Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: madera on October 17, 2012, 05:06 pm
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Say somebody (definitely not me) had some unlaundered money (think in the range of $60,000 to $100,000), would it be possible to buy a house in South America (Colombia, Ecuador, maybe Peru, that region) without the taxman knowing about it?
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Ask Mitt Romney he has experience in these kind of things!
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I think how it works, if say there was a house for 500,000. The owner could sell it for less than market value to you, so you could buy the house legitimately for 400,000 and pay 100,000 cash... this would only work if the owner was on it obviously.
I have no money laundering experience :)
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That's a neat trick, but I'm philosophizing about buying a house entirely with dirty money. It doesn't have to be extremely luxurious or anything. You can find very decent homes in South America for prices up to $100,000.
If I buy a house somewhere far away, I suppose I get some kind of deed stating it's mine, and it will get registered somewhere that a specific piece of real estate belongs to me. But does the government, back in the UK or Spain or wherever I'm not residing, get notified of the fact that Mr M. just bought a home worth 60,000 dollar? Is there a way they can find out? Is that kind of information shared world wide?
I like the idea of secretly owning a home far away so that you can disappear and nobody will know where to look you. I'm just playing with the concepts. Any extra input still appreciated.
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Still in the market for real estate. (bump)
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If it works anything like bank accounts then I cant see why not, unless of course you declare it to your local government. Theres so much red tape when it comes to international borders you can get away with most things, unless your local government has an active interest in you, in that case they can submit a request and its down to the peruvian authorities discretion whether they release the information.
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Yes, and then try asking that guy to walk into the bank with that 100k :P You're passing the problem on, not solving it and certainly not a way to go if you want to evade capture as remember, if it's well known enough, the government will be all over it.
StExo - Excellent observation! It's almost like you have real life experience in this field.
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Yes, and then try asking that guy to walk into the bank with that 100k :P You're passing the problem on, not solving it and certainly not a way to go if you want to evade capture as remember, if it's well known enough, the government will be all over it.
Not necessarily, theres ways to get around almost anything, of course the seller would have to be in on it or very very understanding. Offshore bank accounts are designed to hide money from the taxman, a simple bank-to-bank transfer, to accounts outside of south america and your golden.
Alternatively, you can register a company outside of your country, put it into a beneficiaries name, register all the shares to yourself, transfer your funds to the company. When you move into the house, simply transfer the shares to the sellers name. Its long and complicated but it will work.
Thinking about it, I cant imagine buying houses with cash in south america is anything new, if its a one time purchase I would have thought you would go completely under the radar.
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OP, honestly, this is something you might have to just research on your own. It's just such specific information you're looking for. For instance, each country will have its own laws dictating what hoops (ie taxes) a foreigner must jump through in order to purchase a home in said country. So asking at the level of 'south america' isn't really going to get you the kind of information you need. You gotta find the country that combines least cost & buyin taxes w/ least oversight + highest standard of living. Search for ex-pat sites on clearnet, and also google the million blogs about living abroad. Sure it's possible, the question is if it's probable that you could pull it off. For me I know it would take a lot of research before I could answer yes to that question.
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This is so simple...........
you set up an offshore company in a tax haven (a secretive one). You are director of the company and the only shareholder, so the only one that can sign. The company/you (lol) open a bank account in the company name and transfer the cash to buy house to the offshore account. When you go to purchase house it is placed in the name of the company, you use a bankers draft or escrow service when purchasing the house.
Another version would see the house you wish to purchase already owned by a shell company for tax purposes. When you buy house in order that you can transfer it with no tax or red tape you simply change the shareholder/directors of the company, in other words there is a buyout, the company is sold along with it's only asset, the house.
I'm sure a lawyer or real estate agent could explain that much more clearly and without a hint of sleeze.
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Thank you for your replies people.
This is just a little idea I'm playing with. Houses in South American countries aren't that expensive, so maybe it's possible to buy one anonymously with cash. Then if something goes wrong in the home country, you can flee and stay there for a few years, until the heat has died down. It'll be like an extended vacation kinda thing.
Again, it's just an idea that I'm researching. I know it's a very specific question, but you understand I can't go on a regular clearweb forum and ask it. I realize that you need the help of a local lawyer/expert to do it, but right now I'm investigating the general possibilities and problems I might run into.
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India would be your best bet there mate. Cheap as hell to live there and with a huge population like that, it'd be like finding a needle is a very big fucking haystack.
Thanks for the tip my friend :)
Problem is that most people in India look ehm... Indian. In South America I'd stand out less, it appeals to me a bit more, and I speak Spanish which is an advantage.
But if there is an emergency you don't always get to choose so I'll certainly keep it in mind. Thanks again.
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One problem is getting the cash out of the country. Someone mentioned bank to bank transfers but first you have to deposit the money and that mean documents and a special form if it totals $10k or more. Money laundering is a felony and putting in 3 x 4k deposits is considered "structuring" a deposit which is a felony.
Its legal to carry up to 15k with you without declaring it plus another 15k in travelers checks. I don't recommend gold because they use metal detectors. You could make several trips and carry it there yourself without violating anything serious. Then, deposit it into the local banko and act like a law abiding foreign citizen of which there are many.
Personally, i'd rent rather than buy because what if you have to flee again? And the govt could confiscate all foreign owned land if a socialist got into power.