[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by GTO

Why use a Rs. 4 lakh show piece in that case? Sell the SX4, buy a Rs. 50,000 car (Ikon, Santro, Indica) and park it there. Both will do the same work . You can use the 3.5 lakhs saved to buy a better car abroad.

You sir are pure evil genius. Very smart. Agree esp since the used petrol sedan valuations have ticked up.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

In most western orientated countries these days it is near impossible not to have a local bank account. I have lived in multiple countries in the last thirty years, so I have raked up endless accounts and when i can, I keep them open as sometimes it comes in handy.

Jeroen

Ah, you're focused on convenience, while turbanator wants to avoid hassles.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I have no where mentioned not to have local account - just suggested having limited or 1 account so that if one needs to give any statement or details it becomes easy purely from documentation & record keeping point of view . Besides there are limited options of Banking without monthly charges at most places .

Agree fully.

I have been consulting with overseas clients now for almost two years. I have just spent enough time in an ASEAN country to not be tax resident there in 2013 and 2014. But we still had to file a return stating that. Biggest part of the return filing effort in that nation was getting the supporting document called Tax Residency Certificate from India.

Across four different cities, it was easy for six of us, but for one person (the lowest earning incidentally) who also had real estate rental income, the tax man asked for a de facto audit, including details on each bank account in India and certifying that he had no direct overseas income in each etc. There was a further request to disclose accounts held overseas etc. His TRC took almost a month more than everyone else when the only complication was real estate income, no overseas accounts!

Thus, the smaller the list of your accounts are, the lesser you need to explain, the lesser the scrutiny.

[sindabad.sailor]

Which country are you heading, will help in giving more country specific advice.

Heading to UK.

Why use a Rs. 4 lakh show piece in that case? Sell the SX4, buy a Rs. 50,000 car (Ikon, Santro, Indica) and park it there. Both will do the same work . You can use the 3.5 lakhs saved to buy a better car abroad.

Already working on it GTO. Couple of days back, checked a functional Daewoo Cielo. Quoted price 25000. Only thing that upon return, would have to dispose off this car. Would be checking papers on wednesday. Then would check for buyers for SX4. Seemingly I would have some time in hand to finish transfers.

If I go for small car, I would need two of them. Blame it on the size

I presume it is your personal parking spot and hence you are worried about it getting encroached. If yes, can you give your spot on rent for a nominal amount? The idea is not to make money, but to help you retain the spot. The reason I say that is because 4 years is a long period. And 4 can become 10 (with overseas relocation nothing is certain). It would be a shame to keep the car standing just for the parking spot. And very few friends will take care of your car as if its his/her own. Think about it...

Food for thought! Would explore this as well.

Other thing would be to use portability to convert all BSNL numbers to airtel / idea. During so many visits to UK so far, BSNL could never work. I have all connections prepaid.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

You cant or shouldn't hide what you have. If you don't want to pay tax, move to a country where you don't pay tax. Tax evasion is as far as Im concerned a huge crime and certainly from what I have seen in India could stand with quite a bit of improvement in terms of how many people pay how much tax. In my home country Im paying well over 60% income tax. i don't complain, If I don't like what I get back for it, I should immigrate on a permanent basis.

Jeroen

Jeroen

There is a fine line between "Tax Avoidance" which is what most of us in the "salaried class" working world do and "Tax Evasion" which is what the following types of people do really well;
1. Big Landholders - ostensibly calling themselves agriculturists
2. Business people of different types
3. Politicians and other public figures
We can ask ourselves - Is the "Richest Man in India also the Biggest Tax payer in India?" - The answer is negative and this fact is very clear and self evident.

We can have a debate on this, but I, for one, would be happy to pay a higher rate of tax than I do, if I were sure that I would get something in return from the government for it.

In India, you get absolutely NOTHING from the Government in return for the high taxes that you pay.

[kamboj]

Not sure if you have kids in family or not, but in case you do, don't forget take their vaccination records. They are required (though not mandatory, but you'll save lots of hassel) while registering with local GP and at time of school admission.

Also their records will be remain updated with any vaccination done in UK.

[anujmishra]

When I relocated temporarily for a year out of India I gave my flat to one Property Management Company to manage. They managed well and it was all documented. It is that Property Management Company who sublet it to renters.

Regarding car for a year yes I retained it. Once I came back in 6 months I did servicing as it was due by that time.

One caution of advice: If you have Airtel Connection of any kind and want to keep on 'safe custody', please do not do that. I have had pretty bad experience. They charged me for safe custody and kept on sending me bills every month. Once I returned they never agreed on it. Although with Vodafone Connections it was smooth and no hassle.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Ah, you're focused on convenience, while turbanator wants to avoid hassles.

In my case there is a bit more to it than just convenience. As I said, in many countries you actually do need a local bank account. For instance to receive a salary. There are also cases where you might have to prove you actually live in that country (and not just for tax purposes) and then having a local account showing that you spend money in that country, pay rent, utilities, insurances and do shopping. It won't look so good if you show up with an overseas bank statement.

These days with electronic banking and statements it's relatively simple and easy to have all the information you need for your tax declaration. What is useful to figure out per country, in advance, what it actually is, what format, what info etc. So for instance for my Dutch tax I need the total amounts on all my accounts worldwide, on the 1st of January and 31st of December, interest is not taxed. But for my US tax I need to have the highest amount on the worldwide accounts during the fiscal year and the interest.

In India the fiscal year runs different from the calendar year! Many banks can get you the information. You just have to ask for it. So a single mail to them, might get you the information you require as. My current resident status in India means I only need to declare my Indian income and bank details. But as from next year that becomes all my "worldly belonging", due to the length of my stay in India.

The other thing is I have found very useful, having accounts in multiple countries, it can save me substantial money. When we lived in the Netherlands, we used to take the ferry Hook of Holland to Dover every month to visit our house in Suffolk. For some reason the exact same trip was 10% cheaper if I bought it online on the Stenaline UK website, compared to the Stenaline NL site. But you need to have a local debit card. Credit cards, especially in Europe often occur additional charges. And they are tied to one physical address. To date you will find online sites that won't allow you the use of a "foreign credit card".

Same story here in India with the Delhi-Amsterdam KLM flight. There is often a substantial difference in fare. Sometimes the Dutch site is cheaper, sometimes the Indian one is. Never found any logic in it. But in order to get the best fair on the Dutch KLM site you need to have a local debit (bank card) to be able to use the Dutch Ideal banking transfer system.

We will visit my mother in law in Barbados for our Christmas holiday. We have a few accounts there. Overall it works out considerable cheaper to transfer our holiday budget to that account and use our local debit cards and cash withdrawn from the local ATM's. By doing so, you only have transfer cost once and you get the best exchange rate as well.

If you like buying things on line, you might find that sometimes there are restrictions, or even dedicated websites set up per country/region. For instance, on iTune you will get different content depending where you sign up.

Although I don't mind paying taxes perse, doing the taxes paperwork is not my favorite past time. But getting the relevant information from the banks has been the relative easy part I find. For the last eight years I have had to file tax declarations in multiple countries, usually three. Hopefully I don't need to file in the US anymore as from next year onwards, because by then it will have been several years since we left. Which is a big relief because the US tax declaration is actually three different ones in itself. In our case it consisted of filing in Kansas (because that's where my office was and thus salary paid from), Missouri (because that's where we lived) and then finally there is a federal declaration.

Jeroen

[GTO]

Originally Posted by sindabad.sailor

Already working on it GTO. Couple of days back, checked a functional Daewoo Cielo. Quoted price 25000.

Now we're talking! Be sure to get the 15 year fitness certificate if going for a really old car. You don't want anyone maliciously complaining, and your car being towed or something by the authorities.

Get a cheap car cover and tie it down. Guess no one will be washing it in your absence.

Originally Posted by anujmishra

When I relocated temporarily for a year out of India I gave my flat to one Property Management Company to manage. They managed well and it was all documented. It is that Property Management Company who sublet it to renters.

This is very interesting! Can you please recommend any super reliable property management companies? Thanks!