Quote: (01-25-2012 11:15 AM)MiXX Wrote:
Quote:durangotang Wrote:
Hell, if you wanted, I am sure it's a grey area, but you could undergo a name change in Dominica and open foreign accounts with a different identity. Shady, yes. Effective, probably.
Hey Durango, great post!
I'm very curious about this. You see, for some odd reason (I will not post details on a public forum), I have dual nationality with another country, and am working on getting my passport now. However, because of my ancestors, my LEGAL NAME in that country is completely different than my US Citizen legal name. Yeah, very complicated.
So, I was hiring a lawyer in that foreign country to change my legal name in Dominica for example, to match my USA legal name. However, I've heard from several trusted friends that I should just take-out this foreign passport on my legal name in that country.
So, in you opinion, is that a benefit and an advantage I would have? Would I get in "trouble" as a US Citizen for holding a 2nd passport under a completely different name in a foreign country - albeit, it is my LEGAL name in that country?
Mixx
Senior Mixx,
This whole thing is well beyond my expertise and hypothetical. There are two things to consider: tax avoidance (legal) and tax evasion (illegal). Tax avoidance is using all legal means to reduce your taxes and is the goal, tax evasion is illegal and uses illegal means to not pay taxes which I cannot advocate.
If we were to hypothetically speculate on evasion - I think you are quite lucky. I am pretty sure the term used in one of the books I read was "signature authority," I'd have to go back and check and again I am no expert, but you are required to report any account overseas in excess of $10,000 in which you have signature authority. So, I would assume the IRS doesn't care what other name or corporation you are using as a vehicle - if you have signature authority they want you to declare. Now, I don't know what would happen if you were investigated, but I assume the IRS would look for all accounts under your legal name or known aliases. If the investigation in a foreign country checked for legal name changes or aliases you would be lucky that none appeared since you didn't have that done. You simply have always had a different name.
Perhaps your other alias, your different name, would appear with a fingerprint check in some international database and you would be fucked. Who knows, it's all speculation. The premise is the less they know about your other identity the better if you are evading taxation. You would be well advised to get good legal counsel before you do anything, because chances are I am probably wrong. Personally, I plan to go the tax avoidance (legal) route.
All the same, it's still cool.