St. Kitts and Nevis. tax shelter?

[bmxninja357]

i happened across this news article a while back:

‘Bitcoin Jesus’ invites the rich to live in tax-free tropical paradise
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/ ... -paradise/

im just curious about this place and if there lays any validity to what is being said in this item; from the perspective of tax men. i only post this because of the general validity of the financial post from where i got it.

but anything that sounds too good to be true is generally....

peace,
ninj

[Jeffrey]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/ ... avoid-irs/

The dirty secret is that there are plenty of legitimate tax havens.

Edit: it's not really a secret.

[LaVidaRoja]

Before my retirement from the IRS, I attended several seminars on how to determine if taxpayers were sending money off-shore, and how or when to encourage them to come clean. Generally, if they continued to have US business-interests (their own companies) they would come clean when they got an offer that was too good to pass up to buy their business. (Had one company that had parked $14 million off-shore that came clean-- the purchase-offer was $500 million) The schmucks (five to 10 million) were not too difficult to catch -- credit cards that drew on off-shore accounts. The BIG money (see example above) depended on outside circumstances.

[bmxninja357]

thanks for the input guys. i wonder if anyone knows how the st kitts thing would effect canadians? but i appreciate hearing about both sides of the border.

peace,
ninj

[Burnaby49]

thanks for the input guys. i wonder if anyone knows how the st kitts thing would effect canadians? but i appreciate hearing about both sides of the border.

peace,
ninj

Not sure what you mean by "how st kitts thing would effect Canadians" but I'll take a stab at answering. I spent 35 years as a CRA auditor so I have some background in the area.

If you live in Canada you can't avoid being liable for tax in Canada if you buy a St. Kitts citizenship. As a resident of Canada you are liable for tax on income earned here regardless of your nationality. So if you have a regular job as an employee with the standard payroll deductions St. Kitts citizenship does nothing for you. If you tell your employer to stop taking source deductions because you are a St. Kitts citizen and therefore aren't taxable in Canada he will, at best, tell you to get back to work. There have been cases of people being fired for being persistent on issues like this because they just become too much of a nuisance. The only way you can take tax advantage of the St. Kitts citizenship is to be resident there (actually live there) and earn the income there which is awkward if you have to clock into the plumbing supply warehouse in Toronto every day at 7AM. As the article says;

There are no taxes on personal income or capital gains and the islands’ restrictive disclosure laws offer shelter from outside scrutiny, according to the Tax Justice Network, a think tank that studies secrecy jurisdictions.

This means personal income earned by residents of St. Kitts, not people living and working in Canada with a St. Kitts citizenship.

The crux of what they offer to Canadians for tax avoidance is in this paragraph;

However they pay to get in, people usually seek out countries like St. Kitts so they can evade taxes, says John Christensen, director of the Tax Justice Network. The U.S. Treasury Department last month said the island’s passports are being used to facilitate financial crime.

“To be blunt, we talk about places like St. Kitts as places where you go to escape from responsibilities,” Christensen, an expert on tax havens, said by phone from London. “St. Kitts sells secrecy on the international market and, unsurprisingly, attracts all types of dirty money.”

Specifically the St. Kitts citzenship, or citizenship in any other tax haven, can be used for two purposes. Firstly to hide money earned and taxable in Canada but not taxed because the individual is involved in tax evasion. This can include legal (construction business not declaring its revenue) or illegal (drug sales). Smuggle the money out and deposit it in St. Kitts where the CRA has no authority to demand bank records. That is what the "dirty money" comment means. Secondly, as a place to run if you get found out. However there is no magical Freemanish type solution where can live above the law in Canada and not pay any tax here because you have a St. Kitts passport to wave about.

[bmxninja357]

thanks for your input burnaby49. but im not worried at all about freeman related things here. im more thinking about the 'is it possible' and what are the further implications of one trying such things.

im sure there is many who would think they could run a three ring circus around the law. im just curious about it.

peace and thanks for the input,
ninj

[Burnaby49]

thanks for your input burnaby49. but im not worried at all about freeman related things here. im more thinking about the 'is it possible' and what are the further implications of one trying such things.

im sure there is many who would think they could run a three ring circus around the law. im just curious about it.

peace and thanks for the input,
ninj

If you have specific questions feel free to ask but, no, there is no legal "is it possible". The implications of trying to avoid tax by hiding your money in St. Kitts or any other tax haven are simple;

1 - You may get away with it because the CRA doesn't find out. Happens all the time.
2 - You get caught and charged with tax evasion.

While these places are called Tax Havens they are largely havens for illegal untaxed money, not a way for the average guy to avoid tax. I was involved in a lot of tax avoidance schemes where promoters sold Canadian suckers what were claimed to be allowable tax deductions for such things as charitable donations and tax write-offs. All of the promoters were locate in Tax Haven countries to block the CRA from getting information from them.

[Burnaby49]

Perhaps hiding ill-gotten assets in St. Kitts isn't as bulletproof as the article implies. From today's Post, the same paper as bmxninja357's article;

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/30 ... rendipity/

Porter covered his bets with escape-hatch citizenships but was caught in Panama trying to get to the safety of St. Kitts;

By the time charges were laid, Dr. Porter was in the Caribbean and spending most of his time with his family at a seaside home in Bahamas, where he is also a citizen. (Dr. Porter apparently has citizenship in at least four countries: Sierra Leone, Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis and Canada. He is also a member of Canada’s Privy Council.)

[bmxninja357]

it just struck me as an interesting place and fantastic claims make for some interesting reading. im thinking the arrest in a third country, multiple citizenship's, and access to somewhat secret info may play a role in how that is playing out. will be interesting to watch how it goes. but im sure there will be most baffling legal process due to illness, multiple countries, and possible Montreal mafia involvement. my assumption of mafia involvement is based in the Quebec construction part of things. there's often a connection between building things and paying the right people when Quebec. but SNC-Lavalin has been in all kinds of trouble all over the place so i am making an assumption.

nice find,
ninj

[Burnaby49]

I was just reading my morning paper while listening to John Coltrane. I subscribe to the Post.

[bmxninja357]

here is an interesting article.

Federation Moves To Seize Assets of Cancer Specialist
http://www.thestkittsnevisobserver.com/ ... ssets.html

it appears that Dr. Arthur T. Porter has been eating many cookies from many jars...

peace,
ninj

EDIT:

Arthur Porter: timeline of a corruption scandal
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/muh ... eline.html

peace,
ninj

[Dr. Caligari]

I was just reading my morning paper while listening to John Coltrane. I subscribe to the Post.

Early Coltrane, I hope. Ascension is way too intense to listen to before breakfast.

[Burnaby49]

I was just reading my morning paper while listening to John Coltrane. I subscribe to the Post.

Early Coltrane, I hope. Ascension is way too intense to listen to before breakfast.

1950's small group works. Lush Life, Polka Dots and Moonbeans, Slow Dance, You Leave me Breathless, that kind of thing. I like the Miles Davis 1950s quartet works for the same reason. He was still willing to play a melody. Kind of Blue is one of the greatest recordings ever made. Then, in my opinion, they both went to hell in the 60s. Bitches Brew might be a great work but I can't stand it. Ascension was a single 40 minute improv piece recorded in 1965. In no way a morning newspaper and coffee accompaniment.