3rd pillar (a) - US citizen

Taxes
1

Hello,

I apologize in advance if my post is in the wrong category as it is my first one.

I am looking to find a bank that will accept a US citizen to open a 3rd pillar account but with the possibility to have a portfolio with investments.

Unfortunately for the moment most banks have rejected my application due to my US nationality and I am having a bit of trouble setting up a stable financial plan as every other Swiss citizen would.

Banks that have rejected me : BCV, Alpian, Yuh (even after opening a Swissquote account), Frankly.

Your help in this matter or any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

2

Don’t bother, 3a with investments are PFIC. You really don’t want to open one.

4 Likes
3

Did I understand that correctly: USA citizens must pay taxes in the USA even if they are liable to pay tax in Switzerland and even if the investment is made in 3a?

4

Not just that, but any investment to non US fund triggers massive documentation penalty (which also applies outside of 3a, e.g. no UCITS fund).

If you were to contribute to a 3a by mistake you probably would need to move it to a pure bank 3a to avoid reporting issues.

2 Likes
5

I developed a number of reports for FATCA in the banking industry. So I know some of the documents but am not a jurist. I’d love to see that boat sink BTW.

If you look at the FATCA treaty, and in particular Annexe II part D, ‘institutions de prĂ©voyance’ are exempt from reporting.

A bank offering a pillar 3a is not a pure ‘institution de prĂ©voyance’. So if you tried a pillar 3a provider more independent of a bank, you might have better luck.

As to how the USA view that, if you might have to declare something in your american tax declaration, no idea. Looks like a grey area to me on the operative level.