Company registration in Estonia using the "new" e-residency

Estonian government has decided to sell is digital signature to anyone who wants it. They are calling it the "e-residency" and claiming that they are first in the world to offer such a service. If you want one your self, you will be able to acquire one at the end of 2014. Whit the cost of just 50 Euros and a visit to Estonia's  Police and Border Guard office. But is there an actual point of this so called "e-residency" - I think not.

Limited liability partnership

A limited partner ship is a form of a partner ship, that put limited liability on some or all of the partners. This form separates every partner form another, removing the liability for another partners negligence or misconduct. Meaning that each involved party wants to start a partner ship together, but do not not want to be responsible for the other party's actions where the parties are unfamiliar with each other or cannot full trust each other. The abbreviation most often used for this form of a company is LLP.

2014 Offshore excellence awards

Acquisition International calling them self "The voice of corporate finance" is an international monthly magazine specializing in corporate finance news and reporting. They have said to be working with the leading industry analysts to ensure the latest and most accurate news in the industry. As of yet I can't confirm or deny the claims.

Germany

For some odd reason I haven’t heard too much of Germany lately and yet, quietly sitting in the middle of Europe they have managed be the fourth country in the world by nominal GDP. They do have a large population of 80 million and almost 73% of them are from age 15 to 64. The working population has been growing for couple of decades and managed to reach from 65% in 80s to almost 73% in 2012.

Joint stock companies

Joint stock companies (JSC) are another type of offshore and onshore incorporated companies. JSC company is a company owned by shareholders. The shares of the company may be in uneven amounts to different persons and may be transferred(or sold) at any time to any other person without any damage to the company. JSC are sometimes also regarded as unlimited companies, this abbreviation is mostly used in the UK.

The Commonwealth of nations

The Commonwealth of nations is an intergovernmental organisation with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the organization and the head of the 53 member states. 16 of the 53 three states fall under the monarch of the queen Elizabeth and are also known as the Commonwealth realms. The the members of the organization are united by language history and culture, shared values of human rights and rule of law. There is no political obligation between any two member states. The commonwealth manages to span over one fourth of the total land area of the world. The members states together produce over 17% of the total Gross Domestic product of the world.

Vanuatu

The country consists of more that 80 small islands and officially is called the Republic of Vanuatu. Located in the South Pacific Ocean more than two thousand km away from Australia and around 800 km west of the island of Fiji. The island was inhabited by the Melanesian population when is was discovered by an Portuguese navigator. The island was claimed as a property of Spain and named Espiritu Santo. Later the islands were claimed by the British and the country only started is independence movement in the 70’s.

Liberia

Officially the Republic of Liberia is relatively small country in Africa. The country is rich of quite diverse ethnic groups. Home to almost 4 million people and with one of the fastest population growing rates for the region. The climate of the county is quite harsh, as almost half of the year the area is blessed with heavy rainfall and the Hartman winds blowing hard for the rest of the year.

Nevis

Nevis is one of the islands in the Leeward island group and a part of the Federation of Saint Christopher(also known as Saint Kitts) and Nevis. The group can be found in the Caribbean sea. The two islands lay around 3 kilometers apart from each other, with a shallow channel called The Narrows connecting them and Saint Kitts being the largest island of the two. As the federation is also a part of the commonwealth realms, Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the state and also sometimes is referred to as the Queen of Saint Christopher and Nevis.

Economy

A large part of the economy used to consist of the production of sugar from locally grown sugar canes. But as some large natural disaster such as storms and hurricanes may wipe out a large part of some plantations, the government has shifted it’s focus from the production of the sugar canes to such areas as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing and offshore banking. Almost all the accounted income in Nevis is made from the offshore financial sector. Just the yearly fee of the 17 thousand registered banks amounts to more than 10% of GDP. In 1999 the Hurricane Lenny caused massive damage to the major part of the island. The economic crisis where evaded due the stable income from the offshore financial sector and some minor part of the economy comes from the income that derives from the investments for the purpose of acquiring a citizen ship in Nevis.

Incorporation

The two types of companies that are usually incorporated for the offshore use are offshore exempt company, and the second being offshore Limited Liability company. The usual time for company incorporation in Nevis ranges from a single day to a week.

Company name

The name of the company may be in any language as long as it uses Latin alphabet and if the name of the company is in language in any other than English the name of the company must be accompanied with the translation of the name in English. Also the company name must comply with the following rules: The name of the company may not be similar or the same to an already existing company. A name that may suggest any illegal activity and a name that may be offensive/undesirable for both the government and the registrar.

Company names that require a special license

Any names that may suggest such activities as banking, insurance, funds, loans, trusts and education facilities.

Language

The literacy rate for the country is 98%, one of the highest rates for the region. The official and mostly used language of the island is English.

Local requirements

An agent licensed by the minister of finance is required with a local registered office for the company. There are no requirements for a local secretary and the director of the company may be of any nationality and may reside anywhere in the world.

Yearly requirements

A company must pay a yearly license fee of at least 200USD or equivalent and prepare accounts for such events as inspections by government.

Iceland

Iceland is an island on the borders of the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans. The economy of the country has gone through some difficulties in the past, but since the country joined the European Economic Area, the economy has made a significant recovery. The country is among the top of the countries in the UN Human Development index.

Australia

Commonwealth of Australia is the a country that takes up a whole continent - the Australian continent and some smaller islands around it. For a while the country used to be a colony of the United Kingdom, now its a part of the commonwealth of Nations - a commonwealth realm. Having Queen Elizabeth II  as the leading constitutional monarch. Australia has one of the most diverse environments and wildlife, for this Australia is recognized as a “Megadiverse country”.

The Flex-BV Act 2012

Since I didn't add match information on the specific act in the Netherlands article, this is a follow up, explaining a bit more deeply the act and how it operates.
As the title of this article states the Flex-BV act came in to force in the 2012, on October 1st to be exact. The act was made for easy incorporation of Dutch limited liability companies. Also offering more flexibility in the governance structure of the incorporated company.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a beautiful place and is quite popular visit location for tourists. Officially the Republic of Costa Rica and meaning the rich coast in Spanish. The country resides in the central America and is one of the most stable and prosperous economy of the region. Quite interesting pottery and other old artifacts have been found there. One of the most popular plants of export have been coffee, although the coffee beans have not been indigenous to the country, since the first time the plants were imported in the 19th century, they have since been one of the major exports of the country making a portion of the yearly income. 

Switzerland

Swiss Confederation is a very independent country and a federal parliamentary republic in the central Europe. A landlocked country with the population of about 8 million people. Switzerland is divided into 26 Cantons and every Canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and court system. Majority of them having the German as the official and mostly used language, altho in some of the Cantons the main language used is French.The country has the four following languages as the official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh, as previously mentioned the most used language is German, followed by French and Italian, the Romansh language is used by less than one percent of the population.

Singapore

Republic of Singapore is an island country and a sovereign city state in Asia . The country consists of the main island of Singapore, Pulau Ujong and more than 60 small islands. The whole island is urbanized. Little of the original vegetation can be found there. The island has had couple different owners thought its past, the British gained sovereignty in 1919, after that the island was occupied by the Japanese during World war II, its quite a young country as in gained Independence only in the 1963.

Madeira

Madeira is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal. A Portuguese archipelago that can be found in the Atlantic Ocean. The island is of volcanic origins, but the volcano has been inactive for over 6500 years, and is considered to be an inactive volcano. The terrain of the country may be a bit rough, but the climate has been claimed to be perfect - warm in winters and not too hot in summers. Its also know for its wines and traditional "Madeira cake".

Liechtenstein

One of the richest and hardest working countries in the world according to the GDP and the countries low unemployment rate at only 1.5%. One of the only two doubly landlocked countries in the word. The country lies fully in the alps and the  population mostly consists of German speakers, English is mostly used only for business needs. German is the only official language.

Samoa

The Independent State of Samoa is an oceanian country composed of multiple islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Savaii and Upolu being the main and the biggest of the island group. The island of Savaii being the biggest one and also at the same time quite undeveloped, due to the old ways of living, the island is often regarded as the “real Samoa ”. The second island Upolu is a bit smaller, but its the capital of the country, most of the population lives there and most of the infrastructure is built there. The international airport of Samoa is also located on the Upolu island.

Labuan

Labuan is federal territory that is made up of the main Labuan Island and six smaller islands. The island is mostly known for its capital as an offshore financial center that offers international financial and business services and also being famous for the deep water offshore gas and oil extraction. The name of the country derives from the word Labuan which means harbor, as in the past it used to be a place travelers would come to restock goods.

Romania

Romania is the largest country in the south eastern Europe. Measuring in at an area of 238400 square kilometer, its almost the same size as the United Kingdom. The first fully self propelled plane in Europe was built by a Romanian inventor. Romania seems to be one of the countries in Europe to get the first grasp on many things in the 20th century. Altho when the communist regime was overthrown in the end of 20th century, the economy experienced a downfall, it has since recovered and now considered an upper-middle class country.

Malta

Malta is a small, densely populated country in the Mediterranean Sea. Broke free from the United Kingdom in 1964, Malta was able to become independent republic 10 years later. Malta joined the European Union in 2004 and became a part of the eurozone in 2008. The warm climate, the world’s oldest free standing structures and many more architectural and historical monuments, make Malta a popular tourist attraction. 

Bermuda

One of the many British over seas territories in the North Atlantic ocean. The Bermuda was first discovered by European in the 16th century. An island with great weather and sunny beaches. A great place for a holiday, especially if our looking to get a great and go snorkeling. The official language is English and the official currency is Bermuda dollar.

Netherlands

Netherlands  is a small densely populated country, that can be found in western Europe. A part of the kingdom of the Netherlands. It also has three islands from the Caribbean islands. The capital of Netherlands is Amsterdam, a well known city worldwide. The country name literally means low land, since its quite low  having the average height of the country a bit less then 1 meter above the sea level and being almost flat compared to other areas.

Jersey

Jersey is another British crown dependency with the full name of Bailiwick of Jersey. Its the largest of the channel islands. Although its a Bailiwick, its has different relation ship with the crown than the other Bailiwicks (Isle of Man and Guernsey). Its not yet fully a part of the European union, simply put the relation ship between them is complicated.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a quite small landlocked country in the western Europe. Its in the list of the highest GDP in the world, taking second place, falling behind Qatar. Luxembourg is in a very favorable location regarding its economical state, being a member of such groups as European Union, NATO, OECD, the United Nations, and Benelux. Making not only it's economy stable, but also the political and military fields. The stability of the economy of Luxembourg may be of concern to some people and may need to be addressed in the future.

Current offshore country list.

Since the list of offshore countries is reaching its completion, I have decided to list the current offshore locations and then to add the countries that I am going to be adding in the future. The current list:

• United Kingdom
• Cyprus
• Gibraltar

Guernsey

Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown Dependency, including multiple islands, its the second largest of the Channel islands, falling right behind Jersey. It has 10 parishes and 3 islands having their own independent governing structures. As with the rest of Bailiwicks it is not a part of the Europe Union directly, but true some agreements that the United Kingdom has made.  The law system comes from the common french law, but it has been strictly modified by the English common law.

Ireland

Republic of Ireland, is a part of the island Ireland, second part of the island belongs to the United Kingdom and usually being called Northern Ireland. The Irish may be known for many things, but in this case we are going to be looking at the specific area of offshore business in Ireland. Nowadays many large corporations use Ireland as a vehicle for escaping some corporate tax on a large scale. I have a recent article on this matter here.

Top five articles of June 2014

Another month has passed very quickly for me. In this months top five I will review and compare articles to the most popular ones of the last month. You can see the articles in the following list:

1. Isle of Man
2. Companies special licenses (CSL)
3. International business company

EU investigates tax evasion for Apple, Fiat and Starbucks

Europe Union has launched an investigation towards Apple, Fiat and Starbucks, regarding the large amount of tax they might have escaped due to tax forwarding true such offshore locations as Ireland for Apple, Netherlands for Starbucks and Luxemburg for Fiat.
Atho Apple paid only 2% tax on around 74 billion income made outside America, every thing seems to be legal due to Ireland having effective tax rate of less than 2%.

Changes in the prefered location of outsourced fabrics

The preferred location for business process outsourcing has been changing in the past years. Especially in the production fabrics field. While the the telecommunication outsourcing is big in asian countries, as India has been quickly developing in the past years and taking some part of the sector as more and more educated people can be found in India. The production facilities, altho still very large part of the Chinese economy, has started to move towards Europe.

Isle of Man

Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown Dependency near the United Kingdom, located in the Irish sea.

Language

The official language is English, while Manx Gaelic has also had official status since 1985, altho its is rarely spoken and is considered armost extinct.

Economy

Collective investment scheme

Collective investment scheme's are the investment of money with a group to gain some kind of inherent advantage. These advantages may include the higher class professional investment managers, that may be able to make higher returns on the invested money, lower transaction costs, since the all of the group invests in one package, there is no need to pay separate costs on transactions for each individual, and the invested money may be more diverse, possibly reducing the risk factor.

Large companies using offshore for tax exemption

Most big companies are using offshore branches of companies to get tax reductions. Companies such as IBM and Microsoft have billions of dollars stored away in many offshore locations. Escaping millions of dollars being paid to the US tax system and they never are going to pay taxes in US for the income originating outside US as long as they don't want the money in US banks.

British overseas territories

British overseas territories are not a part of the United Kingdom, however they are under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of it.  The head of state is british monarch and most of them are self governed. There are a total of 14 territories falling under this title, but not all of them are used as offshore locations.

Most popular of the British offshore territories that are used for offshore financial activities:

Offshore financial center

Offshore financial center cover a broader range of offshore topics such as :

• Offshore fund
• Offshore trust
• Offshore company

There are many reasons for offshore financial centers, the usual reason for most centers is for some kind of gain or privacy. Most often these gains are money related.

Jersey

Bailiwick of Jersey is the largest of the Channel islands and another British offshore territory. A self governing parliamentary democracy, still under the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom. Financial, legal and judicial systems are all self sustained, providing economic and political stability.

Limited liability companies

This post is going to be about the various different types and names that is of limited liability companies (LLC). LLC's are companies that are owned by shareholders and are very similar to JSC, the difference from most JSC is that the shareholder's liability is limited to the amount of the investment in the company on the event of company liquidation. Often regarded as hybrid companies as they hold both charistics of corporations and partnerships.

Companies special licenses (CSL)

The Seychelles companies special licences are similar to companies incorporated under the international business licenses, but since the act took place later that IBC act, its more complicated and offers greater advantages for companies incorporated under it. CSL take advantage over double tax treaties that are not available to the IBC companies.

Shelf Companies

Shelf companies (ready-made companies, shelf corporations or aged corporation) are a form companies that are pre registered and are kept in a sleeping (non active) state for future use. In this case the main purpose for these kinds of companies are for sale. This is particularly attractive in places where the incorporation times for businesses are way longer than the change of company owners, allowing for a much faster way to

Mauritius

 Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. Residing on the southeast coast of the African continent. The country is composed of the Mauritius islands, Rodrigues island, the archipelago Saint Brandon and the Agalega islands.

Economy

International business company

International business company (IBC) is a specific company type that is used for the sole purpose of offshore incorporation. The IBC are based on the International Business Companies Act, that took place in 1984. An IBC is formed under the laws of a specific jurisdiction and does not engage in any kind of business in the place of incorporation. The specific charistics of each individual jurisdiction may vary but as long as they all fall under the companies act they qualify as an IBC.

Business process outsourcing in China

Millions of college and university students graduate in China every year and it has become a way more desirable to get a job in the BPO sector rather than the manufacturing sector of China, which takes up a large part of their economy. May fields of studies have emerged regarding the IT and BPO sectors in China in the past years. More that 20 cities are already regarded as "China BPO cities", meaning that most of the business conducted within the city is for foreigner companies, citizens etc.

Most popular posts of May 2014

In the following list I have composed, you can see the most popular articles of the last month (may). I will make these post every month, to look back at the things I have done right and the things I have done wrong, in order to improve my writing abilities.

1.       Business in Latvia 2014
2.       Bahamas
3.       Offshoring

Dominica

Dominica is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. Some claiming to be one of the most unspoiled and beautiful places in the world. The second largest hot spring in the world can be found there and its active volcanoes are still forming the island. Yet most of the island is covered by forests and it is one of the rainiest places on the world. As do with the unspoiled landscape the wild life of Dominica is also quite unique. Many rare species that can't be found anywhere else in the world live there.

Brunei

Brunei or officially know the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace is located on the north coast of island Borneo. A sovereign state that gained independence in 1971 from the UK. Most of its economy is built on the export of crude oil and natural gas in the Liquefied form. They also are a large exporter of honey and honey related products, fishes and fish products, fruits and rice.The official language of Brunei is Malay, although English and Chinese are also used. The official currency is Brunei dollar.

Facts about companies in Brunei and their incorporation

The registration fee for incorporation in Brunei is 500$, for any size of a IBC share capital.

Saint Vincent

The full name of the island country is Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located on the border of the Caribbean sea, where the it meats the Atlantic ocean. As with all the Caribbean sea islands, Saint Vincent has an great weather, with the exception of some tropical storms, that damage economy wiping out a part of the yearly plantations.

Economy

Most of the Saint Vincent's economy comes from the export of goods, mostly bananas. Recently the service sector has taken over a big part of the economy, mostly focusing on tourism.

Barbados

As typing in to Google "Barbados offshore" found most results in a "bank" added to the previous quote,  I can certainly say that Barbados is mostly used for offshore banking. Barbados is the 51st richest country in the world looking at the GDP per capita. With a very well developed and mixed economic system.

Belize

Belize is an country on the board of central America, bordering Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean sea. It's the country with the lowest population density in the central America. Belize has a large variety of culture and languages, mainly due its location, a place where many travelers, explorers and fighters have gone trough. The main language of Belize is English, but due to the variety of the culture, many different languages are used in the every day life such as English creole and Spanish. Well know as the place of birth of chewing gum and Punta music.

Offshore fund

An offshore found is a fund, that is located in another place than the residence of the found holder. Many offshore financial centers are available as places for investment. Offshore funds are often regarded as collective investment schemes and the as the main from of offshoring where the underground economy comes from, thought the usage of shell companies allowing for some to complete tax evasion.

Why are offshore funds used?

Business process outsourcing

Business process outsourcing means the movement of an essential or non essential part of a business to another country. Now days even if the country's right next to yours it can still be regarded as an offshore or most likely near shore. Most large manufacturers or it service providers are know to outsource some part of their business chain to another location due to lower costs or another aspect that makes their business more effective.

Most popular places for Business process outsourcing:

How Europe parliament elections 2014 could change the offshore business?

In short - it shouldn't, but it could, because the EU parliament will have more power over the EU more than ever after this years elections. 2014 elections take place from 22-25 may and are going to take place in all of the Europe Union countries. In 2013 EU parliament made a document of its intentions regarding the elimination of Tax heavens and offshore financial transactions that could impact its budget and resources.

Anguilla

Anguilla is a country in the Caribbean and also one of the British overseas territories. Composed of the main island of Anguilla and a couple of smaller islands. The main gross domestic product comes from the tourism, fishing, offshore company and bank creation, also captive insurance. The official language is English and some adaptations of the English language are mostly used for communication. Most of the population is black with around 4% white and 3% of mixed descent.

Bahamas

The Bahamas is an island country composed of more that 700 islands. Population of around 310000. The official language of the country is English and its also the most used language in every day life and in business. The official currency of Bahamas is Bahamas dollar having the same value as the US dollar.

Offshore investment

The most simple way of explaining offshore investments are to just to say that the founds of a person are keep in another country differing from the owners residence.

Why invest in an offshore jurisdiction?

• The most common reason is tax advantages. Some countries have mutual treaties for double tax avoidance, this can be exploited to lover the tax of some finances.

Seychelles

Seychelles is yet another island country,only this time it found in the Indian Ocean. As with every island country most of its gross domestic product comes from the export of goods, mostly salmon, and also from tourism. The population of Seychelles is very mixed. Having British sailors, French settlers, Africans, and traders from the Middle East. The most widely used language is creole, but french and English are also the official languages in the country. For business English is mostly used.

Business in Latvia 2014

The year 2014 brings another thing from the Europe Union to the Latvian business system - Euro. A new currency, now used in the most of the EU countries, brings new business opportunities, easier payments and lower fees on currency handling. As there are many things that may happen to the economic system since the introduction on euro one can only hope the best. The business should grow and should the count of newly formed businesses. As so the Euro-zone should bring new heights to the Latvian economy and so increasing the GDP and even reduction of the public debt.

 The ease of starting a business in Latvia

Most of the statistic below are from doingbusiness.org
As with every passing year 2014 is no different, with an even better score that the previous years. Due to some reforms that took place when the euro replaced the lat, it's even easier to from a business in Latvia. The time taken and costs of incorporation have decreased. Less effort is required to gain construction permits. Since there in no longer a cost for currency exchange, trading across borders is easier than ever

Changes that have already taken place

An article on the changes that have already taken place in the fist quarter of 2014 due to Euro in Latvia - News.

Expected increase in the GDP

Most of Latvian bank forecasts suggest a increase of around 4% in the Gross domestic product of the year 2014. The expectation at the end of 2013 was around 4.7%. But the first quarter of this year has already passed and the expectations have been lowered to around 4.3%. The same amount if increase is expected in the following year of 2015.

More information on the introduction of euro in Latvia here (RU).

Offshoring

Offshoring is the term for any form of thing that is done abroad the country from with the person of action is resident. The most popular offshore processes are

• Banking
• Trusts
• Investment
• Fund

International business company

International business company is a type of an offshore company that is formed under a law of a specific jurisdiction as a company that is not allowed to engage in business in the country of incorporation and is untaxed.

IBC usually are recognized for:

• Complete local tax evasion, as long as it's not engaged in business in the country of incorporation, the annual reports may still have to be filled and the yearly agents and registration fees may still have to be paid.
• Confidentiality -  preserving the company owners personal data.
• Wide range of business  - The scope of the range may depend on the country in witch the company is incorporated.

Most know for and usually incorporated IBC are in these countries:

• Barbados
• Anguilla 
• Bahamas
• Belize 
• Brunei
• Dominica 
• Marshall Islands
• Seychelles
• Saint Vincent

Only on couple of these countries I have information in my blog. So there are a couple of upcoming articles needed to be written about the new countries in the previously mentioned list.

Cook Islands

Cook islands offer a fast, cheap and easy incorporation capabilities. In addition having nil corporate tax and low yearly fee. Only a yearly file return is mandatory, no account fillings are required.

Known for

The islands are mainly know for the vast tourist attractions, fishing, financial services and agriculture.

Political structure

Formally Cook islands where under the New Zealand jurisdiction, but now its a self governing structure under with only around 19 thousand citizens.

Language

The official language of the country is English and native language of Maori is also widely spoken.

Currency

The official currency still remains the same as it was before it was a self governing structure - New Zealand dollar.

Marshall Islands

Republic of the Marshal Islands, an independent sovereign island country located in the north Pacific ocean. Having more sophisticated infrastructure than any other country of the region and stable political and economical system due to finishing and recently developed tourism industry. Although sometimes reffed to as "controlled tourism", but still for most offering a great place for fishing, sailing or scuba diving in one of the lagoons. Offering great flexibility, great tax free solutions as long as your business doesn't engage in on of the following activities:

• Insurance

Offshore trust

Trust that is formed using the laws of the specific offshore country is called an offshore trust. The general idea is the same as with an onshore trust, only difference is that the laws are different. Usual choices for an offshore trust are in countries with more favorable laws that in the country of the trustee residence.

Usual uses of an offshore trust

One of the most common use for an offshore trust is asset protection. 

Capital markets or finance transaction in a company witch shares are held by a trustee.

There are even more uses for the use of a trust, but the main idea and purpose of a trust is complete legal confidentiality for the actual owner of any thing of value.

Trustee

Trustee is refereed to as an physical of legal person who has entitled the rights of the investors funds, real estate, or even company. The trustee is vied by the law as the owner of any of the previous mentioned things, but is not the actual owner. This is the main purpose of trusts, as to legally change the owner of a said thing, with a legal document that states that the actual owner is a different person.

Offshore banking

Offshore bank is a bank that is in a different country that the banks account holder country of residence. Making any bank, that allows non residents to create a bank account an offshore bank.
Offshore banking would be the use of any banking services in an offshore bank.

2014 tax changes

I'm going to compose a list of some of the notable changes to VAT tax that took place around the start of 2014.

Double taxation treaty

Double taxation treaty is a treaty between two countries that allows the taxes to be paid in one of the involved countries. Sometimes called Double Tax Avoidance Agreement, this title is a better representation of the treaty, because the treaties are for tax double tax avoidance, not for double tax enforcement.

Cayman Islands

Cayman islands are yet another British colony falling under the United Kingdom colony jurisdiction and sovereignty. The richest one of the Caribbean territories. Leading as the financial and economic center of the islands. The local registered company count in the Cayman islands is surpassing the local population count  more than three times not even counting the rest of the registered companies. With no corporation tax on most of the business conducted outside the Cayman islands and easy maintain ship of the companies, making Cayman islands another great place to incorporate your company. 

Tax heaven

What is a tax heaven?

Tax heaven is usually referred to as an offshore country or corporation. That offers some to all tax exemption. Each year there are more laws set in place in order to disallow the use of tax heavens, but there are may loopholes still available. Also most countries where the tax heaven are created usually provide little to no information to foreign tax authorities.

Scottish Limited Partnerships

Scotland is a country on the island of the Great Britain and a part of the United Kingdom, with most of its laws falling under UK jurisdiction. The same as with the rest of the UK, Scotland companies are incorporated trough the Companies House. Only difference is that the companies usually incorporated in Scotland are called Scottish Limited Partnerships and have a slightly different law behind them.

Here is a great article on the unique vehicle the Scottish Limited partnerships are - Brodies - SLP.

Monaco

           Reasons to consider Monaco as your offshore. Monaco is a low-tax jurisdiction for individuals and certain types of business. Monaco is one of the top countries for creating an offshore business. With its low corporate tax, private banking and available information Monaco is the country of choice, if most of your business is going to be conducted within Monaco.

Could Latvia be one of the countries to join the growing list of offshore companies?

Today i found this blog about company Baltic Legal offering all kind of services. The service that cached my eye was the company formation one. They have offered company formation in Latvia for quite some time and in the past couple of months they have started to offer a variety of countries of choice for an offshore company formation.

Latvia is actually starting to sound a lot like some other countries of choice for and offshore business. The corporate tax in Latvia is only 15% and there are a lot of banking services to attach to help you with your business management. Incorporation in Latvia takes only couple of days, and there even are may shelf companies available.

I will write a separate article on Latvia as a place to incorporate your company in the future. Right now it may not seem like the best place for tax exemption, but the formation process is quite easy and takes less time than in some other locations.

SEO and the popularity of companies

Having a good place for your business website in one of the top search engines is one of the most important things to attract your clients. You can find great information on SEO and how it can increase the popolatiry of your company here.

Summary of the current offshore country list.

Right now I only have made articles in my blog about only a couple of countries and there are a few reasons for that, the main one is that the list is manly for the best countries to do business around Europe. Another may be the time it takes to make a nice blog about a topic that has to be examined quite toughly takes some time. As my research goes on, I shall find more information about every of the listed counties and expand the list to make sure that there is a country in the list for every type of business needs. As I mentioned in my previous article I'm still researching the future of offshore company formation and trying to determine if there even is one. To that question I can answer already, at least for the couple of upcoming decades there is, because most governments don't care enough to monitor the activities of the companies registered in their countries or even are happy to have them there. Because if any tax has to be paid the country of origin, meaning that having a growing company count that bring some tax money in to the country is always a great way to grow the economy of the country in question. So that there would no be any benefit to place laws in place to disallow such activities.

Dubai

I see a lot of places on the internet suggesting Dubai as a great place to form an offshore company, but most people don't know that there is a better alternative in the United Arab Emirates. Although Dubai has a very stable economic system and is one of the richest places on the face of the Earth, it doesn't serve the great purpose as an offshore as it used to.

Updates to the best of offshore

As time goes by, so do a lot of other things, now days almost all of the paper work is moving in to the online world. Reducing the time of legal document formation, review and validation of them. In no time at all we will probably be able to form a company without even going over our doorstep. This means that the countries that adapt the fastest to the changes of the business world will be most popular for the business world.
In the upcoming posts in my blog about offshore companies and their formation I will try to analyze and suggest the most viable countries right now and countries that will be most suitable for your line of business need's in the future.
That's it for my blog today, will go on and do as much research that is humanly possible for a day and keep you all updated thought my research encounters.
As always have a great week, and happy blogging.

Hong Kong

Becoming the financial center in Asia, Hong Kong is now one of the best places fort your business. Honk Kong now is one the world cities and has became a big part of the global economic system. Hong Kong became the first Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China right after its separation from the British Empire as one of its colonies. The beautiful skyline of the city of Hong Kong is one of its most profound features. If you like huge masses of people, that keep most to them self, Hong Kong is the place to visit.

Panama

The republic of Panama is a country between north and south america. Having an tropical climate and some stunting mountain ranges, its still mostly know for the Panama canal, witch connects the Pacific ocean to the Atlantic ocean true the Caribbean sea. And is easy to understand why, having the largest economy of central America and most of its coming from the tool taxes on transporting goods true the canal it self.

Company formation in Panama

Panamas offshore companies are as great as the other companies in other countries, especially if you are looking for a company with rely low share capital, privacy especially if your the shareholder of the company, and easier management than in most other countries. More information on Panama offshore companies.

Over all Panama is a great place for your business, you don't have to pay any taxes except for the annual government fee. Its easy to run your company even if you don't want to reside in Panama. All of these aspects make it a great place for incorporation.

British Virgin Islands (BVI)

One of the 16 inhabited islands of the 40 in the Virgin island archipelago. Located in the Caribbean, having a stable economy and great weather making it yet another place perfect for tourism and business. Being a British overseas territory, its a monarchy under the control of the queen of england Elizabeth II.

Gibraltar

All that most people know about Gibraltar is that it is a large rock, because there is nothing more to Gibraltar than a large rock and a densely populated area at its feet. But there's more to Gibraltar than just meets the eye, its also a popular place from where to run your business as long as most of it is going to be conducted outside Gibraltar it self and the owners of the company wont reside in Gibraltar.

Advantages of forming a non-resident company in Gibraltar

The company holders and managers may reside anywhere in the world except Gibraltar it self. As long as this condition is met the company in Gibraltar is free of almost all corporate tax. The time it takes to form a new company in Gibraltar is around 2 weeks but there are many ready made companies allowable to suit your business needs.

How to get started?

If you have the time to wait 2 weeks and make all the documents needed to incorporate a company in Gibraltar you could go true the process yourself, but there are already many company that offer this service for low fees and will make this process a lot easier for you like Baltic Legal - Gibraltar offshore or any similar company.

Cyprus

Cyprus is an island country located in the Mediterranean sea well know to the tourism industry. The main attractions to tourism in Cyprus are sunshine packed beaches and stunning mountain ranges. Cyprus also exports various goods and some portion of it GDP comes from the sale of real estate.

Offshore company in Cyprus

Since becoming a member of the Europe Union in 2004, Cyprus has been the place to create a company for business in Europe. The main advantages for company formation in Cyprus are one of the lowest corporate tax in Europe, fast and easy company incorporation and the fact that there are companies that will help you form a company in Cyprus with ease.Baltic Legal - Cyprus company is a great example of a such company.

Banking services

Cyprus banks also provide services for non resident accounts, more on this in the future.

All of this making Cyprus a perfect place to create a business, and also the great weather and many tourist attractions and large airways traffic making Cyprus a great place to travel to and spend your free time.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom is a country consisting of couple of islands. UK is mostly know for its rainy weather, British television, large buildings such as the London bridge and Big Ben:

London bridge

Big Ben

Offshore companies

What is an offshore company?

Offshore companies in some countries know also as tax heavens, are branch companies that are usually created in a country where due to different laws tax may be partially or fully exempted. There are also many other benefits of an offshore such as international trading, asset protection, captive insurance, property registration, and legal tax avoidance, protection of intellectual property.