offshore banking worth it?
 

assume i am resident in canada, working (on a twp) more than 182 days per year, all worldwide income is taxable, right?

if i do my p85's and r105's, the interest i earn is still gonna be taxed in canada under the treaty, no?

so, interest rates & compensation schemes aside, what advantages, if any are there to moving my instant access savings from the UK to an offshore account?

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

As far as tax in Canada is concerned, none. If your savings are offshore, and you are no longer tax resident in the UK (which you will not be as we are assuming you are tax resident in Canada) then you will escape UK tax. However, you would have been able to claim a credit in Canada for any tax paid in the UK. You still pay income tax in Canada on the interest you earn.

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

.... assuming you're daft enough to mention it.

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

Novo, out of nothing more than academic interest, you understand, how "safe" is it to not do so? I mean, how can one get stung?

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

erm ...

<takes bait>

... but not mentioning it would be tax evasion/fraud. We wouldn't want to encourage that.

Would we?

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

This story about Liechtenstein concerns bigger sums than would be held my most members of this forum, but is a cautionary tale:
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjourna...9d5e19&k=35810

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

As others have said, tax evasion is certainly to be frowned on. :) But the chances of the Canadian tax authorities discovering that you have a, presumably modest, interest income from an account in, say the Channel Islands are very nearly zero.

If we're talking megabucks, it would be different.

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

If it's just a modest income, why not simply pay the tax?

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

Ha!

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

Actually, just to clarify, not paying the tax is something I personally wouldn't do. But, let's be honest. You'd never get caught out.

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

You can always take the risk, as some here might be tempted to do, but if you get caught there are consequences and later in life you can expect repeat tax audits. Apart from the moral and ethical dimension you should ask yourself is it worth it? I think not but you decide!

Post Script .. Should anyone here need any further convincing one should be aware that the taxman is not shy about publicising names .. for example see link

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/newsroom/co...l080304-e.html

Re: offshore banking worth it?
 

Ouch!!:eek: