Opening a bank acct in HK?

[MisterJJ]

SushiLover, no need to get so defensive, it was merely a suggestion. Nowhere did I suggest that you don't donate money to charity.

I'm not sure if you have noticed that the gap between the poor and the rich is quite wide here, and that many people who are getting the $6000 are the ones who don't really need it (or are spending it on holidays or a new iPad). Many charities are encouraging people to donate their $6000 to help that who need it most.

While your family may have lived in HK for several generations (I will be the fifth generation to be here), it sounds like you personally left at a young age and probably did not pay any taxes. Whilst I think it is OK for your parents and grandparents to receive the money, I think you need to think of others who live in a place where the welfare system is maybe not as good as the one you come from.

Finally, you do not pay tax on bank accounts. You don't even pay tax on the interest you earn.

[bibbju]

The link doesn't give criteria of opening a bank acct so i wasn't able to be fully "prepared" to bring all my docs. I had most of it except they don't accept the same types of identification as other countries do.

Opening a bank account in HK is extremely EASY when compared to some other countries, especially for non-residents. I'm not sure how you've managed to make such a drama out of a simple process but your expectations (in particular the expecting bank branches to do your printing for you) do seem slightly bonkers It's quite simple: passport/HKID + recent (3 months or less) utility bill as proof of address = opened bank account. If your common sense didn't tell you that it might be a good idea to bring these things with you, a Google search (or indeed a search on this forum) would have told you everything you need to know within minutes.

The internet isn't just for online banking....some of us actually use it to research things in advance so we're prepared

[justjoe86]

Personally I don't think anyone should be criticised for claiming the $6000, whatever their financial status. It is the government who made the stupid decision to give it to all PRs, with no other eligibility criteria. I think the only people who have questions to answer are them.

If you feel that you are comfortable enough financally to give money to charity to help those who need it, you can make this decision regardless of whether you received $6k from the government or not. I think giving money to charity is an independent and personal decision, not to be decided by random events such as these, or dictated by others.

[SushiLover]

@Brit--I pay taxes on the interest on my HK bank account back in my country, for your info. You don't need to be rude and disrespectful b/c this is a forum and we use this forum to learn and share while Mister and I were clarifying something.

And i didn't say i pay more taxes than ppl on this board. Learn to read properly. I said that I am/have been CONTRIBUTING TO HK-- (and I will pay taxes on my interest on my HK acct) if you must know. Sure, maybe in HK you don't need to pay taxes on interest earned but my situation is diff and I"m required to pay taxes on my interest. Sure, I do not know how things work exactly in Hk as well as you do....did you when you just arrived and settled?? And we aren't even in the same situations, as I am not returning to re-locate here but rather to come back occasionally to meet family. So, please be a little bit respectful. Who stepped on your toes?

[SushiLover]

@Brit--
first of all, some of your interpretations are in err and you should not make assumptions and judgments about others. My pymt on interest has nothing to do with the $6k rebate and I don't know how you are making that correlation that I was. It has to do with opening an acct with the balance i put in the bank account and interest generated from that. I don' t have a pre-existing hk bank account, hence i opened one so that I could access my money easily and link my accounts together electronically. Plus, the local bank account was necessary so the govt. could directly deposit the rebate check into the account, if you must know. Why would i open an (add'l) one if i had one to begin with?

I mentioned i have "contributed" to hk. Do contributions have to be solely derived from income tax? are there other ways to contribute to the community/society? You're clearly (erroneously) assuming that I have not/am not "contributing" b/c you seem to think that contributing implies paying income tax, which is one way but not the only way. I do a little bit of community work here through my work. I put money in a local bank that is utilized in loans. I contribute to the economy by spending in HK. I''m not confused, I think you're the one confused here. Grow up and find a meaningful hobby instead of scrutinizing every stmt and making inaccurate judgments and interpretations. If you have anything meaningful to say, you can use the PM function. Otherwise kindly end this meaningless conversation. This is a forum to share and receive information, not to insult people or use this as a venue for a debate match.

[bibbju]

I mentioned i have "contributed" to hk.....I put money in a local bank that is utilized in loans.

Quality response lol....by keeping your own money in your account, you're contributing to local society. That really is grasping at straws.

This is a forum to share and receive information, not to insult people or use this as a venue for a debate match.

Er...you're new to this forum, aren't you? You'll learn