Recent content by Mike Forman

Here is the complete list with all prohibited countries to open a Mercury account. https://app.mercury.com/help/prohibited-countries If you have a Mercury account and the ubo is from one of those countries you can't transfer funds anymore outside of the US and you get a notification the account...

Why incorporate a business in Italy instead of Germany? It is clear and confirmed you will remain a tax resident in Germany in nay case. Hence you just keep declaring and paying your taxes as before, in Germany. If you want to incorporate a business do it in Germany, keep your funds on your...

It is unlikely as long as they are not aware you have any business or income in UAE, that's why you want to be thoughtful of anything that can trigger them to look more into this. It can and will trigger almost certainly questions. Your bank in EU or authorities will ask you the purpose of this...

TRC is not a holy grail that will protect you, but if you psychologically feel protected with it, you can chase for it. It definitely could bring some added value as tax residence proof, but you will need to provide your rental contract and some proof you actually live in UAE if authorities...

Excellent list. I would add Matrix (Element) as e2e encrypted open source collaboration tool and remove ALL Microsoft and Google cloud products! Using office365 you would be surprised what data can all be found there, even after it was deleted for years. An easily obtained court order will...

A payment agent is definitely a legit structure if it acts really as an non-related payment agent. If the payment agent is related and has the same UBO, tax authorities will quickly suspect that related companies are being used to artificially reduce tax liabilities. Volume doesn't mean you...

Sending money from UAE to your personal EU bank account is the same as yelling on the street, AML or tax authorities please investigate me. If you are already habigng income in UAE you should technically report it for this fiscal year to the local tax authorities and pay tax. Also here...

Who would not expect that? Why do so many people believe once they have a tax residence certificate it means they have tax liability in another country? A TRC is mostly only useful to apply benefits under DTAA. Your tax residence can and will still be challenged by authorities if you reside...

Opening a bank account in Hong Kong is very challenging these days, so I wouldn't call them a scam unless they ran away with the money and did no effort to open a bank account. You should check your contract or agreement you signed with them. Did they state they would guarantee opening of a...

Avoiding taxation in a country is not just about how much time you spend there but where do you actually live. Having a Hong Kong residence and business will let you pay taxes in Hong Kong but this doesn't mean any other country won't / can't tax you, which depends on your situation. Countries...

Although this situation feels dramatic from closeby there are much worse things than this. You haven't murdered someone or set up a large tax fraud, where you can get 30 years to life sentence. Why would someone even suggest here asking for asylum in the EU, that's ridiculous. Spending some...

I can confirm that most tradional high street banks don't follow up on that. Most banks don't ask for the new ID, unless there is a routinely KYC check (every few years) or if you visit the bank and use your new passport/id for identification.

Same here, once they go after you they are convinced they have a case and go at full length and claim as much as possible. Even you have structured and handled everything correctly, they will make up many stories and will always find something which they will enlarge and claim as fraud, shifting...

This is correct, but banks don't know nor have the ability or even interest to figure out where you are tax resident (which can be in multiple jurisdictions at the same time). A bank relies on the information you provide to them and use the residence proof for crs exchange. If you don't have...

Don't bother to go offshore and save yourself the risk, hassle and costs. 10 years ago it was easy and you could stay under the radar, nowadays offshore beside few exceptions is not recommended anymore, onshore in a low tax jurisdictions and having actual operations and substance there is what...