Hi all!
I'm going back to Ukraine after 3-year staying in the US. Does anybody know how to transfer large sums (over $10k) to Ukraine? What is the cheapest way to do that? Will I have to pay taxes on the transfer to Ukrainian tax authorities? If you can advise a bank that provides such services, it would be awersome
Sorry for writing in English, but I don't have cyrillic installed.
I'm not sure about taxation in Ukraine but the cheapest way to take the money is to wire it. I've been doing it for myself and my business for years. I wire from US to RU.
Or, of course, you can take it cash. I know people who do that. Just remember if you take more than 10K cash out of any bank, the bank will ask you to fill out a form that will to go the Govn't. So they advise you to take 9K and then 1K couple of days later.
Andrei, thanks a lot for your reply!
The thought to take cash on a plane came to my mind, but I am afraid I will have BIG problems with Ukrainian customs officials. Your suggestion to wire the money sounds feasible. Could you, please, explain the process of wiring the money? What bank do you use here, in the States, and back in Russia? What fees does a bank charge on wiring and is there any limit amount per transaction?
Carriba,
There is a flat fee that any US bank charges for wiring of any amount of money whether it's within the US or overseas. The fee depends on the bank. I've done it from two banks, fees are between 40 to 60 bucks, but depends on the bank.
Contact your Ukranian bank or a Russian bank, tell them you will be wiring money from overseas, they'll give all of the information. Take this info to a US bank, they'll tell you if it's sufficient or not. I've wired to Russia, Germany and Spain - all are very similar processes.
Now remember that even though, supposedly, we live in a democratic society (US), certain rules are not democratic (the public is happily unaware of that). One of the rules is that the US govn't doesn't want the money of its citizens to leave the country. There is a law that does not allow US citizens and Permanent residents to wire large amounts of money overseas. This "large amount" is described very vagely. US citizens and perm. residents can physically do that with the help of any bank but you might get a call from a special office in charge of these issies to investigate the matter. Your amount of money is not significant enough to worry about, though, I don't think.
If you are not sure about the Ukranian laws and how you will be taxed on the funds wired to the Ukraine (i don't know if there is a tax treaty between US and UA), take the money in cash. A good friend of mine took 11K in cash into Moscow from US two weeks ago. Then you don't have a paper trail to worry about.
Another idea is to leave the $ in the states and use your debit card in Ukraine to withdraw funds. It costs $2.5 per transaction and depending on the max daily amount you can draw out of the mac mahine, you can use this method too.
