Taking your names & business offshore?

[Cashcows]

Does anyone in here have any resources for doing this properly?

 

[katherine]

Your question is rather broad and it would probably take a cpa to answer.
To get meaningful advice you first need to outline what you are trying to achieve.
Ie is this for tax purposes, privacy, asset protection etc.

I assume the steps involved would be:
incorporate offshore
transfer assets to the company
cut off ties with the entity so that it cannot be traced to you
relocate to a third party juridiction with a favorable tax regime

Many of the big players in the industry are offshore, partially or totally.
They may have their reasons for doing so.
Depends how far you are willing to go of course

 

[snicksnack]

if you wannno go offshore for tax reasons get a good tax consultant. Many times you might think your are not liable for tax because your company is offshore but you are.

 

[Bill Roy]

The laws and tax rules vary depending where you are in the world. As advised above get a good tax accountant/consultant and check out your own countries laws.

Here in the UK we have many options for going offshore but generally you also have to have a self-impossed exile for a few months each year. Take a look at the BVI as an option.

 

[DomainMagnate]

That's an interesting thread.

In most countries even if you move your business offshore you still (legally) have to pay taxes, or the difference between taxes according to where you live. Well that's what my accountant told me, but I'd like to know more as well. I know you can start an offshore company and bank account for about $1-2K in different offshore locations.

~MG

 

[Theo]

If you are a US resident forget about offshore companies; that's an indication of tax evasion. Unless you live and earn income abroad, worldwide income is taxable.

 

[DomainMagnate]

Yes Theo, but that's not only in US, I believe most countries have this system.

~MG

 

[katherine]

If you are a US resident forget about offshore companies; that's an indication of tax evasion. Unless you live and earn income abroad, worldwide income is taxable.

If I'm not wrong US citizens are taxed on their worldwide income no matter where they reside (with a personal allowance of $80,000/y or so). Very few countries tax their non-resident citizens on worldwide income.
That's the price of holding a US passport (being a prey for terrorists being just an additional cost).

 

[droplister]

Get Ron Paul in so we can get rid of the irs.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

No, you can't evade tax like this. However, you can lessen your tax liabilities if you do a little forward thinking.

The way to use an offshore for domains is to register a company e.g. in the BVI, then sell your domains at *par* to that company, (or better still, use that company to register them) then lease the use of those domains back to yourself, and pay the invoice that the BVI entity sends you each month.

The benefit here is that when it comes time to value the assets offshore perhaps for capital gains on a sale, it could be held that the domains are reasonably worth only a multiple of what you have leased them for. Anyway, the gain thus is with the offshore company so if you don't repatriate the funds, you're home and dry and will have to content yourself with investing in overseas property. Shame.

Run all this by your accountant!

 

[Seraphim]

The best thing to do is to relocate to a country where their IRS equivalent are roaming militias, and have no paper trail. You then find a native inhabitant willing to hold all of your incoming earning assets for a small fee, and have him declare you as a dependant. Finally you switch your job title to "pro bono anthropologist", and you're now on your way start reaping the sweet benefits of tax free living. This is straight from my accountant.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

...This is straight from my accountant.

If that was my accountant, I'd fire him very quickly

 

[droplister]

interesting read, http://www.askmen.com/fashion/how_to_250/272_how_to.html , info on each country is something to get you started at least.

 

[DomainMagnate]

Interesting article Dan, although I wouldn't trust their legal opinions much. I'd much rather trust their celebrity and top model reviews
You shouldn't do anything without consulting a specialist on this and not just an accountant. For example I know mine wouldn't help much in this.

One site I've seen half a year ago that provided these services: offshore banking and corporations set up and I was considering to use it, is now simply gone and parked at sedo

I wonder if anyone here has actually taken his biz offshore?

~MG

 

[Focus]

Just pay your taxes and claim everything you can and all purchases of "domain inventory" so if you are making say 100k/yr from domains or parking, etc..make sure you "spend" as much of that as possible and make sure you keep good records :smile:

Or as suggested vote for Ron Paul, that dude is the answer man!!!!

 

[katherine]

I wonder if anyone here has actually taken his biz offshore?

~MG

Depends on your definition of "offshore"
There is not one single way of going "offshore". The strategy should be tailored to your personal circumstances.

Going offshore is more than just restructuring your affairs, it's a lifestyle.
If you are serious about it relocate and relinquish US citizenship.

PS: I doubt anybody here is going to boast about being offshore and beating the IRS; this would defeat the purpose

 

[Dale Hubbard]

"Offshore" is a term used in relation to tax affairs and has nothing to do with physical relocation. This is all going off track.

 

[Creature]

No, you can't evade tax like this. However, you can lessen your tax liabilities if you do a little forward thinking.

The way to use an offshore for domains is to register a company e.g. in the BVI, then sell your domains at *par* to that company, (or better still, use that company to register them) then lease the use of those domains back to yourself, and pay the invoice that the BVI entity sends you each month.

The benefit here is that when it comes time to value the assets offshore perhaps for capital gains on a sale, it could be held that the domains are reasonably worth only a multiple of what you have leased them for. Anyway, the gain thus is with the offshore company so if you don't repatriate the funds, you're home and dry and will have to content yourself with investing in overseas property. Shame.

Run all this by your accountant!

That really would be a shame. Do you have to set up a bank account in the BVI ? Would funds from say a Moniker auction sale go direct to the BVI company bank account ?