Originally Posted by NEDude

VERY, VERY (!!!!) dangerous move. Terrible advice. After the passage of FATCA the IRS has begun to crack down on foreign accounts and investments. FATCA requires foreign banks to report all of their dealings with 'U.S. persons' to the IRS or face a 30% withholding on all U.S. investments. Officially the threshold is accounts of $50,000 and higher, but most banks are not taking chances and reporting all accounts. Most countries have agreed to sign on to FATCA, including China. So the IRS will know about any accounts you open overseas and will know how much money you have in them. You are also required to file an FBAR annually if your overseas accounts have a total of $10,000 or more. If your bank files a FATCA report, but you did not file a FBAR account, well, say goodbye to all of your money and get ready for some prison time. Think you can get away with holding on to your money and just making a large deposit when you return? Nope, the banks are required to report any large deposits. People have tried to sneak large deposits into their accounts in small amounts and have been caught as well. Trying to avoid the reporting threshold is also a crime and will result in forfeiting your money and most likely prison time. Think you can just claim you were selling family property overseas? Think again because you will owe big time capital gains taxes on the sale of foreign property. Just do a Google search on 'Boris Johnson U.S. taxes' to see how it works. Boris Johnson is the U.S. born (and thus U.S. citizen) mayor of London. He ran into major IRS issues when he sold his London home a few years ago but did not pay taxes. A few years ago hiding your overseas money from the IRS may have been feasible, but after the Swiss banking scandals the laws are such that it is now virtually impossible and the laws are very harsh. IRS audits have dropped in all categories except for Americans who do, or are suspected of living, working or holding money overseas.