Have you ever thought of setting up an international corporation to reduce your taxes? It wasn’t too long ago that such an idea would have seemed like the plot of a gangster movie about the cartel hiding their drug money. Much has changed, though. There are many places to legally set up your corporation to take advantages of a tax reductions.
There are many things to consider when choosing where to set up your international corporation, and no one place that is best for every single person. However, after considering all the options out there, I want to cover the seven reasons Anguilla is your best choice for a zero tax jurisdiction.
1. Easy and Cheap to Set Up
Your first question is probably about how much and how difficult it is to get an International company set up. You are probably wondering if it’s even worth the effort.
Well, if you want to set up a legal business you can use an Anguilla company for tax purposes, and it’s actually a pretty painless process, thanks to the fewer bureaucratic procedures involved. You can file quickly, and the cost of setting up your company will only cost you around $1000. This, of course, depends on what service you use, and what type of corporation you set up. Besides ease and cost, another benefit is you can incorporate with only one member, one director, or one shareholder.
2. A Variety of Company Structures
You are going to have specific business needs, or maybe you just need to move some of your wealth overseas and don’t plan on doing a lot of day to day business. You will be relieved to know that Anguilla has flexible options when setting up your business structure. You can customize your organization based on your needs, due to having a flexible corporate management structure. Run your corporation the way that serves you best.
3. Regulated by an English Common Law System
Conduct your business free from excessive administrative paperwork and overly complicated financial and auditing practices.
4. Confidentiality
Anguilla is already an outstanding offshore environment. On top of all the other benefits, offshore regulations provide clients with nominee services together with no financial auditing or reporting necessary, adding another layer of confidentiality and privacy.
5. A Tropical Paradise Destination
Anguilla is the best of a laidback Caribbean paradise. Imagine amazing beaches, luxurious accommodations, and truly warm and accepting people. Anguilla is easily accessible from St. Maarten by a ferry ride of 20 mins.
The vibe is carefree and peaceful. The beaches water is sparkling, and the sand white. Due to being such a popular tourist destination, you have access to the best hotels, resorts, food, and entertainment, making your business trips more relaxing than a vacation.
6. No Local Requirements
Enjoy the freedom to run your business the way you want. You won’t be heavily restricted by regulations on director, or shareholder meetings.
According to Section 47(1) of the Anguilla International Business Companies Ordinance of 1994 47(1) Subject to the articles or by-laws, the directors of an international business company may meet at such times and in such manner and places within or outside Anguilla as the directors may determine to be necessary or desirable.
This allows you, your directors, and any shareholders a huge amount of freedom in conducting your business.
7. Free of Taxation
I have saved the best reason for last. Do you hate giving so much of your yearly profits right back to the government? Anguilla IBC’s, LLCs and individuals are exempt from taxes. Yes, you read that right. You won’t pay corporate tax, no inheritance tax, don’t pay taxes on gifts, or capital gains, and enjoy not paying estate taxes. This list isn’t even the full list of taxes you don’t have to worry about paying.
After reading these 7 Reasons Anguilla is Your Best Choice, you should have an idea of the advantages of setting up an international corporation. When you begin seriously looking into setting up your own international company, remember this list, and put Anguilla at the top of your list of possible locations.
As mentioned in the opening no one place can be perfect for everyone, but I believe Anguilla is pretty close.
Owning an offshore company can offer many advantages. This applies to anyone looking to expand their business overseas, protect their assets, and benefit from favorable tax laws in another country with more accommodating jurisdictions. Before you create an offshore account, do some research. Speak to expert advisers in both jurisdictions. This will insure you understand all gained financial and legal benefits, as well as potential problems to avoid.
A plus to owning an offshore company is you can use it to handle and hold property in various jurisdictions. You can enjoy a slew of favorable features in the process. Managing property through an offshore company could be a viable solution if you hold property in various jurisdictions, or need to protect assets from inheritance taxes.
Here are a few things to know.
Financial Benefits
The main financial benefit of holding property in an offshore company, and using it to manage property, is that you stand to avoid a lot of undue taxation. Provided you incorporate in the right jurisdiction, such property is protected against your local inheritance tax.
If you own properties in several countries, the process of passing along property as inheritance could be significantly expedited, with fewer costs, by avoiding probate. In the process, you’ll be able to better protect your privacy. When assets go through probate they may become public record, causing creditors and other claimants to come out of the woodwork.
Should you choose to sell property held by an offshore trust, you’ll gain financial advantages. For example, you can sell the shares in the company instead of a straight property sale. Thus avoiding land tax in some countries. For expensive properties, the savings could be significant. Records of the sale need not be made public because it is merely an exchange of company shares.
Legal Benefits
Holding money in an offshore account has legal advantages. Minimized liability, and avoiding probate, are two major benefits. In terms of minimized liability, a corporate entity shields an individual owner from obligations, such as a visitor who suffers an accident on the property and decides to sue.
There is no need for probate, which would normally occur in the event that a property owner dies and property is left to beneficiaries. The property passed to beneficiaries through the company or third-party trusts, avoid the fees and public records associated with probate.
There are plenty of benefits to setting up your International Business Corporation (or IBC) in Anguilla, not least of which a very good reason is to visit or set up residence on this beautiful Caribbean island. That’s not really why most individuals set up IBCs though. Many are looking to expand an existing operation to international shores, start up a new corporation in a welcoming community, and/or take advantage of favorable tax laws in other jurisdictions.
As such, your IBC must meet certain minimum standards to remain in operation, perhaps including maintaining some kind of permanent presence in the jurisdiction of incorporation. For example, you may be required to have a registered address and a registered agent in order to keep your IBC in good legal standing.
Unfortunately, just meeting the minimums can be somewhat limiting. Over time, you may find that you need additional services in order to properly manage and operate your IBC. This is where virtual office services come into play, and there are a few important services your business can take advantage of.
Call Service
You don’t have to be restricted to the 9-5 routine. A call service provides you with a dedicated, local business phone number that will be answered during regular business hours. Your calls can be tailored to how you want them to be answered using your company name and information. Allowing you the freedom to manage your business how you want to.
This service is not designed to handle business for you, but only to take messages and forward them electronically. You can add the number of your call service to your contact information on your website, letterhead, and business cards so you don’t have to give out your personal phone number.
Mail and Fax Forwarding Service
Although you will need a registered address to maintain your corporation and conduct business, you’ll find that your uses of this address are somewhat limited in terms of actual mail services. In addition to a service that forwards your calls, you may also want a service that forwards mail and faxes to your corporate headquarters, your permanent residence, or a P.O. box in your location of residence, just for example.
Document Mailing Service
As a corporate entity, it’s only natural that you would have correspondence you wish to send out from your offices in Anguilla. In this case, a document mailing (or re-mailing) service may be in order. With this service you simply provide the documents to be mailed (billing, commercial offers, and other company correspondence), along with a list of recipients, and your letters will be mailed on your behalf.
How to set up an Offshore Trust Fund for your children
If you are reading this article, I’m willing to bet that you are a person who loves your children and wants them to always be taken care of throughout the entirety of their lives. As we all know, everyone’s time spent on earth will eventually run out and we will one day leave our families behind. As grim as this may sound, it’s the reality that we all live in.
People often turn to setting up a trust in order to care for their family after they pass on. If you set up a proper trust, you can ensure that your children have access to your assets long after you have passed on. Read on, to learn exactly how to set up a trust fund.
What are you putting into your Trust?
The very first step of setting up a trust is to identify what exactly you want to add to the trust. Typically, people will add stock options, savings, real estate titles, patents, bonds and any and all financial assets that they have. What you put into your trust is what will be passed along to the beneficiaries (your children).
Identify a responsible Trustee
So who is it going to be? Who is going to be the person or institution that will be the trustee of your trust and assets? As you probably already guessed, in order to set up your trust for your children, you need to decide who will be the trustee for the family trust. A trustee in this context is a person or institution that has the responsibility of managing the funds in your trust until your child is ready to use it for say education or when he or she becomes an adult and has access to the trust.
That being said, it’s in your best interest to only assign the role to someone you trust, such as financial advisor, lawyer or trust company that helped to create your trust for you. Additionally, there are plenty of trust management firms that you can use to manage the trust for you. This can be a great way to ensure unbiased management.
Transfer your assets
Our goal in this step is to simply set up a trust or trust account with a Trustee such as; First Anguilla Trust Company Ltd, so that you can have all of your assets in one place. Some people simply set up a new banking account; some people choose investing companies. Several people also chose to create trusts in other jurisdictions like Anguilla, which has the advantage of low taxation. Our recommendation is speaking with your financial advisor before you physically set up a trust in order to make a more informed decision. Please keep in mind that your trust funds must be separate from any other account that you may have.
Get legal
This is where the rubber meets the road; in this step, our goal is to make your offshore trust fund legal.
You will want to meet with your trust manager, attorney and/ or financial advisor in this step and legally draft your trust. A good trust team (attorney, trust manager and financial advisor) will explain the different types of trust you can set up and explain the benefits of each option. Essentially, when this process is concluded, you will have a legal document that will state, the purpose of the trust, responsibilities of the trustee, beneficiary of the trust and instructions to the trustee as to how the trust should be managed.
Congratulations, you have set up your first offshore trust fund.
