How to avoid fees if getting paid in Euros?
- Thread starter ringer
- Start date
NathanFournier87
Member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2012
- Messages
- 52
See if they can go through a US Bank?
I have written for a publication in Canada and my checks were from an USA bank and had no issue cashing the check.
I also wrote for a sports agency writing profile pieces on their clients and the check was from a Canadian Bank had issues and lost 25 dollars because of the fees. Lets say I never wrote them again because they never refunded me the 25 dollars I lost.
I have written for a publication in Canada and my checks were from an USA bank and had no issue cashing the check.
I also wrote for a sports agency writing profile pieces on their clients and the check was from a Canadian Bank had issues and lost 25 dollars because of the fees. Lets say I never wrote them again because they never refunded me the 25 dollars I lost.
jackfinarelli
Well-Known Member
If your check is drawn on a European Bank and if the denomination is in euros, I am not sure there is a way to avoid any and all fees to convert these funds to dollars. However, if you expect to get more than a couple such checks, see if you can establish an account with a bank in the EU until you have a bunch of the checks and then transfer all of them in one transaction. There is usually a "transaction fee" for each transfer and the fewer of them you cause to happen, the fewer fees you pay. Hope that helps...
Great advice, thank you.
In the meantime, I checked with my bank and they said they won't accept checks in foreign currency (Euros). I was told the outlet would have to do a wire transfer to my account. Yikes. And yep, I'd incur a transaction fee (nevermind losing money because of the bank's typically crappy exchange rates).
Sigh
In the meantime, I checked with my bank and they said they won't accept checks in foreign currency (Euros). I was told the outlet would have to do a wire transfer to my account. Yikes. And yep, I'd incur a transaction fee (nevermind losing money because of the bank's typically crappy exchange rates).
Sigh
have you tried relocating?
No, just dreamed about it.
You'll struggle to get a European bank to do that, given the increased headaches associated with FATCA and anti-money-laundering compliance. Most European banks won't touch American clients with a 10-foot pole, especially not for a few hundred euros.
My company was using an American payment service to pay freelancers based in Europe -- a few got dinged with conversion fees and I basically had to put my foot down and ensure that we covered the transaction costs. That, though, was the charge for the transfer itself; what your bank does with it isn't really between you and your employer. If they won't pay you in dollars, my only other suggestion is to ask that they include a set percentage extra to cover fees.
jackfinarelli
Well-Known Member
deskslave: You make an excellent point here; it may be a whole lot of trouble to set up a European account these days. Oh, by the way, if you happen to do that, be sure to report on your IRS filing that you have an overseas account. A friend got crosswise with the IRS over that matter even though the amounts in his foreign bank account were trivial.
One other point, the euro has been dropping like a rock against the dollar. It was as high as $1.40 in the last year and now it is hovering around $1.06 and some say it will drop to parity with the dollar in the near future. What that means is that you need to get those euros here and converted to dollars rapidly. It may cost a fee, but the value of the euro is dropping and that is costing money too...
One other point, the euro has been dropping like a rock against the dollar. It was as high as $1.40 in the last year and now it is hovering around $1.06 and some say it will drop to parity with the dollar in the near future. What that means is that you need to get those euros here and converted to dollars rapidly. It may cost a fee, but the value of the euro is dropping and that is costing money too...
