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Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

swissinfo.ch

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Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#121

Post by pentae »

csomar wrote: post #109
baazaar wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be precise: pressure from the US. Now the US is Switzerland.

Many people are missing this point. US banks, until this point, do not exchange information on their foreign customers. FATCA is more like: Hey Hong Kong, Swiss, London, nice business you have over there, maybe I can get in the action too. All of the action actually.

And as a result of that the US is now the worlds largest offshore banking center for the rest of the world. It's a pretty safe place to hold your money, after all.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#122

Post by huhtenberg »

zahllos wrote: post #112
huhtenberg wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> limited to using one bank An easy solution is to trade your US citizenship to a Swiss one. It takes just 5 years on permit C. > Several European countries collect wealth tax on global assets. Including Switzerland.

> It takes just 5 years on permit C This is accurate, however, you need to spend at least 5 years in Switzerland to apply for a C permit and have been resident a minimum of 10 years in Switzerland in total, including the last 5 continuously. You'll also need to meet minimum cantonal and communal residency requirements, so if you move canton or even communue at 9 years 11 months, you'll probably have to wait another f…

It's between 10 and 11 years rather than 12-13, but, regardless of that, I was still just making a joke.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#123

Post by mikl »

jimhi wrote: post #87
jjcm wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For myself (a US citizen living abroad), my biggest annoyance isn't that I'm taxed on my income overseas, it's that it effectively is taxation without representation. Even though I'm paying tax overseas, there's no US Representative who fights for my interests. I have one who fights for the interests of the residents of a district I lived in years ago, but I have no relation to that anymore. I have a US senator who f…

I am also a US citizen abroad and I don't understand your annoyance. This is exactly why Foreign Earned Income Exclusion exists. For anyone not aware you don't pay taxes on 100k if you are out of the USA 330 days out of the year. 200k if you are married. Do you qualify? Then you are exempt from such a ridiculous amount that it is hard to argue this. Or maybe you visit the USA too much to qualify? In which case you do…

I am a Dane living abroad. I don’t have to do any paperwork and jump through hoops for the Danish government.

That the U.S. government makes demands of people living outside its borders is preposterous.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#124

Post by mikl »

nradov wrote: post #18
dbrgn wrote: post #9

To me as a Swiss citizen, born in Switzerland, living in Switzerland, it's an impertinence that every time I open a bank account with a Swiss bank I have to fill out at least 1 form with information about my relation to the US, about my travels in the US and whether I might have to pay taxes there. As a side note, the only other country besides the US that collects taxes based on citizenship and not based on residenc…

Swiss banks are in that position today because some of them engaged in criminal conspiracies to help US customers commit tax fraud. If they want to participate in the US financial system then they have to play by US rules. US citizens residing in other countries can still receive some services and protection from the US federal government. So it's completely fair to tax them for that. We can argue about the value of…

This is not particular to Switzerland. Any bank in any country that has U.S.-related clients (just having a green card is enough) is compelled by the U.S. to comply with FATCA and similar legislation.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#125

Post by mikl »

JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #106

USA is overreaching, European countries should stand up this crap. I'm a Polish and US Citizen and I remember a situation where I was at an airport in Poland and was not let onto a flight after presenting a valid US passport and Polish ID card to the Polish border patrol. They didn't allow me onto my flight due to lack of a Polish passport (Polish law says I need a Polish passport when travelling to the US). I called…

Not really sure what you would have expected the embassy to do in that case? In Poland, Polish law applies to everyone, U.S. citizen or not.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#126

Post by JacKTrocinskI »

kgwgk wrote: post #119
JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #106

USA is overreaching, European countries should stand up this crap. I'm a Polish and US Citizen and I remember a situation where I was at an airport in Poland and was not let onto a flight after presenting a valid US passport and Polish ID card to the Polish border patrol. They didn't allow me onto my flight due to lack of a Polish passport (Polish law says I need a Polish passport when travelling to the US). I called…

> USA is overreaching, European countries should stand up this crap. [Recounts story about issues at Polish border due to Polish law and Polish citizenship.] So you would have liked the US to stand against Polish crap on your behalf?

I pay Polish taxes on the money I earn in Poland and I abide by Polish law while in Poland, why should I abide by US law while in Poland? What's the benefit to me? I mean if I'm paying an overreaching tax then yeah I kind of expect them to overreach for me.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#127

Post by seventhtiger »

JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #106

USA is overreaching, European countries should stand up this crap. I'm a Polish and US Citizen and I remember a situation where I was at an airport in Poland and was not let onto a flight after presenting a valid US passport and Polish ID card to the Polish border patrol. They didn't allow me onto my flight due to lack of a Polish passport (Polish law says I need a Polish passport when travelling to the US). I called…

It's the rule of master nationality. If you are in a country which you are a citizen of, that country may treat you as only a citizen of that country. That means you cannot be American in Poland. You are Polish and you may not leave without a passport.

This is the only reason dual nationality is tolerated in the first place. Otherwise every dual citizen is a walking diplomatic disaster waiting to happen.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#128

Post by kgwgk »

JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #126
kgwgk wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> USA is overreaching, European countries should stand up this crap. [Recounts story about issues at Polish border due to Polish law and Polish citizenship.] So you would have liked the US to stand against Polish crap on your behalf?

I pay Polish taxes on the money I earn in Poland and I abide by Polish law while in Poland, why should I abide by US law while in Poland? What's the benefit to me? I mean if I'm paying an overreaching tax then yeah I kind of expect them to overreach for me.

> (Polish law says I need a Polish passport when travelling to the US)

What would you have expected the US to do? Smuggle you out of the country?

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#129

Post by JacKTrocinskI »

mikl wrote: post #125
JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #106

USA is overreaching, European countries should stand up this crap. I'm a Polish and US Citizen and I remember a situation where I was at an airport in Poland and was not let onto a flight after presenting a valid US passport and Polish ID card to the Polish border patrol. They didn't allow me onto my flight due to lack of a Polish passport (Polish law says I need a Polish passport when travelling to the US). I called…

Not really sure what you would have expected the embassy to do in that case? In Poland, Polish law applies to everyone, U.S. citizen or not.

Just because something is the law doesn't mean it has to make sense or be justifiable. It was a frustrating situation to be in, I had evidence of being a citizen of both countries and despite that was not allowed to travel freely between them. I expected the USA and Poland to help me not fight me that day especially since I had done nothing wrong.

Re: Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information

#130

Post by JacKTrocinskI »

kgwgk wrote: post #128
JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pay Polish taxes on the money I earn in Poland and I abide by Polish law while in Poland, why should I abide by US law while in Poland? What's the benefit to me? I mean if I'm paying an overreaching tax then yeah I kind of expect them to overreach for me.

> (Polish law says I need a Polish passport when travelling to the US) What would you have expected the US to do? Smuggle you out of the country?

Honestly, one call from the embassy and I would have been on that flight, believe me.
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