Off Shore Bank Account
The idea of an off shore bank account always brings to mind those who are attempting to break the law by hiding their money form the tax man. And while there is no doubt about this motive, a bank not on US soil can be used for legitimate purposes. The big deal about banking privileges away from the US begins with the defense that they provide the security and privacy that may not be available from a US banking institute. From this point of view there may be some legitimacy of argument. There are many off shore bank account providers in places around the world where stability of the government is rock solid, so if a person fears for a government upheaval in their own native country, a location that has been peaceful for hundreds of years might be a very strategic place to stash some cash. Of course, if that country does not report their banking transaction to other countries, so much the better. Then a good financial plan turns devious and therein lays the problem.
An off shore account is the thing of which legends are made and the tax cheater needs to make himself invulnerable to the long arm of the IRS. Movies from every decade since the nine forties have featured this idea, and is always associated with a person of ill repute or infamy. While the little guy sweats out his eight thousand dollar tax bill each year and wonders how he is going to make it, our jet setter is wondering whether his purchase of a Barbados estate will be protected from the IRS by his off shore account which subsidized the purchase. No matter how one slices, dices, configures or describes the thing, an off shore bank account is opened typically for one reason: the avoidance of paying taxes that are legally supposed to be paid. The argument from the big boys with the Sherman Tank sized wallets will argue that their tax bracket already pays 80% of all income tax now, and that is undeniable. But 98% of drivers speed at one time or another and feel that many of the speed limits are too constrictive and unfair but we still get tickets. Quite amazing how, when all of us feel emotionally that we are correct on some issue that the superiority of that argument transfers to an entitlement mentality that excuses the breaking of law in order to live the entitlement.
After 9/11, it became to law enforcement officials that anyone seeking to harm to the US could hide money in an off shore bank account in order to privately fund a clandestine act of aggression against the country. Stricter laws began being crafted to require banks from all over the world to begin reporting any off shore bank account with over one thousand US dollars in its possession. But there you go the loophole of all loopholes. Let's take one of the small Caribbean Islands that have been quite popular for the deposit of funds put there for "security" purposes. Will the decades old banking services that have provided privacy for its depositors and profited very handsomely for their services suddenly bow to the demands of a foreign country and spill the beans? As far as Jesus is concerned, there may be secrets now, but He warned: "For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be known...therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the night; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." (Luke 12:2, 3)
Despite the fact that perhaps a person wants to use an off shore bank account strictly for the security issue, and this person being from another country whose government is not stable, there is the possibility that this depositor after making a hefty consignment to a savings account finds that the local friendly dictator keels over and suddenly the guy in charge ought to be on Prozac. In most cases, off shore bank account providers are not insured the way US banks are and therein lays a big problem. If the next guy in charge of this tiny country is bi-polar, the money might be gone tomorrow. And let's also keep in mind that a bank such as the one committed to keeping all money transactions private may not be sitting on a sterling reputation and could be involved in some questionable practices itself. The bottom line is: "Ya takes your chances with these guys."
It is certainly legal to have an offshore account as a US citizen and what a person does with his legally possessed money is his business. When some of that money belongs by fiat to the US Treasury through enacted tax codes, it is illegal to not report it, but surprise!, that's not going to happen in many cases. If the government does discover off shore bank account irregularities, they can certainly prosecute someone to the full extent of the law, but the money itself is still safe from Treasury hands and so when a person does get out of jail at age ninety-three, he can go out on the white sand beaches of that little island and soak up the sun. If that's a fair tradeoff, so be it but most of us will pay our required tariffs here and now, whether we like them or not, and take our vacation on that white sand beach before we are mistaken for a prune with sunglasses.
An off shore account is the thing of which legends are made and the tax cheater needs to make himself invulnerable to the long arm of the IRS. Movies from every decade since the nine forties have featured this idea, and is always associated with a person of ill repute or infamy. While the little guy sweats out his eight thousand dollar tax bill each year and wonders how he is going to make it, our jet setter is wondering whether his purchase of a Barbados estate will be protected from the IRS by his off shore account which subsidized the purchase. No matter how one slices, dices, configures or describes the thing, an off shore bank account is opened typically for one reason: the avoidance of paying taxes that are legally supposed to be paid. The argument from the big boys with the Sherman Tank sized wallets will argue that their tax bracket already pays 80% of all income tax now, and that is undeniable. But 98% of drivers speed at one time or another and feel that many of the speed limits are too constrictive and unfair but we still get tickets. Quite amazing how, when all of us feel emotionally that we are correct on some issue that the superiority of that argument transfers to an entitlement mentality that excuses the breaking of law in order to live the entitlement.
After 9/11, it became to law enforcement officials that anyone seeking to harm to the US could hide money in an off shore bank account in order to privately fund a clandestine act of aggression against the country. Stricter laws began being crafted to require banks from all over the world to begin reporting any off shore bank account with over one thousand US dollars in its possession. But there you go the loophole of all loopholes. Let's take one of the small Caribbean Islands that have been quite popular for the deposit of funds put there for "security" purposes. Will the decades old banking services that have provided privacy for its depositors and profited very handsomely for their services suddenly bow to the demands of a foreign country and spill the beans? As far as Jesus is concerned, there may be secrets now, but He warned: "For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be known...therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the night; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." (Luke 12:2, 3)
Despite the fact that perhaps a person wants to use an off shore bank account strictly for the security issue, and this person being from another country whose government is not stable, there is the possibility that this depositor after making a hefty consignment to a savings account finds that the local friendly dictator keels over and suddenly the guy in charge ought to be on Prozac. In most cases, off shore bank account providers are not insured the way US banks are and therein lays a big problem. If the next guy in charge of this tiny country is bi-polar, the money might be gone tomorrow. And let's also keep in mind that a bank such as the one committed to keeping all money transactions private may not be sitting on a sterling reputation and could be involved in some questionable practices itself. The bottom line is: "Ya takes your chances with these guys."
It is certainly legal to have an offshore account as a US citizen and what a person does with his legally possessed money is his business. When some of that money belongs by fiat to the US Treasury through enacted tax codes, it is illegal to not report it, but surprise!, that's not going to happen in many cases. If the government does discover off shore bank account irregularities, they can certainly prosecute someone to the full extent of the law, but the money itself is still safe from Treasury hands and so when a person does get out of jail at age ninety-three, he can go out on the white sand beaches of that little island and soak up the sun. If that's a fair tradeoff, so be it but most of us will pay our required tariffs here and now, whether we like them or not, and take our vacation on that white sand beach before we are mistaken for a prune with sunglasses.
Off Shore Bank Account
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Reviewed by Anonymous
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8:09 PM
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