Found interesting article
http://www.livinghealthyandworryfree.com/2011/02/how-to-move-large-amounts-of-cash-across-international-borders/
What about this new 30% withholding on funds sent via an international wire that flows from or through the U.S. banking system?
First, it originates in the recently passed HIRE Act, the so-called Jobs Bill. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with employment…but there you go. Politics.
Second, it isn’t yet in effect but is scheduled to take effect starting Jan. 1, 2013.
Third, no one right now knows exactly how this will all shake out. Many believe, and it seems likely, that banks will err on the side of caution and simply withhold the 30% on nearly every international wire transfer made using the U.S. banking system. Excluded it seems will be transfers to yourself (that is, when the sending bank account and the receiving bank account are titled in the same name), as well as (critically) transfers to countries that have signed exchange of information treaties with the United States (this is the leverage being brought to bear).
When buying real estate overseas, you typically transfer the required funds to the seller, your attorney, or to an escrow account. In other words, the transfer isn’t typically made to your own account in the country. You probably wouldn’t have one (perhaps you wouldn’t be able to open one, depending on the country and the circumstances) before making the real estate purchase. This means that it’s likely 30% of your transfer would be withheld. The seller probably isn’t going to go along with the suggestion that he wait to get the remaining 30% of his purchase price until after you’ve gotten it refunded by the U.S. government. Meaning you’ll have to inflate the amount of money you wire for the purchase by enough to cover the withholding.
This could be expensive. In fact, you’d have to wire US$142,857 to net US$100,000 on the receiving end.
We’ve been reporting on this issue in recent weeks, and readers have been getting in touch with questions as well as to suggest possible solutions.
One alternative offered by a reader was to FedEx a cashier’s check. While this could work for U.S. dollar transactions, the timing would likely get complicated. Foreign banks typically don’t release funds for a cashier’s check any sooner than they do for a regular check. In Panama, it takes three weeks for funds to clear when you deposit a check from the United States. Building this delay into your purchase timeline could be fine…or it could create a problem for you.
Additionally, sending a U.S. dollar check for a non-dollar purchase means you have a currency risk during the time it takes for the check to arrive and clear. If the exchange rate goes against you in the intervening days or weeks, you could find yourself short on the amount due to close.
Moving large amounts of cash across international borders legally requires a lot of paperwork and planning, and I don’t recommend that you attempt it less than legally.
So what’s an international investor to do? Start moving your investment funds outside of the United States now. Diversify your assets among different jurisdictions, different accounts, and different currencies before Jan. 1, 2013.
I believe this will be the real, though unintended, effect of this new law. More money will move out of the United States more quickly than it would have otherwise because of concern over how this potential 30% withholding is going to affect even average, every-day, law-abiding, tax-paying Americans trying to manage their own assets and plan their own financial futures.
While the withholding isn’t a tax, as you’ll be able to claim it back on your tax return, it is a nuisance and a cash flow issue. It puts the burden on you (as the American who wants to stay IRS compliant) to file for the refund and to be able to show to the IRS’s satisfaction that no tax was due in the first place.
Our offshore and tax attorneys will keep us updated as the international banking community continues to process the implications of the new tax laws buried in the HIRE Act.
Meanwhile, diversification is, as always, the best way to keep yourself from being at their mercy, however they play out.
Lief Simon
Ecuador
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