[jeffonthego]

Interested to know about Hong Kong's tax agreements with other countries, specifically Canada.

Are there any exchanges between governments? What about banks?

For instance, would the Canadian government be aware of HK bank accounts opened by Canadian citizens.

Take the US and Canada, if you have investment income in the US, the Canadian government will be notified - have experience with this.

Can anyone provide some insights or web links on the subject?

Thanks

[jimbo]

Sounds like a case of tax evasion going on here!

[KnowItAll]

As far as the US is concerned, banks do report back...

I'm assuming you've seen this ..

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/nonresi.../nonres-e.html

Also, if OECD pubs are to be belived... I'm pretty confident that if the Canadian Govt wants to find out .. they will.

Beyond that .. talk to an accountant. You'll find hundreds here who have experience dealing with the Canadian authorities..

[nation]

If it's declaration of interest income you're concerned with the majority of countries have double tax treaties with each other in which tax on interest will be withheld by the bank depending on your residency status. As for any income you are putting through a HK bank account the Canadian authorities may not have immediate access to it but be sure enough that if they have reason for concern they can find out.

[bbc_guy]

Google CARLTON PRESS. They sell material that teach you how to bank anonymously, away from the prying eyes of your government.

Just a note though: you might want to firstly subscribe to an anonymous web surfing service such as www.anonymizer.com before you order anything. These reroute your web surfing through a proxy server, ensuring your anonymity. Otherwise, your every keystroke and website that you visit will be recorded by Big Brother, and you may give reason for him to look into your tax affairs if you buy books about tax havens and stuff. And if you buy physical books, have them sent to a PO Box or maildrop, or even better, get one PO Box or maildrop to forward to a second PO Box or maildrop. Sounds extreme, but if BB catches you, remember, tax evasion is a criminal offence in US (not sure about Canada, but prob is too).

[paulmears]

Look at HSBC Channel Islands, Guernsey I think

[bbc_guy]

No, do not open an account with a major bank that has branches worldwide like HSBC, even if it's in one of their offshore branches. Best to open several small accounts with small local banks that have no branches in your home country. I'm sure a lot of banks fit that criteria in HK. Apart from that, Carlton Press offers alternative methods of depositing secret money as you'll see from their website and from the books they sell.

[YVR-HKG]

Yes, there is agreements in place between Canada and HK governments. If CRA wants something from a HK bank, they will ask HK government to require it from a HK bank.

On the CRA website, you can actually see the tax treaties between each of the countries.. but they don't detail the back-end administration stuff.

Example:
About a year or two ago, in the news, a famous land developer living in Canada was reviewed, and their HK assets were used against him.

[Jon.E.Kong]

According to CRA website there is no tax treaty in place, but I'm pretty sure they could find out pretty easy if they wanted to, especially with HSBC.

Just don't give them a reason to go snooping.

If you're living in HK, why not opt for non-residency of Canada?

[HKFella]

Originally Posted by nation

If it's declaration of interest income you're concerned with the majority of countries have double tax treaties with each other in which tax on interest will be withheld by the bank depending on your residency status. As for any income you are putting through a HK bank account the Canadian authorities may not have immediate access to it but be sure enough that if they have reason for concern they can find out.

In what kinds of cases would they bother - small fry/big amounts? Just want to know from your experience/knowledge.

Another thing is that in HK typical interest income of individuals is not taxable so it's not reported anywhere by banks.