Ways to Setup Offshore Company

An offshore company is attractive for its tax and privacy protection benefits if incorporated in the right jurisdiction. It is possible for both individuals and large corporate to consider this option to cut costs and optimize tax. In addition, they can also be a solid way to ensure corporate and personal privacy and security.

It is best to employ an offshore corporate and company registration and management service to take care of the legal formalities and do all the ground work. While it is not essential, visiting the location yourself may be a viable option for special companies and to set up a foreign banking account. Setting up a non-financial company is a fairly straightforward process. The offshore services provider will require minimal documents. The most common documents required are a scanned copy of the passport and a utility bill that is less than three months old. Thereafter you can start the process of registering your company.

Choose a name: There are some restrictions on the name. You may not use words like ‘banking’, ‘trust’, ‘insurance’, etc. as these require special licenses. Most names need to end with a word like ‘limited’, ‘LLC’, ‘incorporated’, or any other globally accepted words and abbreviations as per the laws of the jurisdiction. The Registrar may decline names that display an association with the government, or names that contain derogatory or obscene words.

Registered Address and Agent: These are required for official correspondence from the government, and physical address must be provided. Service providers can take care of both ofyou.

Legal Corporate Documents: Incorporating a company requires other documents like the Memorandum of Association, Article of Association, first minutes, etc. A subscriber must sign some of these documents. Service providers can provide you with one if you are not physically present to sign.

Directors and Shareholders: Most jurisdictions require a minimum of one director, and most allow corporate and foreign directors. While the names of shareholders are not required, you may choose to register shareholding patterns as a public record for your protection or safety.

Once these steps are completed, an offshore company can be incorporated. With minimal red tape, the entire process takes less than a week, and may even be completed within 24 hours.

Way to Safeguard Offshore Asset Protection Trusts

An asset protection trust is a contractual arrangement whereby a person holds property as a nominal owner for one or more beneficiaries. An offshore trust is simply a trust that is located at an offshore location, usually a tax haven, or a stable jurisdiction. An offshore trust is recognized in common law jurisdictions and offers the opportunity to safeguard the beneficiary’s assets in a safe environment. The best thing about offshore trusts is that the individuals have total control over their assets as they can be appointed Managers who have direct control of the assets. The trust is overseen by a trust protector or trustee who is a foreign national and takes care of all operational work related to asset allocation and investments.

There are various ways to ensure that the offshore asset protection trusts are kept safe and secure and provide a source of income to the owners. The most important factor is to select a professional trust protector. The person must know how to take care of the client’s money. The assets must be invested properly, and all records must be maintained in full. The US Government requires that details of all income and expenses are maintained properly and reported. A reliable trustee would be able to take care of the client’s money and also provide all necessary records to ensure the beneficiary does not face any legal problem in the US.

In addition, the client should be aware of all details related to the trust. They must keep a tab on where the funds are flowing to and what the expenses are. A professional trust protector will ensure the client has direct control of the offshore trust to the extent possible. However, in the event of legal compulsions, the trustee should remove the client from the position of Manager of the trust. Since courts have no jurisdiction on foreign soil and the client is not the Manager any more, any fraudulent order demanding the seizure of assets is not applicable tothe trustee who is a foreign national. The assets will remain safe until the order can be rescinded through legal means.

What arethe Benefits of Setting up an Offshore Company?

Tax minimisation is often the foremost advantage that comes to mind when it comes to setting up an offshore company, but this is not the only benefit. Establishing an offshore company also increase confidentiality. What’s more, it has the potential to reduce business overheads by a significant amount.

Minimise Taxes

You can decrease the tax obligations of your business when you incorporate a business offshore. Non-resident businesses are often tax exempt or at least enjoy deferred payment (depending on your home country). Corporate taxation laws are notoriously complicated in some jurisdictions, so be sure to seek the guidance of a consultant.

Increase Privacy and Confidentiality

Some of the best offshore jurisdictions don’t require investors to make public filings of financial information and information about beneficial ownership.  .  They also have strict laws maintaining confidentiality except where there is a court order, criminal investigation or request by a bilateral partner country having a tax treaty with the jurisdiction. 

Reduce Set Up and Overhead Costs

The legal obligations of an offshore company are typically much lower. Even if you need accounting or a physical office, you can easily sign up for virtual office services to save both money and time.  Registering a company offshore also requires minimal capital. Some jurisdictions don’t even require capital for registration. What’s more, the process of establishing an offshore company is fast and relatively simple. This translates into lower costs in the setup and maintenance of your offshore business.

Protect Assets

Do you have international business interests? You may be able to use your offshore company to hold assets such as real estate investments, shares in other companies, investment portfolios or even intellectual property.

Setting up a company offshore can be complicated if you don’t have proper guidance and representation though. This is why it makes sense to hire a corporate services provider specialising in helping investors like you move business across international borders.

The best consultants can advise on the best option and thereafter manage the entire offshore registration process and ongoing requirements thereafter for you.

Uses and Advantages of Seychelles Offshore Company

The Republic of Seychelles is one of the most popular jurisdictions for investors and businesses looking to establish offshore companies because it offers many advantages. It costs just a few hundred dollars to register a company here. The laws and entities available are also designed to help facilitate investment and foreign market entry without being overly burdensome.For example, the government does not require some types of companies to prepare and publicly file financial statements. In those cases, the directors must simply keep accounting records such as invoices, bank statements, contracts, and receipts for material transactions but are not necessarily required to prepare financial statements.

Privacy—which is increasingly becoming scarce in the western world—is still available in Seychelles. You don’t have to worry about the government tracking your every financial move. Seychelles is a 100% independent democratic republic and while committed to adhering to international standards it has much more freedom than jurisdictions under the EU umbrella for instance.

There is no overcrowding of the company register yet; in fact, only around 160,000 international business companies are currently registered in Seychelles (compared to well over one million in the British Virgin Islands). Clearly, a lot of great names are still available.

Seychelles remains on the OECD white list and continues to be a compliant jurisdiction. It has passed Phase 1 of the Global Forum Peer Review and is expected to pass Phase 2 as well by end of 2015. Seychelles has also successfully fended off any “ring fencing” arguments to date which is one of the typical methods of attack by international bodies.   All the advantages given to Seychelles International business companies are also enjoyed by companies owned by Seychelles residents(including tax exemptions). Seychelles has aterritorial tax system,which means only income generated from a source within Seychelles is taxed, anyway.