USA Affiliates with a Canadian Bank Account

[TravG]

I am looking for some feedback from other affiliates living in the USA and having a bank account in Canada to receive affiliate payments. I have an appointment next week with a Canadian bank to open an account so that I can start to receive payments in that account. The main reason I am doing this is for affiliate programs who seem to have trouble paying into US bank accounts. I have had some trouble in the recent past receiving payments from one brand in particular and they assure me by opening an account in Canada that problem will go away.

If you live in the USA and bank in Canada could you tell me how it has been going? Anything I need to know before opening an account and starting to receive payments? In particlular, have payments seemed to be easier to receive to a Canadian Account? Have you run into any problems either with Canada or the US for doing so? Also a big question that I have to ask the bank but if someone can share their experience, do you pay any taxes on the funds coming through the Canadian account? I would not think you would have to as the money is not earned in Canada but you never know.

If you could shed some light on this issue I would greatly appreciate it. If you do not want to share your experiences here in public please PM me and I will keep any information shared strictly confidential.

Thanks for any help!

[Renee]

The BIGGEST thing I would like you to know is to make sure the account is a Canadian Dollar account.
I'm not sure how others work, but our processors can't send USD to a Canadian bank account even if the account is a USD account. And they can't send CAD to a USD account. So would have to be a CAD account.

Hope that helps!

[pdjoe]

Good programs find a way to pay USA affiliates. If I have to have an account in another country in order to get paid I just won't use them.

To much front money, to many restrictions and way to much paper work for tax reasons.

[TravG]

If I have to have an account in another country in order to get paid I just won't use them.

Not so easy when they are always the top or second best performing program.

[Miles_FTA]

HI Travis ,

So I know this can be an issue but agree with PDJoe a Plan to pay a valuable affiliate can always be made.

With Us we would be able to Pay US $ Into a CAD Account but..

The CAD Bank would then convert the US $ into CAD and then Charge you for that so you would take a small knock.

Ultimately it is dependent on the CAD Bank too if they wont accept the USD Transactions then there is nothing that can be done . Some banks will do this others may not

Usually we advise US affiliates to Google their Names and if their is a Reference to them being involved in Gaming in some way then there may be an issue paying into a US $ account but we have had no issues thus far doing wires to US touch wood.

[TravG]

I hear ya, but when you start talking about large dollar amounts more than 1 program has advised getting a Canadian Account so that larger wires can be sent.

I appreciate both of your thoughts and thanks for sharing your opinion, however I would like to get this thread back on track for what it was meant for. So if any US affiliates currently have a Canadian account and are willing to share their experience I would appreciate it.

[justbookies]

I am from the UK so maybe not the best person to give US tax advice, but when I last looked into it USA residents were taxed on ALL their worldwide income, irrespective of where it was made. This is not true for many countries, but I believe it is true for the US. That is why simply moving countries can't alleviate a US citizen's tax burden (but changing nationalities and moving countries can).
PS: Don't ask the bank about US taxes - it may be a short meeting.

[justbookies]

This link will help clear up your tax question:
http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Inter...-Aliens-Abroad

[TravG]

I am not worried about US taxes, I claim all my earnings on my US federal income tax and would claim the earnings coming into that Canadian account. I just do not want Canada to tax me on the money coming into the account. If Canada did I could get it refunded on my US taxes when I file I would think, but I do not even want to imagine the paperwork involved.

[Sherlock]

The BIGGEST thing I would like you to know is to make sure the account is a Canadian Dollar account.
I'm not sure how others work, but our processors can't send USD to a Canadian bank account even if the account is a USD account. And they can't send CAD to a USD account. So would have to be a CAD account.

Hope that helps!

It is a part of FATCA. Yes, part of FATCA is that even bettingpartners who have USD betting and affiliate accounts can not pay me to my USD account, even when I am non US person with nonUS corporation. Part of FATCA is that USD currency circulation is under Big Brother supervision.

But there is I believe second part of FATCA, that says that any bank that does not want to have troubles must report accounts of US citizens/residents to IRS or some other US office. So it went so far that European or Liechtenstein banks refuse now not just US citizens, but also companies where US citizens are involved.

If I were US citizen, I would give up the citizenship and residence. But it would not help me, because there is some law, that forces the emmigrants to report everything for many years to US authorities.

But if the Canadian bank opens the CAD account, it is worth of trying. Unless you do not have gambling on invoices and unless you intend to pay the taxes. If you want to breach this, I would not risk it. I was recently in Canada and they look like UK nowdays. Colony of mighty USA. Just my paranoid feeling.

The reason for FATCA is not only battling the tax evasion, but antiterrorist action = control of money flows = control of economy of the world. So if you mask the income with some online marketing and maybe make some fake website of advertisement agency, you should be fine.

[mojo]

I am not worried about US taxes, I claim all my earnings on my US federal income tax and would claim the earnings coming into that Canadian account. I just do not want Canada to tax me on the money coming into the account. If Canada did I could get it refunded on my US taxes when I file I would think, but I do not even want to imagine the paperwork involved.

Forgive me for not understanding. In theory all you are doing is opening an offshore account to received funds. However you still have to get the funds to the US (assuming you live there). So it is a third party.

You are only adding an extra step and perhaps one would question why. Assuming you are going to transfer funds to your US account from CAD anyway. You say you pay US taxes. Then you have very little to worry about. If you don't pay taxes then you have much to worry about. IMO

It seems unnecessary to transfer say 10k to CAD then transfer 10K USD. You will still get flagged in the US. I don't get this logic. You could put it through 10 countries if you want. Same result. It's all going to come home to the good ole US of A.

If your affiliate program tells you that you must have an offshore account, rethink that program.

[AE-Stephen]

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to chime in here and explain a few things.

We are one of the Programs that advise getting a Canadian Account for large money transfers. This is not obligatory but there are limits to how much we can send each week, with a US account. These limits are more than ample for the vast majority of affiliates, however when they are not we advise a non US account. We convert any wires before we send so affiliates are not hit with an extra fee.

We advise this so the Affiliate benefits from faster payments in one chunk, not in instalments.

I'm happy to answer any questions you guys may have, stephen@affiliateedge.com

Regards
Stephen

[Triple7]

Forgive me for not understanding. In theory all you are doing is opening an offshore account to received funds. However you still have to get the funds to the US (assuming you live there). So it is a third party.

You are only adding an extra step and perhaps one would question why. Assuming you are going to transfer funds to your US account from CAD anyway. You say you pay US taxes. Then you have very little to worry about. If you don't pay taxes then you have much to worry about. IMO

It seems unnecessary to transfer say 10k to CAD then transfer 10K USD. You will still get flagged in the US. I don't get this logic. You could put it through 10 countries if you want. Same result. It's all going to come home to the good ole US of A.

If your affiliate program tells you that you must have an offshore account, rethink that program.

But it doesn't make any difference how it arrives in the US?

[mojo]

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to chime in here and explain a few things.

We are one of the Programs that advise getting a Canadian Account for large money transfers. This is not obligatory but there are limits to how much we can send each week, with a US account. These limits are more than ample for the vast majority of affiliates, however when they are not we advise a non US account. We convert any wires before we send so affiliates are not hit with an extra fee.

We advise this so the Affiliate benefits from faster payments in one chunk, not in instalments.

I'm happy to answer any questions you guys may have, stephen@affiliateedge.com

Regards
Stephen

I see. Thanks for explaining that. I didn't realize it was for the sole purpose of getting a larger amount. If it's a constant issue, I would consider it and it may be worth jumping through the hoops and the fees.

[MJM]

facing this same problem as a Us resident promoting licensed UK brands to UK residents. Any reason why Canada vs having an account in say, Grand Caymans? I've heard of some us residents successfully using skrill too, not for gamlbing purposes but just for doing business. Haven't tried this myself, but in general following this thread for info. Thanks to anyone who can contribute with experience. Currently have a good chunk stuck.

[Sam_IncomeAccess]

I just do not want Canada to tax me on the money coming into the account. If Canada did I could get it refunded on my US taxes when I file I would think, but I do not even want to imagine the paperwork involved.

Hey Travis,

If you are planning on declaring all of your income, I do not think this is a problem. I found the below quote from The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

If you are a U.S. person, your financial institution is required to share information about the account and the account holder to the CRA. Information that could be transmitted includes name and address and certain financial information about the account.

To my knowledge, if you are not living in Canada and are not an employees at a business located in Canada, you should not be taxed on this income.

On a side note, some Canadian banks even have branches in the US if ever you'd like to make a quick withdrawal.

P.S. I'm Canadian