Best tax haven LIST INSIDE <--
 

Was reading this months national geographic and saw an article on tax havens, they listed the top 15 "most secretive tax havens" , based on volume and trasparency

#4 cayman island
#3 switzerland
#2 luxembourg
#1 ???????? enter a guess

Cyprus? :2 cents:

I would think the UK or USA

Nevada etc is promoted worldwide as a place for good corp structures ....not so sure if it benefits USA residents but seems to appeal to non usa peeps.

uk is in the top 15 , they are the most open of the list but make up for it in volume so they come in #5

answer in 10 posts or 30 minutes

From what I know it is most likely Delaware, US for company tax at least

ummmmmmmm ok .. " top 15 "most secretive tax havens" well you can be sure a few here will think its Epassporte !! :1orglaugh

The UK isn't tax haven at all.

Smokey said it was ranked #5th in the world !

You would be surprised at what countries are tax havens and good for corp structures if your a non resident ...a lot depends on your location and many other factors.

It isn't Canada I know that fucking much

These days it is getting REALLY dicey to attempt any offshore solutions (IF your goal is to avoid paying taxes) There are other reasons to keep money outside the US, but 99% of folks do it for the sole purpose of avoiding US Tax. My VERY DIRECT personal expeience from having it run on and off shore....

Unless what you are doing to generate the $ is highly illegal (in which case take you chances offshore), I felt better off reporting it and not having to look over your shoulder. Governments are cooperating with each other more and more every day. The days of the swiss banks telling the DOJ to go fuck themselves are long gone :( And unless you have family or a friend you trust with all your money, you have to get involed with hiring nominee shareholders. We did it and it kept me awake at night knowing it could all be gone in a heartbeat.

I have friends who have lost millions (guys in the adult businees who we all know) because the banks just decided one day that "what they were doing required further investigation" and basicly held the cash. They had to fly over , meet with the bank and cut a deal. The deal was they would stop asking the bank for the money and pursuing it and in return the bank would give them 50% of what was in the account. Shakedown, pure and simple.

I dont like cutting big checks at the end of the year to the government, but at the end of the day I know what I have in the bank is mine...safe and secure. I can sleep knowing what Ive built for my family wont dissapear on the whim of a foreign bank or because someone turned over some documents after a little presure from US intrests.

sorry for the ramble, just my experience :)

adam @ wildcash was bang on , its usa #1 most secretive tax haven

from article
" lax disclosure rules in delaware vault the usa to the top of the list"

they have #2 volume behind uk and #2 least open behind switzerland

other top contentders

guernsey , singapore, belgium, bermuda, australia, hong kong, ireland , netherlands, bahrain

belize

http://www.belizehotspot.com/images/belize-girls.jpg

i guess they didn't factor in availability of hot chicks :winkwink:

What?? In what country was that? Any big bank?

Im really not sure about where you read that, but 2 things i can tell you:

- Switzerland is NOT the tax have it used to be anymore. They are making deals with a lot of countries to open up their "bank secrecy" and are already giving out personal and bankinfo on accounts to certain countries.

- The Netherlands is EVERYTHING BUT a taxhaven. We pay a shitload of tax for everything. And hardly see anything back for it. Sometimes you have to pay triple tax lol.

One reason why we have been setting up everything in the netherlands (besides living here of course) is because i dont have to worry about losing the money to some corrupt bank as soon as their economy goes into crisismode. Its good to know my companies money is save, even if i had to pay up to 40% tax of my earnings.

Israel,and yes, it was a large well known bank. The truth is that alot of foreign banks are owned, controlled or backed by less than savory people. Obviously it wasnt B of A, but in terms of the types of banks that process high risk transactions in the types of counties that the adult / nutricutical companies use...it was not a mom and pop operation.

seychelles is one of the most secretive havens. no personal names or info required to open a company. bank elsewhere and all the ties are lost. that is if u have to hide some income lol

:2 cents::thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

I dont see how is usa number one tax heaven,some agent could think how you are terrorist and then freeze your account just like that.

Depends.
BVI etc == no public company register - but if you have a BVI company, everyone knows what you're doing.

Easier to become a resident of andorra, really.

That info must be several years out of date.

I would assume the USA has tens of thousands of bank accounts with multi-million dollar balances....I dont think they just go around freezing accounts unless they have good reason to see something that makes them feel the need to investigate.

Switzerland will not be in the top of that list when they print the article next year. New laws came out in January 2010. Not sure if they affect more than U.S. people / organizations though.

panama, private interest foundation

Nigeria for sure

Coupled with the sheer volume of it's offshore banking, here are the reasons, USA is number one on that list, based on certain indicators.

• Banking secrecy
• Details of trusts don't go on public record
• It does not comply sufficiently with international regulatory requirements
• No requirement for for company accounts to be public record
• No requirement for beneficial ownership of companies to be on public record
• It doesn't maintain company ownership details in official records
• Doesn't participate in European Union Savings Tax Driective
• Does not have adequate access to banking info
• It allows company redomicilation
• It allows protected cell companies

All of that and it is estimated that the USA loses some $100 billion a year to it.

:2 cents:

what place for CZ?

The US if you are not an American. :2 cents:

#3 switzerland, what a joke :)

after they handed over lists to the German authorities containing info on accounts created by German citizens, I wouldn't keep a dime in Switzerland.

that list is about 5 or 6 years out of date, at least. Things have changed radically with those countries, and there are MUCH better tax havens now.


Moral of this story...

DO NOT RELY ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FOR ASSET PROTECTION ADVICE!!!!!!!!




:2 cents:

The list was compiled based on laws, regulations etc that were in place on 31/12/2008.

It is not all about the privacy side of things either. The actual, published list needs to be taken in the correct context. :)

Mike....what would your top 5 be and why ?

FDIC insurance is nice too, with banks failing left and right now a days, good luck getting your money when some bank in the middle of nowhere goes out of business... :2 cents:

Wanna know something funny. Now this may have changed since the bank shake up and the FDIC limits have been raised from 100k to I think 250K? Mabey its 200k. Anyway...if you look at the FDIC's fine print if the bank goes belly up, you are insured, but Under Federal law, the FDIC is required to restore funds “as soon as possible.” :( Now this may have changed, but its scray how many people assume that if their bank went under that they'd get a big check right away and it would all be puppies and rainbows. I think there is enough to handle small banks going under...or one big bank at a time. But if there was a TRUE collapse of the entire system, nobody would be getting their money anytime soon

I dont think thats ever happened, but if lets say B of A, Wells and Chase all went under at the same time....you can bet they would exercise that option, as there is now way in hell the FDIC has enough cash on hand to cover those hundreds of billions in losses.

Nevada a Tax Haven? Are you Joking?

Well its promoted as such...im not in the USA ..here is an extract from a corp specialist site...

No State Corporate Taxes (Corporate Benefit)*

Nevada has NO state corporate taxes. It also has no franchise tax, estate tax, stock transfer tax, capital gains tax, personal income tax, inventory tax, tax on corporate shares, inheritance tax, estate tax, gift tax or minimum tax! Corporations and LLCs

No Reciprocity with the IRS
(Both Corporations and LLCs)

Nevada is the only state in the country that does not exchange information with the IRS! No financial or ownership information is shared.

Nevada has become the domestic haven of choice,.......

Blah...blah......im no accountant ,its just the impression you get reading about tax/offshore etc

Its all fun talking about this on an adult board, but anyone who is seriously considering moving money around offshore and does so with the advice they get here vs. consulting a qualified accountant AND tax attorney probably shouldnt be in controll of finances at all. Theirs or anyone elses, lol.

What is also bad is the 250k insured limit is temporary and goes back to 100k on Jan. 1, 2014.

what is a legal way to use offshore corps to minimize taxes in your country of residence?

the hugest companies in the world do it, legally. how can a personaly corporation do the same thing?

offshore corporation - like in seychelles - and an offshore bank elsewhere non-taxable. ccbill wires to the bank and the sales are made by offshore company. no taxes because no customers reside in the domicile of the corporation and the corporation is not liable to any government.

only thing you'd be liable for is personal income tax on your company paycheck. the US govt still wants their cut even if u are outside the country working for an offshore company.

of course the company doesn't file anything to the US IRS, so it doesn't really need to be reported. they might just wonder why u keep getting money wired into your bank account.

large corporate execs will usually keep most of their income offshore or in stock and only bring in a small amount of living expense income. all their cars, planes, houses, meals, clothes, etc are business expenses. thats something i've been legally doing for years after getting it explained to me by my lawyer bro-in-law.

no lawyers in DC pay taxes :thumbsup

according to national geographic the data is not that old, but i think you are missing the point a bit. Obviously the list wasn't intended to be a guideline to "asset protection/hiding"

I was actually just suprised usa was at the top. Remember the list is based on secrecy/volume, those arent factors you would combine to find a good tax haven. The list is more i think to show what countries help hide the most amount of cash.

Just to be clear the thread was not meant for such purpose and of course the list does not reflect the "best place to hide money" it merely shows volume/secrecy, these factors aren't ones you would using to decide where to hide money, secrecy yes, volume no.

yes, and when they wonder why i keep getting money wired into my account I better have an explanation and a legal one.

any money from an offshore corporation that you bring into the country you definitely are going to be held responsible for tax wise.

Understood :) As other people started to post, I just threw in my experience in the offshore matter in general since I know most people think it is some sort of cheap and easy way to not pay taxes. when in reality it can be quite expensive to set up properly. Also people seem to forget one thing...its EASY to set up a structure offshore and stick money in it....brining BACK the money so you can use it is the difficult and dangerous part if you plan on avoinding the tax on that as well . I posted Not so much as dircet reply to your specific wants or needs. Should have made that mor clear :thumbsup

the truly clean & legal way is to get an offshore account with a debit card. then u dont worry about paying yourself as a US citizen. just withdraw money at a local bank or atm like any foreign tourist.

Btw do foreign citizen can open bank account at all?I know you cant open it online,so i have partial usa bank account(i can receive ach and usa domestic wire but account is in other name).And i received once some weird letter about tax but didn't understood anything,i wonder will usa tax me anyway even if i am not us citizen.

he gets paid for that information.... :2 cents:

and is probably one of the most knowledgeable about it, period... :2 cents::2 cents:






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