not a US citizen,
none of this is relevant to me personally, and unlike wacky Tradergirl I am
not actually suggesting that anyone do anything. To each his
own! Believe half of what you see and hear and be skeptical about the
rest. There's just no substitute for doing your own research.
Simon.
At 16:13 22/05/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>...and the reason why they refuse to accept deposits from US citizens is
>what puts the wrench into TG's plans. Fact is, most 'offshore haven' banks
>that have branches in the US refuse as well. I think it started with the
>Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada's 2nd largest bank. The IRS was pursuing a
>customer of one of their Caribbean branches, and the branch told them to
>take a hike, citing the very strict local secrecy laws. Much as the Swiss
>would do. So a US court simply imposed a humungous daily fine on the US arm
>of the bank until they complied, which they did very quickly, passing along
>all the details requested. Transferring a bank manager and paying a few
>$100k to some Caribbean island in penalties for breaching bank secrecy was a
>lot less than the few million per day that the US were assessing. Damn
>effective, eh?
>
>Oh, I hear you say, use fake ID of some sort or other. Great, now you've
>just broken the laws of the country where your money is. And so it
>goes........
>
>The point is that it isn't as easy as Tg makes out. Sure, there are ways to
>stay off the IRS's radar screens, but Tg hasn't done one of them. In fact,
>it sounds like she has done just about everything possible to alert the IRS
>to what she is up to.
>
>So, don't believe half of what she says, and discount the remainder, because
>she's either an Internet troll or very ignorant in offshore matters.
>
>Andrew
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