Offshore Company

Okay so, i'm a European Citizen but I mostly live in Asia - but I also go to Latin America sometimes... basicly, everywhere it's cheap and life is good, you'll see me.

The problem i'm having in my home country, and a few neighboring european countries is with bank accounts etc.
I called a few banks to apply for an account with a Visa / Mastercard linked to it, unfortunately they can't issue me one unless I show them proof that I am paying taxes IN the country where the bank account is located. I can only get an account with a normal debit card linked to it, and in the long run, if they see i'm receiving thousands of dollars/euro every month, they'll want to me to pay taxes.

As a temporary solution to this i'm using the prepaid Payoneer Mastercard.

I am not paying taxes, of course. I receive all my money from offshore companies (affiliate payouts).

I figured out I better form or buy an Offshore Company, get a bank account with Visa / Mastercard and wire all my affiliate payouts directly offshore company's account.

1) Has anyone got experience with this? Where is your offshore company located?

2) Do I really need to form or buy an offshore company, or could I just open an offshore bank account as an individual and bank safely this way?

3) What are your experiences?

My first choice would be HONG KONG.
Any advice?

My list:

1) Hong Kong
2) Seychelles
3) Delaware, USA (i'm not American so no taxes?!)

Do a Mitt and go Cayman Islands!

what is the advantage of the Cayman Islands to Hong Kong or Seychelles?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the coporate tax rate is lower in the cayman islands

Hi! Same problem.. European living in Asia, and sometimes South America.. I wouldn't be surprise if we even met in real life without speaking about IM.. expats community is somehow small around here..

Anyway, same problem here, just I'm still not earning so much that I must care about. Not yet. But I started looking around.

I'd also suggest you HK, for several reasons.
1) Companies are really easy to set up, and cheap as well (the offshore segment is a battlefield there)
2) Taxes are low, and If your company doesn't earn any money from other companies in HK (so If, e.g., you receive no payment from CPA company registered in HK) you pay 0% Taxes. Yes, 0%.
3) Then, I think, when it comes to IM and internet, HK sounds better than Cayman Island.
4) You live in Asia, so anytime you just catch a few hours flight and you are there. Any problems, any misunderstanding with the company managing all your papers, few hours and you face them. I wouldn't like to set up a company in a far country. Once you got used to travel around the world, and live abroad in Asia, having the Offshore company located in a country nearby yours seems a better idea. Last not least, you somehow know how to deal with the local culture, to understand when saying A they mean B (and we know in Asia that happens quite often). Good side, they don't know how much you do know them

natashaiera said:

Would you need a vps???

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XRummer?

0% is not rare at all for a lot of "offshore countries", you do pay a yearly fee most of the times though.

There are multiple things you should take into account. Just as iClaudio said is that most countries require you to NOT do any business with other companies on those countries. So if you get paid by a company in Hong Kong, you cannot set up your offshore business there. If you do receive money from Hong Kong businesses, you pay regular taxes.

On top of that, there are other things you want to take into consideration. If I'm not mistaking, the seychelles does not require you to do ANY bookkeeping, which is ideal if you ask me, but other countries such as Hong Kong do.

Also, there are countries which require you to have a Director in place, in that country. Mostly it is an accountant or bookkeeper who is "director" for multiple businesses..

Not every country is the same, and the one may suit you better than an other. It is worth to do some research on this.

Setting up an Offshore company really dont cost that much, and there are even company's who take care of all the paperwork, and have it set up within 2-4 business days..

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but I'm in same exact position and looking to form a company in the near future. Initially I was looking for those typical offshores, they're like 600-700 EUR a year, not bad. But then had a talk with colleague in the very same affiliate-business, and they're running company in UK, while not residing there, or being UK citizen. I looked that option up, and that's just ~100 GBP annually - a whole lot cheaper! They come with the formation of the company, all the records handled and with actual business address (yeah, I know it's shared, but still). I think that I have no need for a bank account, but it's also an extra option.

But why the major difference in price? Is there something that I should know about UK specifically? The actual business of mine is not run in UK, but elsewhere in EU. Given that if UK registration was enough, I could use the very same amount to pay it for many years to come.

Vanuatu, have a look into it. May be a bit of traveling to get there, but they have no income tax, and are very open to offshore companies.

Oukast said:

But why the major difference in price? Is there something that I should know about UK specifically? The actual business of mine is not run in UK, but elsewhere in EU. Given that if UK registration was enough, I could use the very same amount to pay it for many years to come.

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Ultimately, it comes down to the free market.

Prices for company formations differ wildly. Across various jurisdictions. The suppliers that pay for adwords are going to be more expensive than those a bit further down the line. Even the cost of addon services is going to differ wildly from one company to the next.

Google is your friend. Unless you have a recommendation, do not choose the first one that you come across. Check out a couple dozen different firms. Shortlist to half a dozen or so. Send them all an email via their contact form with some of your questions. Use the quality and speed of their responses to make your choice(s) .... I assure you, their service levels won't get better once they have your money.

When doing comparisons, be sure to not forget to look at the extras that are included in the price. Don't pay for stuff you don't need, but at the same time, don't overlook benefits built into the pricing that you might otherwise have to pay for later.

I really dont see why you would set up a business in the UK? They tax 20 - 26% on profits, mandatory accounting/bookkeeping.
As mentioned it is cheaper to set up, but that does not weigh close to having 0% tax right?

Avoid Hong Kong, you must keep books for a HK company.
Avoid Seychelles, they introduced the same thing this year.
Delaware, I don't know, but if you want to spend that money without paying taxes, hmm, I am not sure I would trust that info to the US government.
Avoid personal bank accounts. Banks in most countries must share your info with your home country.

Belize company with a Cyprus bank account *works fine*

Chizz said:

I really dont see why you would set up a business in the UK? They tax 20 - 26% on profits, mandatory accounting/bookkeeping.
As mentioned it is cheaper to set up, but that does not weigh close to having 0% tax right?

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Mm, you're right. I was just under the impression that unless I have income from UK (which I won't), I wouldn't have to pay taxes for that. Guess it's better/easier to just look over to Belize or similar one.

Yes Hong Kong are quite easy to let you open a personal bank account, just say that you come to Hong Kong every few weeks for your work and that you don't want to withdraw from a foreign account from there.

My company is located in Seychelles and my bankaccount in the EU.
Avoid HK, they require you to visit in person and they do have taxes. Never open a personal bankaccount they will find it.

Check out this website, it's really helpful in getting to know each country, their ups and downs. http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings

This website is also pretty good http://www.lowtax.net/ as it indicated everything you need to know about each country, i.e. doing business, opening a bank account, taxation, corporate types etc.

On a personal note, since you are from Europe, I would register your company either in Malta, Cyprus, Liechtenstein or Luxembourg. All these countries have low taxes and are perfect for doing business. I'll be registering my company in Malta soon, it only has 5% corporate tax and it's a beautiful island If you want more information, PM me and I'll help you out.

Looks like a lot of info out there. Thanks for sharing.

I think is better company in Belize or Seyshelles and account in Swiss or Cyprus bank...for EU citizens

Do not forget about Panama. They have some pretty secure offshore packages for you to choose from.
I have personal used some services from Panama without any issues.

You do not need proof for paid taxes. Just shop for a diffrent bank on the other side of street. Many countries in Asia have territorial tax laws and it's common practise for expats to work in country A and live in B. However, most reputable bank insist for you to keep a minimum account balance of 50k to 200k.

If you do startup offshore entities, expect your bank and agent to charge extraorbital fees on you. The fees are similar to a 10% income tax.

Anyhow, all you wil need is a personal introduction of an existing customer of a bank who will say some good words. You will notice, they will waive most requirements except for ID and prood of address.