[1fiscalpilot]

How does an American living in Hong Kong setup a brokerage account? I have a brokerage account in the states but would like to take advantage of the tax structure here.

Any suggestions?

[chimo]

Originally Posted by 1fiscalpilot

...American ... tax....

There's your answer! Your government makes it too much of a hassle for HSBC or others to bother. Americans are taxed on all income, whether foreign or domestic. Even if you are based overseas you still have to pay your uncle Sam.

[DanielandHayley]

Originally Posted by 1fiscalpilot

How does an American living in Hong Kong setup a brokerage account? I have a brokerage account in the states but would like to take advantage of the tax structure here.

Any suggestions?

by 'take advantage' of the tax structure here...do you mean avoid tax in the US by any chance?!...

[Brown_By_Nature]

Aren't HSBC getting screwed now for this now by the American Govt?

[DanielandHayley]

Originally Posted by Brown_By_Nature

Aren't HSBC getting screwed now for this now by the American Govt?

It's not really a question of getting 'screwed'...but yes, If a US taxpayer, deposits money that has been legitimately earned (say in Hong Kong) in an account with say HSBC and does not then declare this income in breach of US tax rules..then the bank have technically laundered this money...if they so desire, the US government then has the power to 'reclaim' the lost tax income from HSBC's correspondence account in the US by using its forfeiture powers under the Patriot Act...

[beeph]

the us gov pressures alot of foreign banks for us citizens because all capital gains and dividends on investments are taxable (i think 1099 div/int)

hsbc hong kong doesnt want to go around filing 1099's which require your social security number, tracking your positions, preparing forms, then sending them out blah blah.

The guy opening your account has no idea what the rules are for and may try to get u to sign papers saying you're not a us citizen when you are, just so they can try to sell investment products (and get a commission).. be careful what u sign.

It sucks not to be able to invest in the us stock market but if u have dual citizenship, u can do it by opening the account with your other passport.. only america has these rules.

In short.. hong kong has no capital gains tax, so they have no infrastructure for tax reporting, and have no interest in becoming a tax collector for random foreign governments.. lots of work for them with no money in it for them. And it scares off depositors. Lose Lose.

[Claire ex-ax]

A look on the Schwab Hong Kong website shows one form for US citizens residing outside the US only asking for the Taxpayer Identification Number. The IRS won't let you forget it.

Also:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/3...tax-probe.html

[beeph]

Originally Posted by DanielandHayley

It's not really a question of getting 'screwed'...but yes, If a US taxpayer, deposits money that has been legitimately earned (say in Hong Kong) in an account with say HSBC and does not then declare this income in breach of US tax rules..then the bank have technically laundered this money...if they so desire, the US government then has the power to 'reclaim' the lost tax income from HSBC's correspondence account in the US by using its forfeiture powers under the Patriot Act...

The US govt can start seizing assets if they desire of course to 'reclaim' stuff but the Chinese govt can also decide to 'reclaim' stuff based on one of its many laws, of course.

It reminds me of a case where the us demanded extradition of a russian cyber-hacker and the russian govt responded with a request to extradite 2 fbi agents to russia it felt used illegal techniques to catch said cyber-hacker.

That being said i do recall the US pressuring hsbc into freezing those north korean bank accounts a while back so they obviously have some pull

[er2]

Originally Posted by Brown_By_Nature

Aren't HSBC getting screwed now for this now by the American Govt?

UBS is getting screwed right now for this, since they were actively luring US investors into offshore accounts. HSBD - didn;t hear about sth like this...

[beeph]

Originally Posted by er2

UBS is getting screwed right now for this, since they were actively luring US investors into offshore accounts. HSBD - didn;t hear about sth like this...

I think thats right.. ubs had the swiss style super-secret banking and some worker there blew the whistle.. hsbc has china style super-incompentent banking and just doesnt bother with the reporting stuff, not that they bother trying to hide anything. But if someone wanted to find your assets they'd be like, sure no problem.

Chinese banks typically have no problem yelling your account balance across a crowded room. Or probably just reveal any account info to anyone who bothers calling them and gets the right customer service rep. Not a great way to do tax-evasion. There's places that actually go out of their way to hide your stuff wink-wink style. Like those islands and crap.