You're spreading misinformation. Stop it please.

I would guess that airport security is going to be way tougher than highway security.

A big issue is that flying into a Canadian airport can be WAY more expensive. For instance, from Washington DC the cheapest direct flight I can get into Toronto is $400 round trip while flying into Buffalo only costs me $120 round trip via Southwest.

Regards,
Carlos

Most developed nations (including Canada) have tax treaties with the US to avoid double taxation. My understanding is that professional online poker players who are US citizens living in Canada will only be paying US income tax.

No, I'm actually not. Unless tax law has changed regarding this in the last 2-3 years, you would in fact be obligated to file and pay both taxes (or at the very least file in both counties and perhaps not pay anything if you qualify for an exemption).

As an American you would still have to file your US taxes and I can't recall off hand what the precise # is but it's something like your first 60-80k earned abroad that you can receive an exemption on.

Even if you renounce your US citizenship and obtain the citizenship of another nation you legally would be obligated to file and pay whatever taxes are owed to the US for several years. You obviously can choose to not file and pay, but you are actually supposed to.

Obviously what I'm posting is extremely simplified as I'm not a tax lawyer, but the general idea of it should be correct. I also want to add that my comments are presuming you have actually obtained proper documentation (ie. VISA, citizenship papers, etc.) and are a permanent resident/landed immigrant/naturalized citizen/etc. Obviously if you are only visiting and as such should technically not be working in the country, then you would not be required to pay tax to the country you're visiting, but rather only to the US.

I contacted my accountant (Russ Fox) before I left for Canada and he said I couldn't be double taxed. It may be different for people immigrating or renouncing citizenship, I don't know. I am not immigrating or renouncing citizenship though and I'd guess that's the case for most in this thread.

Russ is such a boss.

Also in reference to above customs tends to be easier via air than driving across border (just my experience)... and I'm really not sure why?

bigfoot, you are wrong re: the tax. The US has tax treaties with most nations (def including canada) to avoid double taxation. The way Russ Fox explained it to me was you basically end up paying the higher tax of the two countries in most cases

I'd definitely take Russ' opinion over the lawyer and accountants I talked to, so I apologize for providing inaccurate information. I was told you would be required to pay US taxes even after obtaining the citizenship of another nation (and obviously renouncing US citizenship). Apologies to the thread.

Your US tax liability doesn't go away, but if you are liable for taxes wherever you live those are deducted from what you owe to the US as long as you're in one of the overwhelming majority of countries that have a tax treaty with the US.

I'm crossing posting this from the Legislation forum....


As far as Canada, HSBC Premier doesn't do much. My account in Canada is good to go; all I have to do is sign the paperwork IN PERSON. Kind of defeats the purpose It would make it a lot easier if I could actually go to Canada (my rep told me it would take 15 seconds to activate my account).

Each country is different... I was told specifically that a Hong Kong account could be opened without having to be there in person.

I'm wondering about Mexico now..... you need an FM3 to open a bank account, but maybe HSBC could get around that?

Hi everyone,

So I've read through this thread, and didn't really find a consensus on the best option for banking? It seems that people are saying that opening a HSBC account doesn't seem to work out but it seems everyone seems to go there as well. So what would be a good choice?

Randy Lew!

Are you talking in terms of simply getting an account to change your address on stars, or something to actually use for cashouts?

HSBC Premier is awesome if you have 100k you don't need.

At my local branch, it took 30 minutes for my Premier rep to submit the paperwork. That night I had access to a Canadian HSBC Premier account. All I had to do was go the branch in Toronto and sign paperwork and my checkbooks, ATM, etc would be waiting. They can do this for you in any country with a branch (you cut through red tape and have everything ready when you arrive).

My problem is that I can't go to Canada because I was arrested in college so it defeats the purpose. I'm either opening an account in Hong Kong (can do it without going to Hong Kong) or having them set up an HSBC account for me in Mexico; according to my rep, I won't need an FM3 visa (banks want this to open an account) and that will save 2 months and a ton of headaches.

If you are just looking at opening a bank account and have never been arrested, going straight to Canada yourself is easiest. I don't know anybody that didn't get a bank account.

BTW: with HSBC Premier, all your international accounts are linked online and you can transfer freely between accounts and currencies without paying exchange fees (like transferring money from your US savings to US checking account)

Well optimally both but if that consensus isn't found yet then maybe just the address?

Bank of Montreal IMO.

Basically wherever you go, dont present any document that says you are a visitor unless they specifically ask for it. Being a visitor seems to disqualify you at most banks.

relying on them not knowing facts about you that would disqualify you seems risky if you plan on moving any significant amount of money through the account at some point...

Ah yeah ideally I would love to move some significant portion of money but I'm guessing no one's tried this yet? And I'd probably move to Vancouver so I can stay on the West Coast if I moved to Canada unless there are better suggestions

Everyone I know specifically said they were traveling in Canada for an extended period and didn't want to get killed on the exchange rate; not one walked away without an account....

If you want to move large sums and declare your poker winnings, HSBC Premier is the way to go. Everrything is streamlined for you and you have a specific contact at HSBC.

Regarding where to move.... really depends on what you want. Living in Canada doesn't seem like it would be much fun. But a place like La Paz or Cabo San Lucas is appealing to me due to the great scuba diving, weather, and beaches. Syous' blog/site has really good info for poker players wanting to move abroad. Figure out what you want from you US hiatus and the rest is easy. If you just want to grind all day, your location is irrelevant. For me, Mexico is close enough where I can fly back regularly to visit friends and family while being on a quasi permanent vacation....

A: I don't know if the visitor status disqualifies you at BOM or not.

B: I don't know how cashouts work through them or not.


Basically I have a very limited sample size with my own experience. We'll see how it goes from here.

Sounds like a decent option but seems a little useless to have 100,000$ just sitting in there too. You said you can set it up prior of getting there? Can ya expand on that.

You can also just pay a fee. Premier is free if you have 100k balance but available to anyone.

Has anyone actually used HSBC for large poker transactions? My understanding is no.

Sounds like you're implying it's not the greatest choice. What would a better alternative be?

In my personal opinion, opening just a random local account for address verification and then doing your banking at an 'offshore' non-domestic bank account. PM me if you want more specifics.

This is true. You pay $200 to setup an account abroad, but pay all the fees if you have to move money. There is also something to be said for having all your international accounts linked up.

Their Premier savings rate isn't too bad tbh, but having liquid cash to move around is more valuable than any interest rate a bank can offer.

Obviously nobody has tried to move large amounts yet (too soon). But I don't see it being a problem with ewallets (could be wrong though)