Non-US Bank

[Dave]

I got audited for the first time in my 44 years.

I've always reported all of my internet marketing income truthfully so nothing became of it.

This happened over a year ago so had nothing to do with the latest developments.

I'm just saying opening a Canadian bank account is not the way to go for US citizens.

[joeker]

Well I just called CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) and spoke to a rep. I told him I am an American citizen but NOT a resident of Canada and asked what I need to do to open a Canadian checking account:

He said all I need is:

1. A valid passport
2. Another picture ID (drivers license)

He said I do not have to be a resident of Canada, but have to physically go to a branch to open the account. (as stated earler in this thread)

Just thought I'd let you guys know. It would seem once the account is setup there would be no need visit a branch again.

Also please note that most if not all Canadian banks will report to the IRS for AMerican citizens.

Thats all

[stocktrader]

yeah, can you give some more details of what happened? it would help some people i think. Were these american accounts? I see that you are in canada but i assumed online gambling profits would not be a red flag in canada.

[PokerProp]

Open an account with $1000 and then never make another deposit or withdrawal other sending $20 to it through an e-waller every 3-4 months to keep it active.
If your a high limit player find other ways to deposit such as $500 at a time through western union (no ID required for $500 and can use fake names if the site lets you, most will).
The Canadian account is just to open the Ewallets. All of your cashouts should be to the ewallets. Use debit cards to take out the money from the Ewallet.
This will cause no red flags.
If you do this and some Ewallet or poker site doing business in the US gets busted then I hope you've paid your taxes. If so you've done nothing illegal; if not then you're a money laundering felon.

[joeker]

Originally Posted by PokerProp

Open and account with $1000 and then never make another deposit or withdrawal with the account other than every every 3-4 months withdrawal $20 to it from an e-wallet just to keep it active.
If your a high limit player find other ways to deposit such as $500 at a time through western union (no ID required for $500 and can use fake names if the site lets you, most will).
The Canadian account is just to open the Ewallets. All of your cashouts should be to the ewallets and use debit cards to take out the money.
This will cause no red flags.
If you do this and the IRS gets you money because they bust some Ewallet or poker site doing business in the US, you better hope your taxes are paid.

Excellent plan

[Dave]

I was audited because I had over 10k direct deposited in one year from my NeTeller account, a foreign country company, into my Canadian bank account.

I don't believe it had anything to do with gambling profits, just taxable income.

No one "official" told me anything about why I was being audited.

I ran into a bank employee, who is a friend of mine at a club and she told me in confidence that it was because of the NeTeller deposits.

An overzealous bank manager, paranoid about following the rules to the letter most likely.

All I'm saying is that Canadian and US authorities freely exchange information about money transactions for income tax and legal purposes.

We're best friends at the government level.

Try screwing the system at your own risk.

We probably shouldn't be discussing this in public..... or maybe I'm just becoming paranoid.

[Randy]

Banks are required to notify the government of any single deposits of over $10k, and from what I understand, that's almost always a sure ticket to the IRS audit highway.

[joeker]

Originally Posted by Randy

Banks are required to notify the government of any single deposits of over $10k, and from what I understand, that's almost always a sure ticket to the IRS audit highway.

Not really....you know how many Americans have regular deposits over 10k?

Alot

[Dave]

I was aware of that rule Randy and kept my deposits small.

Never over 3k and they still called me out.

Post 9/11 paranoia, and drug dealing, and tax evaders .............

A few bad apples spoils it for the rest of us.

[PokerProp]

Opening a Canadian bank account in order to get an eWallet linked to it is no way screwing the system nor is it illegal at all.

If you are not in any of the 11 states and an authority asks why you have a Canada bank you can say: So i can play online poker . If you don't feel comfortable saying this then go with something like:
"I do internet marketing and focus on the Canadian market. I wanted to have more of a presence there and also have a Canadian credit card to get .ca domains and Canada hosting as i thought it might help me rank better in google.ca"

A poster on another forum said that the bank he works at had about 200 USA account the last couple days. A typical day is 1 maybe 2.