Question(s) to Americans living in Taiwan about US banking

I have been in Taiwan for a while and it looks like it will be my home for the near future. I am trying to figure out what my next step should be with my banking. I was wondering what you have done with your bank accounts in American that you had before coming to Taiwan. Have you:

(1) Closed them and moved all money to Taiwan.
(2) Kept them open under an address in America (e.g. Your parents).
(3) Kept them open and changed the address to Taiwan.

Thank you for your help in advanced. The reason for the discussion is that my former state still wants me file a tax return (they argue since I still have a bank in the state I am planning to return). Thankfully I do not have any taxable income, because all I do now is work. However I am sure that in the future I would like to invest or maybe open my own business and then my state would get some money.

Any help that you can give would be great. I wanted to open an HSBC direct account, but you need a US address, so that is out again. I really don’t want to do (1), but I feel that it is time that all of my business was under my Taiwan address.

Speaking of HSBC, do any of you have an HSBC Direct Taiwan account. I am looking at opening one, but I am not sure if they are CDIC insured, the last thing that I would want is to loss all of my money if the bank failed.

From what I know, as an American citizen, you’re required to file a tax return even if you don’t owe anything. I don’t think having a bank in the States has anything to do with it, (unless it’s easier to discover you). The only thing I can think of is the interest accumulating. But as low as interest rates are these days, I seriously doubt that would create conditions necessary to pay taxes.

I left my bank account open with my brother’s address. I transfer money to it to pay my credit card and student loans. However, before I left I let them know that I was over here, just so there wouldn’t be any problems if I ever needed to use my debit card or something.

I’ve never been asked to file taxes, but I only have a checking account, so no interest.

I’m not sure about HSBC, but I know that with some banks, even though they’re international, your accounts in different countries cannot be linked up.

“From what I know, as an American citizen, you’re required to file a tax return even if you don’t owe anything.”

This is the facts. It will come back to bite you if you do not heed it…:grandpa:

I left one account open in the US, and transfer money to it from here. That way I have a means of moving money into and out of mutual funds and other investments I have in the US, and also of paying credit card bills. The address is my parents’ US address, as having a US address for such transactions makes things much easier.

I keep an account in a local bank in my home state, Tennessee. Tennessee does not have a state income tax, so I don’t have to worry about the problem of the state government claiming the right to tax me on the grounds that I plan to return. However, I know a couple of Californians here in HK who have closed all accounts there in order to avoid those bankrupt beggars chasing them up.

I don’t know if it is feasible, but you might consider trying to open a bank account in a no income tax state. There are a number of reasons for keeping an account in the US. First, if you ever need to move back, it will be much easier if you have an uninterrupted financial history there. Second, you will likely find that in addition to a bank account, it would be best to put your retirement savings in the US, even with the high capital gains and dividend taxes. The fact is, investing in the US is dirt cheap compared to any retirement savings scheme you could put yourself into in Taiwan. With a US investment account you can manage costs better in that you have some flexibility on when you sell shares, and thus pay taxes. The amount you will lose to the US Treasury will likely be much less than what you will lose paying the high commissions, loads, management fees and expense ratios in a non-US account. In Taiwan, it doesn’t matter how you schedule your withdrawels or whether you tax loss harvest; the money men will have already taken a massive cut, and for no better performance.

I have always kept an account in the US tied to my parents’ address (HSBC). They won’t mail ANYTHING overseas. I wonder if it has something to do with US law, because my HSBC account in Australia mails statements, ATM cards, everything to me overseas.

I remember looking into HSBC in Taiwan years ago…at the time, they allowed you to save your money in a variety of different currencies, which was nice. But I do remember that their fees (especially for wiring money overseas) were much higher than those of local banks.

I kept an account open in the US as it’s the easiest way to pay my bills there. The address on the account is my Taiwan address.

Keep at least one credit card and one bank account open. If you shut them all down, you will lose your credit history in the U.S., and it can be a pain in the ass to reestablish it.

Cal. is b/ rupt? is this a joke?
Web says some states, etc. try to collect fees, etc., if one still has ‘ties’ to that
area. see web articles

[quote=“T eacher 8”]Cal. is b/ rupt? is this a joke?
Web says some states, etc. try to collect fees, etc., if one still has ‘ties’ to that
area. see web articles[/quote]

No it sadly isn’t a joke. California has come close to being habitually bankrupt every year for the last 7 or 8. The deficit this year was in the 41 billion dollar ball park. Here is a NYT articleon it and here is one from the San Diego Tribune. The Tribune article shows that already, after a budget was passed just three weeks ago, CA is going to be 8 billion dollars short because they used overly optimistic revenue projections (worse than President Obama’s people did).

CA raised the sales tax and implemented a series of new taxes that they’ll want to make permanent later. If the budget comes up really short again this year, and it probably will since housing prices are still in a free fall, they’ll try to find other ways to collect fees and assess taxes on anyone who still has a tie to the state. They just started assessing sales taxes if you buy from someone on Amazon who is in the State of CA, you have to pay 10% sales tax.

I agree with this. Also when in the US apply for the free annual credit reports to check your records.