Setup an offshore company

We offer several payment methods. Please Contact Us for details. The process of setting up an Offshore company is much less involved than most people realize and in most cases is quicker and easier than in the case of setting up an onshore company Choose your preferred company of incorporation First up of course you will need to decide which jurisdiction best suits your needs. For an explanation as to the difference between the two please Contact Us.

Who will the shareholders be? Whilst you can if you wish be nominated as shareholder it may more advisable for tax and privacy reasons to have us supply a nominee shareholder Will a Company Secretary be needed and if so who? Many clients ask to have a Company Secretary appointed although in most jurisdictions it is not compulsory to do so. All of the above considerations are important as they will influence the company structure, location and corporate vehicle that would be used.

Though to a large extent, wherever your primary residence is, will largely determine your tax structuring and whether or not certain privacy services can be used as a means to remove the person from the corporate entity so as to maximize confidentiality, asset protection and privacy. That is why it is so important to speak with an offshore specialist.

Without such specialized knowledge, there is the risk of forming the wrong entity in the wrong jurisdiction, with the wrong corporate structure. Forming a complete holistic offshore legal plan helps to ensure that all of the pieces are organised and that the offshore strategy fits with you the goals of the company. If you are starting an offshore company merely as a holding company for intellectual copyright for instance, then the following questions would not need to be asked.

However, if you are entering into any type of financial transaction with clients or customers then you need to ask? Opening an offshore bank account in many places does not need to be done in person and can be completed online. However, the offshore banking industry has changed dramatically in the last few years and in many places, it is required to have a local company formed in the jurisdiction, requires more extensive background checks or more documentation. While that is not always the case, it is becoming more common in places like Singapore, Panama, and Hong Kong where there are more restrictions, higher price tags and more due diligence.

Still, there are offshore jurisdictions like St Vincent, Nevis, or Andorra that do not require a local company and can be opened virtually without any in-person requirements.

If you are an online eCommerce site or are a company that needs to take online credit payments then setting up a merchant account or a similar payment process application is another piece of the offshore puzzle that needs to fit. There are a number of associated corporate services that can be coupled with your offshore structure, such as: professional management, nominee services, secretarial services, mail forwarding, re-invoicing, virtual offices etc Once you have picked your offshore jurisdiction and company formation drawing up Articles of Association creates a legal document for the formation of the company.

The importance of a properly structured offshore company setup is obvious. Though often carelessly done, a company setup structure is especially important to properly secure assets and protect the privacy of the individuals in case of legal or financial duress.

This becomes essential if there is a complex arrangement of companies, trusts, of foundations existing in a multi-jurisdictional arrangement with many directors, and owners.

If a beneficial owner wishes to remain anonymous , in some jurisdictions its is possible to use nominee shareholders or nominee directors that act as third party actors whose name and details will be recorded on the legal documents and accounts, however, they will remain fully under the purview of the beneficial owner who still maintains direct control of the company, yet remains unaffiliated.

For individuals looking to maintain privacy , the use of a second LLC or IBC as a corporate director and shareholder can be used so that no individual's identity remains on the corporate registry. While most offshore jurisdictions still have very strict privacy and banking secrecy laws, like the Cook Islands, and Nevis, there are many countries like the US and many parts of Europe that require individuals to declare and foreign ownership of a corporation, thus making your obligations to declare any companies and assets an obligation required by the country where you live.

If you are lucky enough to live in a country that does not have CRS or any overly restrictive CFC laws, then you may be able to have a purely tax free entity that for all intents and purposes can remain anonymous. Due to the change in many countries' transparency laws foreign governments, if you live in a country that is a signatory of the CRS then your government will have greater access to your foreign corporation information. However, these records would only be available to YOUR home government, and would not be apart of the local public registry.

It just depends on the level of privacy and confidentiality that you are seeking. For most individuals, this is not much of an issue. However, if you are looking for complete anonymity and you live in a CRS member country, the only way to remain anonymous is to move to a tax haven or low tax country that is not a signatory.

However, depending on the company and jurisdiction there might be a few more minor pieces of documentation such as more comprehensive Due Diligence or Know Your Customer KYC forms, a more extensive background check, that will need to be completed before the registration process can be finalized. In some jurisdictions, requirements for opening an offshore bank account have become tighter and can require banking or professional reference letters, and a copy of a business plan.

This process usually takes a matter of days upwards of weeks depending upon the jurisdiction and if there are longer background or due diligence checks. Once the appropriate offshore company registration and government fee are received together with all the necessary documents the application is sent to the relevant company registry. If the registration is not successful it is usually because the documentation is insufficient or they require a more thorough background check. However, in most cases more extensive checks are not required and companies are formed without much trouble.

An offshore account that belongs to an offshore company, that belongs to you gives you peace of mind because if you do get sued, then your offshore assets will be completely out of the reach of any greedy lawyer. Setting up an offshore company can help you to benefit from the low taxation laws of certain jurisdictions, also popularly known as tax havens.

The level of taxation normally depends on the jurisdiction. Some offer complete tax-exemptions for non resident companies, others offer very low taxes and some others still offer attractive flat-rate taxes or license fees.

This is usually a big attraction for high net-worth individuals who would like to invest their money in safe avenues while avoiding the payment of tax on their profits. An important factor to consider in this situation is the laws of the country of residence of the beneficiary owner of the shell company, in order to ensure that there are no conflicts of the tax laws between the two jurisdictions.

An offshore company setup can in certain situations be very necessary in order for a business to expand internationally. A local company may encounter many legal and bureaucratic issues that will hamper its international expansion as long as it adheres to the rules and regulations of its home country. But with an offshore company setup in a favorable jurisdiction, international growth of the company can be expedited.

This situation is especially true for companies that have already gained heavy growth momentum at home and want to expand internationally. It has also become very common among Internet companies with Google and Apple being very good examples. Depending on where you are from, the type of business you are into and where you plan on setting up an offshore company, chances are that you most definitely will have lower costs of operations. If you use a full service offshore company service, there will also be extra services available at a small fee like mail-forwarding and telephone answering services in addition to a registered office address, appointment of directors, payment of government fees and adherence to their other regulations.

An offshore company setup will help you to defer taxes almost indefinitely. Given the simplicity of running an offshore business, you could do almost anything you want with it, the only possible problem is your local jurisdiction where you live physically. If you are not required to file reports about your foreign holdings, then no problem. If you are required to file reports or pay taxes on your foreign holdings then you could simply defer the taxes of your shell company for as long as you want, legally.

Setting up an offshore company enables you to reinvest your tax deferred profits over and over again, effectively compounding it in the long run. Assuming you decide to defer taxes for twenty years, reinvesting the profits every year, at the end of twenty years, you should have built yourself a tidy sum of money. It is important to note here that this possibility might not work with certain types of businesses.

Compared to most onshore or major judiciary systems, the reporting requirements for offshore structures are quite limited and very easy to handle.

Setting up an offshore company makes good business sense in this regard because you will not be experiencing the normal stress that is associated with running a business in major onshore jurisdictions. Starting up an offshore company will give you more financial stability. Markets are volatile and economies rise and fall. Nobody knows for sure how well any economy will fare in the future, man can only speculate.

With a company in a different jurisdiction, which is subject to different laws and market forces, you will secure yourself against any possible economic catastrophes since you have access to at least two economies. If anything happens in one, like rapid inflation or political instability, then you can still depend on the other.

Many families have lost their fortunes through political unrest and wars. Many of these companies were of a nature that could have benefited from an offshore sister company, enabling the owner to not loose out completely in times of trouble. An offshore company offers higher levels of anonymity for the company owners.

Many offshore jurisdictions do not publish the details of company owners and many do not even require the publication of financial information from the company owners.