EMi banks asking for personal tax returns

[ShillGates]

As the title suggests, has any of you ever been asked for a personal tax return either during opening or during operation of a bank account?

With business it would be normal to ask for audited accounts, but for personal?

 

[NicolasMaduro]

Never been asked

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Yes most of the time. I provide them with genuine ones, but you can easily produce fake ones as they have no way to check them.

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[Sols]

Yes, it's becoming more and more common.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

Yes, it has been going for some time now

 

[Meta]

Yep. I am going to buy some real estate in Europe. I was told that a bank would probably want not only source of funds documents, but also tax returns (having at least the deal amount declared).

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

Remoddy said:
Yep. I am going to buy some real estate in Europe. I was told that a bank would probably want not only source of funds documents, but also tax returns (having at least the deal amount declared).
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It would really depend on the bank though, so better check with your bank before anything. Is it a problem for you to provide tax returns?

 

[Forester]

Remoddy said:
Yep. I am going to buy some real estate in Europe. I was told that a bank would probably want not only source of funds documents,
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Yes, this is pretty expectable...

Remoddy said:
but also tax returns (having at least the deal amount declared).
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Well, of course, everything is possible with banks nowadays but this seems to me as a little bit overkill though. This is just a transfer (as I understand), so a bank wants to have the cash sourced, it's the core. Furthermore, tax returns are not necessarilly related to the sourcing of funds, e.g. in many European countries the heritage in direct descent is not taxed, so no tax returns exist for such a money.
But re: the original question ”“ yes, it can happen pretty well that you are asked for a tax return when opening a new personal account; as a part of KYC. It is not in all cases, it probably depends on a bank, your citizenship, residence, etc. Fortunately, as @JohnnyDoe mentioned, the bank has no way (now!) to check the returns.

Last edited: Oct 16, 2022
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[EliasIT]

Forester said:
Well, of course, everything is possible with banks nowadays but this seems to me as a little bit overkill though
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I agree, for the accounts I opened I have not been asked before. It may be the new to ask to annoy and complicate things.

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[ShillGates]

well yes, also if you live in dubai, there wont be a tax return. or in cyprus, non dom income is excluded etc.... so what are banks hoping to get, unless ofcourse as usual they wanna know the colour of your ..... in the morning

 

[bonox]

It's part of a stupid risk management that try to comply with AML

 

[Meta]

CyprusLawyer101 said:
It would really depend on the bank though, so better check with your bank before anything. Is it a problem for you to provide tax returns?
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Interesting thing is that it would be not my bank. E.g.: I'm sending money from abroad (from a bank that has all the docs it required) to the seller's bank account. The seller's bank would ask for the tax returns and KYC docs for the buyer. At least I was told that there is high chance of this happening.
No problems to provide tax returns. I find it quite intrusive, but I have my paperwork handy. If you have some advice, please share though, others may appreciate it.
Regards.

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

Remoddy said:
Interesting thing is that it would be not my bank. E.g.: I'm sending money from abroad (from a bank that has all the docs it required) to the seller's bank account. The seller's bank would ask for the tax returns and KYC docs for the buyer. At least I was told that there is high chance of this happening.
No problems to provide tax returns. I find it quite intrusive, but I have my paperwork handy. If you have some advice, please share though, others may appreciate it.
Regards.
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Hm.. I understand. This particular aspect of the recieving bank's behaviour, is indeed intrusive. The sender is not their client but they still thoroughly do a KYC to them. KYC = know your client , its funny indeed. Supposedly they are looking to ensure the legitimacy of the source of funds, but it is ridiculous and hurts business in general. You could try to deny certain of their requests though and because of your position there is a high probability that they would yield to it. However be careful not to hurt the transaction in any way.

 

[Forester]

CyprusLawyer101 said:
Hm.. I understand. This particular aspect of the recieving bank's behaviour, is indeed intrusive. The sender is not their client but they still thoroughly do a KYC to them. KYC = know your client , its funny indeed. Supposedly they are looking to ensure the legitimacy of the source of funds, but it is ridiculous and hurts business in general. You could try to deny certain of their requests though and because of your position there is a high probability that they would yield to it. However be careful not to hurt the transaction in any way.
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From the bank in question it is rather AML compliance, I would say. Nevertheless, I would personally present the source of funds documentation (as it was, very probably, already presented to your bank) and reject request for tax returns as unrelated; I consider necessary to point at some limits, in many cases. (BTW, it is not your bank and the seller is also interested in closing a deal so it is also on him to calm them.)

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...