What’s the rant with offshore banking? It’s a big thing in every John Grisham novel, but what’s the real story? Forget ethics and morals. If I put in my paltry hundred bucks a week, will it make more than at my local bank? Will they even talk to me about starting an account with a hundred bucks? Most important, if I don’t pay taxes on it here, do I have to pay taxes in the Cayman Islands or the Bahamas, etc?
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This being the age of specialization, I turned to Sam, pillar of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board and international business consultant. His report:
“I’ll assume we’re talking an honest bank located in a tax haven–that is, a country that has no (or very, very low) tax rates, such as Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, the Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey), and a few others. The banks provide services that let you invest in almost anything, anywhere. So you can think of your account as an investment account rather than just a bank savings account.
“(2) You use the account for money laundering, parking ill-gotten millions in the account to conceal their origin. At $100 per deposit, we’ll assume this is not your main concern.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration/Slug Signorino.
