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How to move savings away from Hong Kong?

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  1. #31

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    May 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by mrgoodkat:
    You can keep them somewhere outside of Hong Kong, while still being a tax resident here. Not that much trouble.
    I am trying to open a non tax resident account in an unspecified European country... been a month and still waiting!

    My experience is all sort of problems, from them wanting an id card (which I don't have since my old one expired ten years ago), to them wanting recent tax returns (I am not supposed to file tax returns for the EU country since I don't earn money nor have any property there, so I haven't done it), to them not being able to open the pdf as "too big" (not my problem if the form is 48 pages and you want me to fill it by hand and scan them all in one file...).

    And my favourite one: I've been told "you have to be physically in the country to open a non-resident account" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


    I feel one of the few really globalised things is bank bureaucracy...

  2. #32

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    I've never specifically mentioned I'm not a resident when opening accounts back home. I have all the paperwork go to my parents address and file tax returns as a non-resident, since that's all that matters to the taxman.


  3. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by freeier:
    Banks are getting more creative with their verification questions these days.. but i have not seen one as innovative as this bank.
    "5 accounts not one less"

  4. #34

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    Very unpatriotic. You only need China’s digital currency. One coin to rule them all.


  5. #35

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    Original Post Deleted
    I know you're sniping for the sake of sniping... but this is tricky at one of our banks too, because they consider each currency that you have asked for as a separate account. And this is also one of many security questions they ask.
    Sage likes this.

  6. #36

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    May 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by mrgoodkat:
    I've never specifically mentioned I'm not a resident when opening accounts back home. I have all the paperwork go to my parents address and file tax returns as a non-resident, since that's all that matters to the taxman.
    In some countries you don't have to file tax returns if you're not resident/not have any property or income in the country.

    And the main difference, as in my original post, is that if you don't tell the bank you're not tax resident, they withhold the capital gain tax when you sell stocks at a profit.
    mrgoodkat, shri and TheBrit like this.

  7. #37

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    Jan 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by alexdown:
    In some countries you don't have to file tax returns if you're not resident/not have any property or income in the country.

    And the main difference, as in my original post, is that if you don't tell the bank you're not tax resident, they withhold the capital gain tax when you sell stocks at a profit.
    I only hold cash there, so that might be the difference in difficulty opening an account.

  8. #38

    Join Date
    Oct 2018
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    487
    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    Checked with my RM (in HK) during the sign up process and confirmed that you only need to maintain minimum in one country.

    But yeah, get you, things are not really joint up.

    For example while you have global view, from HK you can't do global transfer (you can do so from Singapore though).
    Do you mind sending me the contact of your RM? He might have a clue (mine doesn't).

  9. #39

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by john_1122:
    Do you mind sending me the contact of your RM? He might have a clue (mine doesn't).
    My RM is completely clueless to tell you the truth as well. Also based on the SCB website pages, they do make it clear that once you have status in one place, you don't need status in another.

    https://www.sc.com/hk/priority/globa...20are%20waived.

    "When you qualify as a Priority Banking client in any country, your status will extend worldwide. This will allow you to enjoy the same privileges for your accounts in other countries. What’s more, your family3 will also enjoy the same recognition, whether they are living with you at home or overseas"

    This is as clear as it gets.

  10. #40

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
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    Ok... I am a US citizen, so I need to file US taxes even as a non-resident. This makes investing trickier.

    Like vmlinuz said, it's actually good to get some things sorted no matter what. Logging into my old US credit union account always leads to some headaches (forgetting passwords, sometimes locked due to inactivity, etc.). So it takes some days to get it updated with the time difference. Apparently it doesn't have a SWIFT code(??) because it's so small, so will have to look into what happens with Transferwise and tax. Not very keen to just have the cash just sit there, though, but will put some there in case of family emergencies, etc.
    @pin what does it mean "your family will also enjoy". My partner has a SC priority bank account... we do not share any accounts though, and I am not priority. This may be a good option for me to look into in the near future, though. I don't do well with account keeping, so I'd like things to be simple.

    There have been some good suggestions, though. As I look through them, what should I look for to determine how "safe" money is there?