-->BEFORE DECIDING how and where to set up an offshore company, there are some basic questions for prospective owners to ask themselves."Why do they think they need a company? What do they think it is going to do for them?" said Paul Knox, a senior manager in international estate taxation at the consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP."It depends on where you are living and where you are resident whether an offshore company is going to really be of use to you. In the U.K. or most tax-paying jurisdictions, there is a whole raft of anti-avoidance legislation under which the gains of the company are the gains of the owner. Sometimes there can be quite penal provisions."

Assuming there is a reasonable and legitimate need to form a company, then the main issues to consider are where to set it up and, more important, how to do it so that the company meets the owners' requirements and complies beyond question with the laws of their countries of citizenship and residence.

"It is difficult for taxable citizens to use these devices," said Peter Pearson, an offshore trust consultant at the private bank Coutts & Co. This is especially true, he said,"if they are used in an amateurish way that is open for tax authorities to challenge."

The key, he said, is creating a structure in which it is clearly shown that a company's directors are free to exercise control over its activities.

"It is absolutely vital, in the manner in which an offshore company is set up, that it is seen to be independent of its owner by having a robust, independent manager offshore that does what a board of directors is supposed to do," Mr. Pearson said.

The architecture often involves a company, offshore or onshore, wrapped in a trust. A trust is an arrangement in which a person surrenders ownership of assets - in this case the company - and designates an independent party to disburse them according to an agreement made when the trust is established.

Other entities used in place of, or in conjunction with, an offshore company include foundations and anstalts.

Foundations are like trusts, but more formal. They tend to be used by people from civil-law jurisdictions, such as Continental Europe. Anstalts, a mix between trusts and companies, are used mainly in Germany, Austria and especially Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Company formation has become a cottage industry for many offshore centers, where basic companies can be created with a minimal expenditure of time and money. These centers"do not tax any of the profits or gains of the offshore company, nor do they usually require accounts to be filed or audited," said Bill Blevins, managing director of the financial-advisory firm Blevins Franks International.

"The cost to set up such a company would average about GBP1,000," he said, or about $1,800,"with running costs of anywhere from GBP 500 to GBP 2,5000 depending on the jurisdiction and the service-provider used."

Most centers have a healthy supply of directors-for-hire. It is common to form a company in one center, perhaps based on price, and have directors in another, say in a more convenient time zone or where the owner's language is more commonly spoken.

"Such companies, if correctly formed, will not be liable to tax in any of the jurisdictions," Mr. Blevins said.

The British Virgin Islands has a thriving company-formation business, mainly because it is inexpensive.

"They're very flexible," Mr. Knox of PricewaterhouseCoopers said of companies set up there."You can more or less do what you want with them. You can reregister them in another jurisdiction if you need to, and they are pretty low on disclosure requirements. They are very easy to put in place, and they have low fees."

Because they are so easy to set up, offshore companies have become essentially a commodity business. For the most simple type, one center is as good as another.

"It comes down to price and efficiency - the best infrastructure at the cheapest price," Mr. Knox said."But you do need to know that there is a proper judicial system so you can go to the courts and settle any disputes that may arise."

The costs among the various centers are not that different, except that Switzerland is expensive and the Channel Islands have in recent years become considerably more expensive.

Mr. Blevins said that"what matters is that the offshore trust company used meets a high standard of diligence and has internal compliance procedures."

But doing business in some centers is perceived as being a bit too easy. These centers, and offshore territories in general, are drawing closer attention from authorities in countries with high tax rates.

"Tax-haven islands have come under close scrutiny," said a financial planner, who asked not to be identified."If you've got relaxed disclosure requirements, then it does mean that there's an increased prospect that people may want to use that jurisdiction for improper purposes."

While it is possible to achieve a high degree of secrecy when setting up a company, the invisible may stand out glaringly. Advisers suggest that an owner not create something so opaque that it compels tax inspectors to wonder who and what he may be trying to hide.

"What's of interest to revenue authorities is what the company is being used for," Mr. Knox said."If you've got the structure right, you don't need to hide ownership."
<ul> ~ stay cool and remain low profile!</ul>

-->mit Namen"Informationszentrale für steuerliche Auslandsbeziehungen (IZA)"

Die Leute sind auf mögliche(!) Steuerhinterziehung mindestens ebenso scharf
wie der Bundesnachrichtendienst auf"Terroristen"


Dies zum einen; zum zweiten inserieren die (wenigen) kompetenten und teuren(!)
Fachleute nicht in den einschlägigen Medien ( Web, Kleinanzeigen in Wochenzeitungen etc.).

Man kann damit nur ins offene Messer laufen, wenn man glaubt, Eichel
austricksen zu können.

Wenn man eine"saubere Weste" behalten will, dann hilft nur Auswandern und
das absolut RÜCKSTANDSFREI! Selbst dafür würde ich fachanwaltliche Beratung
empfehlen.


<ul> ~ http://www.afu-net.de/steuern/oase/samml.htm</ul>

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... geht in 2 Wochen der Container mit dem Hausrat auf Reise.
eine Woche Urlaub an der Küste, um Abschied von der Familie zu nehmen.
Dann frühmorgens ab mit Sack und Pack in den Flieger...

UND TSCHÃœSSSSSSSSSSSSS

einen schönen Sonntag noch (aus dem sonnigen Ffm)
terminus (@gibts.net)

-->....was mach Dich da der Schröpfer schelten und der rotzotteligzerzauste Wombat geißeln........

Gratulierende Grüße vom Baldur

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-->zurück ins weite Canada.
Glücklicherweise lässt sie mich und die Kinder nicht hier in DE zurück ;-)
Dort haben wir jedenfalls noch eienn grösseren Puffer um für"schlechte Zeiten" vorzusorgen.
Land ist billig, bauen ist billig, Lebensmittel und Energie sind (noch!) billig, Steuersatz ist zum aushalten, Steuerfreibetrag (§19.00090 der ein Überleben ermöglicht...
Ich schätze mal wenn nichts dazwischenkommt einen"Vorsprung" von 5-10Jahren wobei man hier den (ausreichenden) Grund und Boden nicht mal Ansatzweise als Handwerker und/oder Freiberufler erstehen und halten kann.
Glücklicherweise habe ich voer meiner"Computerkarriere" was Anständiges (Maler und Lakierer) gelernt und habe schon Erfahrungen mit den Renovierungen da drüben...
Man hat halt (noch) die Freiheit, seine"Selbstverantwortung" auch durchführen zu können...:-)

ab in eine neue Woche
terminus (@gibts.net)

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-->und ich stehe auf tiefste Provinz;-))

Gruß EUKLID

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