So you just won a lot of money in the casino or have a steady income from poker or sportsbetting. Congratulations! You literally beat the odds.
Before you look into exotic solutions, carefully consider just having the winnings paid out to your local bank account. It's a lot easier and if for example you reside in the EU and the winnings are from an EU-licensed gambling site, you may very well be able to take the winnings home free of tax.
Offshore Bank Account For Gambling Debt
But maybe tax isn't the reason you seek some privacy regarding your winnings. Maybe you don't want your significant other or family member to accidentally see your bank statement. Maybe you don't want someone else to see your bank statement. Maybe you don't want your bank to know your full financial standing. Whatever your reason – I am not here to pass judgment.
Let's get some basics out of the way.
Antigua & Barbuda boasts the second largest banking sector in the Caribbean, making it another great place to open an offshore bank account. An offshore account here is best for savings, as the only card you can get is a prepaid Mastercard. The minimum deposit needed to open an account is $5,000 and the set-up fee is only $550. Hey all, I'm looking for an Offshore bank account (with Credit Card) to a gambling marketing company. Most Offshore Bank Account jurisdictions of any repute have very sophisticated, stable banking regulations. This is because it is in their best interest to attract and keep depositors. The authorities gear these regulations towards meeting the needs of the depositor.
Can Tax Authorities Compel Operators to Disclose Information?
Technically yes, either directly or by asking the local gambling authority acquire the information. In reality, there is no easy way for the typical tax authority to find out information from a gambling company.
Information held by gambling companies are not subject to regular exchange of information requests, though.
Do Gambling Companies Report Winnings?
Lightning links casino slots. The most popular gambling jurisdictions do not have such requirements. They instead rely on the gambling operator to keep records which are audited every year.
Newer licensing jurisdictions, whose licenses are just good for a single jurisdictions, may have such requirements.
Are E-Wallets Like Neteller and Skrill (Moneybookers) Required To Report Accounts/Balances?
Under current regulations and guidelines, e-wallets are not required to file any reports unless suspicious activity is detected on an account.
Can Authorities Compel E-Wallets Like Neteller and Skrill To Disclose Information?
Yes, tax authorities and financial conduct authorities alike.
Now that's a headline.
For some reason, you have decided that you want to open a personal bank account offshore (forget about corporate accounts) to store your gambling proceeds.
Banks receptive to clients wishing to use their accounts for gambling withdrawals can be found in Cyprus (FBME used to be king, but obviously isn't anymore), Malta (subject to strict KYC), Austria (high minimum deposits), Seychelles, Panama, Latvia, Moldova (very rare to open remotely), Mauritius (very touch-and-go), and Bahamas and several other Caribbean islands.
The actual account opening isn't always straight forward, and depends on type of winnings.
Jackpot
If you won a big jackpot, your list of available banks may in fact increase and include Switzerland, Monaco, Andorra, and other wealth management centers. They will only agree to private banking and not act as financial conduits, though.
Alert the bank in advance about the incoming funds. Six, seven, or higher figure deposits are going to make any bank panic a little, especially going to a personal account. Expect to have to explain the origin of the funds, including the deposit you made to the casino in order to play whatever game you won the jackpot on.
In most cases, the gambling site will be happy to provide evidence of game rounds and proof that they are licensed themselves and that the games are vetted by reliable third parties. However, note that the gambling site itself cannot give you any financial advice. They might be able to refer you to someone, though.
Recurring Income
This is mostly for poker players and sportsbook/betting exchange punters, who have steady streams of income.
Whatever your reasons for wanting to withdraw your winnings to an offshore bank, it is often wise to pad the winnings by regularly moving savings in from another bank account. This shows the bank that you are using them for setting aside savings, and sometimes you withdraw winnings which also go towards saving. Of course, it also creates a trail between your normal income/finance and the bank account opened for gambling winnings.
Sooner or later, though, the bank is probably going to ask where the money is coming from. Prepare for this by keeping records of your play history. The bank won't ever ask for or look through it, but this is a case of where having and being able to show can make a difference. Record keeping in and of itself
Withdrawing The Money
Here it's important to build up a repertoire with the bank where you do not give them any reason to believe that the money is being laundered or were fraudulently obtained. The best is to keep the money idle for a couple of months.
This doesn't apply to very large jackpots deposited into wealth management. Private banking works differently from regular banking in this regard.
This is the dream a lot of people have when they want to hide their poker winnings. The reality is that adding an e-wallet in the middle does nothing to significantly improve your financial privacy. As we discussed earlier, it is easy to get information from an e-wallet; easier than it is from a bank in most cases.
For one, regulators can more easily penetrate e-wallets thank bank accounts.
Offshore Bank Account For Gambling Losses
Secondly, many e-wallets are only protected by username and password, whereas banks in mature markets and increasingly in maturing markets have some form of two-factor authentication (PIN pad, SMS code, and so on). This makes it trivial to break into an e-wallet account. Although there are mechanisms in place to prevent outright there, your financial privacy has been breached already.
Many e-wallets will object to withdrawal requests to a bank account in another country than the country of residence of the e-wallet owner – even intra-EU/SEPA. Some only allow it after you have used a local bank account.
Gambling operators rarely care where you withdraw funds to, unless it is to a regulated, sanctioned, or forbidden jurisdiction.
Examples of regulated jurisdictions include Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, and Australia.
Sanctioned depends on the location of the gambling operator but typically this is Iran, North Korea, and so on.
Forbidden jurisdictions are jurisdictions with an unclear legislation or which are simply not worth the risk of remitting gambling proceeds into, such as the US and Russia.
Casino night prom theme song. Stay clear of those types of jurisdictions and your gambling company will most likely be happy to wire funds anywhere. At most, they will ask for a bank statement for the new bank account (in addition to all the other usual KYC).
Offshore Company Formation
Providing offshore company formation, incorporation and various licensing and professional services through our offices in Costa Rica, and affiliates in Curacao, Cyprus and Malta, we serve a diversified clientele spanning the four corners of the world, ranging from individual entrepreneurs to multinational corporations.
Our services are aimed at clients involved in international business activities.
Offshore Bank Account For Gambling Addiction
Our managing director's established connections of more than 22 years make it possible for us to offer clients the best products and services available in various locations around the world. Because we have so many options at our disposal, we can provide access to the ideal jurisdictions and institutions to best suit our client's needs.
This is a brief list of some of the services and countries that we work in:
- Offshore Company Formation – offering our clients Company Formation, Administration and Management Services in Antigua, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Curacao, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Malta, Marshall Islands, Panama, Seychelles, and many other jurisdictions
- Directorship Services – Clients seeking additional privacy by keeping their name out of public registries can avail themselves of our Directorship Services.
- Secretarial and Back Office Services – all companies must keep proper records including resolutions, registers, etc. We provide secretarial and back office services in all the countries we provide service in.
- Offshore Business Accounts, Brokerage and Investment Accounts – Antigua, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Panama, Singapore, Switzerland and other jurisdictions.
- Online Gambling Licenses – As a leading provider of Online Gaming services since 1998, we have the necessary contacts, skills and experience to manage your Online Gaming business and guide you from start to finish of the license approval process. Curacao Online Gaming License,Isle of Man Gaming License, Kahnawake Online Gaming License, Malta Gaming License
- Regulatory and Compliance Services – We're experienced. We focus on regulatory compliance, ethics and transparency. We pride ourselves on helping our clients attend to their legal, administrative, and regulatory obligations in an efficient and compliant manner.
Our clients have been the heart of our business since 1998 and our sole goal is to serve your business needs while protecting your interests. If you're looking for a reliable, trustworthy, and competitively priced partner for your offshore company formation and incorporation, contact Fast Offshore today.
