Is it really useful to empty accounts at the end of the year?

[Clank]

From people on the ground in Dubai, more than 1.

There is no difference between countries. UAE is not an exception.

It gets reported if you have tax residency somewhere else in all CRS signer countries.

A completely different topic is if you are willing to lie to your bank.

 

[LegitBananas]

You sign the self certification form declaring you are a tax resident of what all countries. If you declare just UAE - the residence permit is a proof of that it very much might be possible you are doing correct declaration on certification form and bank takes you at your word. Unless, you have a high value account and there are indica that you might be resident in more than one country. SO yeah technically it is your responsibility to declare your tax residency.

Here is the complete guide by UAE Authorities on the subject:
https://mof.gov.ae/wp-content/uploa...tes-for-the-Common-Reporting-Standard-CRS.pdf

So basically you have to either :

A) spend more than 183 days per year in the UAE or
B) Just declare you spend more than 183 days per year in the UAE, while actually living somewhere else

perhaps its that simple, if the bank just takes you for your word. Not really groundbreaking or unique though, I imagine people have tried this in other countries too..

 

[PinkCat]

So basically you have to either :

A) spend more than 183 days per year in the UAE or
B) Just declare you spend more than 183 days per year in the UAE, while actually living somewhere else

perhaps its that simple, if the bank just takes you for your word. Not really groundbreaking or unique though, I imagine people have tried this in other countries too..

I'm wondering if you obtain that tax residency certificate from Dubai after spending just 3 months (there was some options to do that after just 3 months but don't remember the details, however this certificate will most likely not be recognized by your home country) if that will be enough to truthfully claim in front of your bank that you are Dubai tax resident.

Btw few days ago I got an email from my Dubai bank to update my tax residency information because there is 20k AED fine if it is not up to date.....


edit: more info about the 90 days tax residency rule: https://www.lombardodier.com/conten...november/expats-in-the-uae-understanding.html

 

[lagloriacubana]

So basically you have to either :

A) spend more than 183 days per year in the UAE or
B) Just declare you spend more than 183 days per year in the UAE, while actually living somewhere else

perhaps its that simple, if the bank just takes you for your word. Not really groundbreaking or unique though, I imagine people have tried this in other countries too..

Because this is outside the Mentor Gold section, all I can say is that you need to research what is appropriate to your circumstances and follow the rules.

 

[Dh8]

They report totals, not individual transactions.

Do you have an actual source for this? If you read through the official CRS handbook, it's clear that for bank accounts, only the total interest earned and the balance at year end is reported.

If the balance at year end is zero or even if you close the account, your account will still be reported to tax authorities, but the inflows and outflows are not automatically reported unless the inflow was interest earned from the bank itself.

The idea behind emptying the balance before year end is that people hope that if the balance at year end is zero or a low amount, it won't be material enough for tax authorities to care.

Whether tax authorities still look into zero balances is anyone's guess, but I'd wager they're more interested in someone with 1 million at year end compared to someone with a zero balance.

 

[uplana]

Whether tax authorities still look into zero balances is anyone's guess, but I'd wager they're more interested in someone with 1 million at year end compared to someone with a zero balance.

It depends on a lot of factors, especially how well the tax authorities develop their systems. With AI, it should be a straightforward task to uncover all those "secret" zero-balance accounts.

 

[Dh8]

It depends on a lot of factors, especially how well the tax authorities develop their systems. With AI, it should be a straightforward task to uncover all those "secret" zero-balance accounts.

True, that's a scary thought. Imagine tax authorities don't develop their systems until years in the future.

You think you're safe with a zero balance every year but once their AI systems are implemented, what if they use it to look into all the previous years of zero balance accounts, now you're on the hook for years of unpaid taxes, interest and penalties.

 

[JackAlabama]

True, that's a scary thought. Imagine tax authorities don't develop their systems until years in the future.

You think you're safe with a zero balance every year but once their AI systems are implemented, what if they use it to look into all the previous years of zero balance accounts, now you're on the hook for years of unpaid taxes, interest and penalties.

ai is no magic. It cant be with this amount of garbage data.

 

[Revoltec]

ai is no magic. It cant be with this amount of garbage data.

As long as it stays like it is now...

To be fair, I do not understand why they haven't included the transaction data as reportable, it is stated on many bank statements already so it is not that hard to implement

 

[JackAlabama]

As long as it stays like it is now...

To be fair, I do not understand why they haven't included the transaction data as reportable, it is stated on many bank statements already so it is not that hard to implement

its again a case bc these are bureaucrats (which are all tax exempt at oecd / eu level btw), and dont really understand what they try to regulate.