How to Avoid CRS - 3 Options as of 2019 - 2025

[Tax Cow]

@KJK

Bank's report is just a supplement to your self-certification - not more important, but‌ not less either. If you say Country A, but the bank sees a sufficient link‍ to Country B, they will just add a second report destination in benefit of Country⁠ B without consulting this matter with you.

Occasional wire payments are not a risk that⁤ could introduce a second CRS residency in the eyes of a bank- they a matter⁣ of AML compliance.

 

[Tax Cow]

...Further to KJK's question. (High-risk CRS indica)

Second report destination could be added by the‌ bank if any of the following apply:

1. Phone number in Country B
2. Standing‍ order payment(s) to Country B
3. Frequent payments (very vague term) to Country B

Taking that into account, for day-to-day spending, consider some risk mitigation steps. This is a cheap⁠ and efficient option for as long as pooled accounts are out of scope:

1. Stealth⁤ account in Country A (non-resident) sends an occasional Wire/SEPA payment to a pooled prepaid debit⁣ card account in Country B (non-resident).
2. Using that prepaid debit card account issued by⁢ a bank in Country B, spend money in Country C where you are a tax︀ resident

If you think it's good enough to play by existing rules, stop here. If︁ you want more safety, and be a step ahead even for the possible upcoming CRS︂ tightening, add 3 more prepaid card proxy accounts from different providers. If you take that︃ option, you do not need pooled proxy accounts - all proxy accounts can be in︄ your name.

- You do everything as above, except you only use each prepaid debit︅ card for 1-2 months per year to appear as a tourist where you live for︆ the issuing institution. This option with 4 proxy accounts will be viable even after pooled︇ accounts are taken into scope of CRS, even if new monitoring requirements are imposed on︈ card payments to determine residency.

Notes:
- Mobile-only and other fintech banks with no monthly︉ account or card fees are perfect for this use-case
- Take note, you also have︊ one account in Country C where you are a tax resident. You use that account︋ all throughout the year, and you pay income tax on all funds you send to︌ that account. Plausible deniability is important. If you do not pay any income tax, but︍ have a 2019 Mercedes S class in your name, you are begging for problems.

 

[blockchain4ever]

Can you break⁣ that cost down a bit?

 

[rowena]

The biggest‌ part is the license fee. A proper license will cost $7-8k(in respected FZE area). You‍ can rent a trash studio unit at outside Dubai but it will cost a minimum⁠ $2k per year also you need to pay deposit and monthly fee to electric/water administration.⁤ Visa cost per person will be around $1k for the standard slow process. You need⁣ to buy basic health insurance and pay government fees(depends on the area/license), etc...

 

[alischuler83]

@xzars Can you tell me⁣ a little bit more about it ?

If I live/reside in EU for example and⁢ wanna open busines bank account in UAE( having second residency there) for FZE company where︀ I am 100% owner... and banks asks me for personal bank acc statement on which︁ is my EU address I don't have to worry about CRS? I am not a︂ financial institution just doing 100% legit eTrading. Explain me please these rules because you said︃ its it's hilariously easy to avoid CRS with business accounts.

 

[Tax Cow]

Multiple evasion techniques are available for business accounts. The easiest-to-breach vulnerability is in active NFE‌ classification.

As the controlling person of an Active NFE, you're exempt from CRS reporting.
- To qualify, your passive income (dividends, royalties, interest, but also rental income in some scenarios)‍ in a tax year must be less than 50% of total income.
and;
- less⁠ than 50% of assets held by the business are generating passive income.

In other words,⁤ business must generate most of it's income from active business activities. Then you qualify as⁣ an Active NFE.

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Since mid-2017, one additional check is in place.

- "Effectively untaxed⁢ entities" cannot be categorized as "Active NFE" regardless of the above.

The early birds were︀ quick to recognize this vulnerability and they started wrapping their passive investments in Active NFE's.︁

To address this additional check in 2019, a simple Tax ID number for your business︂ entity will suffice in most circumstances. Keep in mind, you're at the mercy of your︃ bank, a tax ID number alone does not guarantee anything. If you want to play︄ with this vulnerability, it's important to not incorporate in a place where no corporate income︅ tax exists. Best offshore locations today are territorial tax places where local income is subject︆ to some taxes, or locations where world-wide income is subject to a tiny tax, i.e.︇ 2% tax.

One interesting offshore jurisdiction since 2017, a low-profile player with big benefits is︈ Montserrat. You can "elect your business" be subject to 1.75% corporate income tax on net︉ profits, instead of being subject to annual renewal fees. This 1.75% tax is enough to︊ guarantee you cannot be classified as an "effectively untaxed entity" in the scope of CRS.︋ In regards to your UAE corporation, you're fine from the activity standpoint, you qualify as︌ an Active NFE, but you might have some difficulties retaining your qualification due to 2017︍ CRS amendment which scrutinizes "effectively untaxed entities".

With my input available, formulate one or two︎ questions, and ask your bank for details. If they do not want to consult you,️ take the conservative assumption that Tax ID number alone does not suffice. In this case,‌ do something with your UAE company that triggers a small taxable event. Even if you‍ pay 50 dollars of Corporate Income tax, you're not an "Effectively untaxed entity". In that⁠ sense, that 2017 CRS amendment is useless.

 

[Tax Cow]

@alischuler83 This summary is my final response to your case.

1. As a business account‌ holder, you must do everything you can to ensure you retain the Active NFE classification‍ under CRS rules. Pay a tiny amount of Corporate Income Tax in UAE every year.⁠ This is your first layer of defense. See #102329

2. Should you lose your Active⁤ NFE classification for whatever reason, you "should be seen" as a UAE resident controlling person⁣ with no other residencies under CRS rules because:

- As a controlling person, you provided⁢ an UAE ID, UAE proof of address, and UAE phone number to open the business︀ account.
- You do not send frequent payments to EU-country-X, you did not provide your︁ EU-country-X phone number or residential address in contact details, you do not have any standing︂ order payments to EU-country-X.

3. You also provided a bank statement which lists your EU-country-X︃ address to complete a source of funds check.

- This was a mistake. Although you︄ still live under 2 layers of protection, you are exposed to some tax risk. See︅ #101861

 

[blockchain4ever]

What type of transaction triggers corporate income tax in UAE?

 

[Tax Cow]

@blockchain4ever File a corporate income tax return and declare some local source income, even if‌ you did not have any local source income subject to taxes. No tax man should‍ aggressively challenge your wish to overpay tax. File a mistake return to overpay a modest⁠ amount every year. If UAE outright refuses corporate income tax returns from non-oil companies, it⁤ could be very though to follow step 1 in post #28. Maybe you can fill⁣ the corporate income tax return, but only present that document to your bank - why⁢ would they go in-depth to prove your tax liability does not exist?

 

[blockchain4ever]

Where should the source of funds be in order to bootstrap this? Let⁠ me guess - you need to move funds to a 2nd jurisdiction before moving them⁤ to UAE? What's the ideal setup?

 

[cheektocheek]

Guys, How about this:

Get real physical fake ID under a made up name that‌ ( VERY IMPORTANT ) would pass validation services widely used by the banking sector to‍ validate ID documents (whether scanned copies or physical) , for example companies that do that⁠ are gbgplc, jumio and more. There are a few other similar ones. You can easily⁤ fool a Notary with this ID and get a notarized copy to open a offshore⁣ account. The bank you bank with would never know the ID is phony unless they⁢ had access to a government database to cross check the id number ( they don't,︀ at least UK banks don't ). Also they can't verify it close up as no︁ offshore bank asks for physical documents. So long nothing raises any suspicion why would they︂ ask to examine the original?

Register this non existent person as a non-resident in a︃ country that does not tax your foreign income. You obviously need an address there too︄ to receive your mail from your bank etc. CRS will report to your country where︅ you are registered as non-resident. In that country the absence of a bank account, no︆ credit file, nothing on your name in public databases etc. makes it more convincing to︇ anyone looking that you are indeed a real non resident who REALLY doesn't live there︈ in permanent basis. The person in reality does not exist but was made up for︉ the purpose of CRS evasion. Should there is an investigation they only have this air︊ to chase.

Done? What am I missing? If I do can someone please fill the︋ gaps.

P.S. I have ID's that pass validation services. I have even tried them against︌ said services and they pass. Most fake ID's won't pass and trigger a lot of︍ sh*t and scrutiny.

 

[cheektocheek]

I forgot to add that "darks" (fake edited ID documents) commonly sold by sellers on‌ forums 99%+ WILL NOT pass said validation check. Be my guest to try.

Hence am‍ thinking if with access to quality darks I can do what I said and avoid⁠ CRS?

 

[blockchain4ever]

Great plan,︄ but by this time you've committed a handful of possibly serious crimes in multiple jurisdictions︅ though. ID fraud is a tad more serious now after 9/11 as it's connected to︆ terrorism.

One thing is a fake ID when registering a company, but when it's in︇ the banking system then ultimately the money will be connected to you if you're going︈ to enjoy it. My guess is that the fake ID can lead to charges at︉ any point in time, as every "use" could be a new crime. Tax fraud on︊ the other hand happens when you do the transaction, and the statue of limitations might︋ be 5 or 10 years.

Just something to consider.

 

[cheektocheek]

You assume though that you are going to get caught. Realistically I don't see how you⁣ could get caught if you are careful.

Also the money will indeed be connected to⁢ "you" but you being a non existent person. Obviously you wouldn't send money from your︀ "2nd identity" to your legit bank account. If you need to do that there are︁ ways obviously to "clean" the funds from the 2nd identity.

 

[Tax Cow]

@blockchain4ever Funds may originate from a EU bank without any real CRS risk, as long‌ as your due diligence documents sing out loud "this is a UAE resident who has‍ an account in EU".

Historically, Malta has served as an intermediary stepping stone for flows⁠ from/to banana republics and tax havens. In this use-case, you would open a new account⁤ in Malta as a UAE resident, and send your funds from EU-country-X bank account to⁣ Malta prior to sending them to UAE. Don't send in 100K, and immediately send out⁢ 100K - this will certainly be flagged as ML. If you stay patient, moving 1M︀ a year is possible, especially if you diversify across 2 or more intermediary banks. Open︁ a few short-term time deposits and savings accounts to make it look like you bank︂ with a purpose.

- "Historical trends" aside, I would not bank in Malta in 2019.︃ Instead, I'd use Germany as the intermediary stepping stone. Georgia (outside EU) is an option︄ if you're a German. In the case of Georgia, you could lose up to 1%︅ to international wires, but in terms of scrutiny, they tend to be laid back like︆ Latvia in 2010.

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@cheektocheek That should work. However, do not underestimate the ability of︇ those services to evolve. Banks may at any time decide to re-verify identification documents as︈ software updates are made available. If you get your account closed due to fake ID︉ detection, you can opt to not reveal your true identity, but in this case, any︊ funds you had on the account should be assumed lost for good. And if you︋ do reveal, you will likely lose the funds to fines and legal fees PLUS risk︌ other consequences.

With these constraints in mind, I only see use for fake IDs in︍ "fling banking" relationships where the user generates a layer of obfuscation to conceal the origin︎ or destination of funds. Fake IDs are a better fit for professional launderers and illegal️ trade - in either case, all account holders assume the lifespan of an account to‌ be 3-24 months. CRS evaders want more shelf life out of any solution, but also‍ less risk of confiscation.

 

[Gueco]

@xzars

So acording to your ocde link there is at present no deal to‌ exchange information between the US and Switzerland.

If I open a US account with a‍ swiss address it will not get reported? Is that what this means?

 

[Tax Cow]

CRS is not signed nor implemented by the US. Your US accounts can⁠ not get reported via CRS.

You still need to consider other means of bilateral information⁤ exchange and mutual assistance agreements. Lacking country-specific expertize, I still think that if you're not⁣ a big crook and the Swiss authorities do not go asking specifically for your banking⁢ affairs in the US, you stay off the hook.

 

[Tax Cow]

Update
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As of 30.08.2019, it is not a⁤ requirement to pay more than 0 Corporate Income Tax. It's just a "nice-to-have" to be⁣ covered for possible upcoming CRS tightening on which mr. Morris speculated about on his CRS-related⁢ blog. See here for more details: CRS reporting active NFE unclear. Help needed!

Your entity︀ qualifies as "Active NFE" by fulfilling just one of the following criteria. Zero tax paid,︁ or absence of corporate income tax in jurisdiction of incorporation does not automatically disqualify your︂ business from "Active NFE" status.

Source: Standard for︀ Automatic Exchange of Financial Account information in Tax Matters

 

[Osleak]

@xzars compliment for your guide and many many thanks for your big contribution at community!!!‌

So to avoid CRS for business bank account at the moment we can check the‍ crs rule of the countries around the world between them and our country of residence...⁠ but this is a short term way because almost all are starting in few years⁤ to Automatic Exchange Informations correct?

About Business account you advice to have NFE active company⁣ to hold bank account to avoid CRS?

 

[Tax Cow]

@Osleak

a) The best long-term option is to buy investment real estate in a foreign‌ country. Get utility bills in your name whenever you need them for CRS re-certification, and‍ you will earn rental income. Once you have real estate, applying for second residency is⁠ often trivial. This option is effectively free because it generates positive cashflow. The strawberry method⁤ might be the better alternative for the beginners who can't yet afford foreign investment real⁣ estate.

b) In regards to active NFE, I discussed this with one tax planning firm,⁢ and the consultant said that banks currently lack the means to accurately identify active/passive status.︀ They cannot monitor other bank accounts the entity holds with other banks in other jurisdictions︁ to say if more than 50% of income is investment-related. Furthermore, they cannot force you︂ to merge all revenue streams to one business account to make this monitoring possible.

Two things are of primary importance at this point: NACE (activity) classification code, and your CRS︃ self-certification. If they see that you mostly generate investment income (on their account), they may︄ ask for invoices/contracts to see if you have some kind of active business income that︅ proportionally exceeds what you earn in investment income on their account.

A couple of points︆ - banks can easily make a mistake, so do not rely on active/passive NFE status︇ too much. Back it up with a second residency so even if they report by︈ accident, the CRS report goes to wrong jurisdiction (where your investment real estate is).