Thanks for the detailed responses. The above comments really cleared some stuff up for me. I'd like to add that the US IRS is known to be one of the most (if no

Thanks for the detailed responses. The above comments really cleared some stuff up for me. I'd like to add that the US IRS is known to be one of the most (if not THE most) aggressive departments in the world. They have banks around the world bowing to them and it's pretty hard for US citizens to do any of the kind of tax structuring that folks in other countries can. Of course, you are right that this is all still a grey area but I'm sure the laws or precedences are clear in some countries.