What is offshore? People who have at least once met with our domestic taxation inevitably come up with the idea of ​​its confusion. Understanding the rules of doing business and confronting different approaches to tax collection, entrepreneurs are painfully looking for ways to make their lives easier. So that you get income and comply with tax laws. Offshore is one of the options to simplify commercial activities.

Offshore history

A tax evasion that has set the teeth on edge immediately comes to mind, and this is how offshore business is perceived. Well, this phenomenon has very deep roots. Even in the ancient world, merchants found a way to organize sales outside the border walls of those city-states where trade duties were too high. The term offshore itself is translated as “outside the border”.

Medieval merchants sold wool in Flanders, not in neighboring England, where taxes reduced sales profits to zero. New history also knows examples of the mass “diversion” of business abroad. Thus, entrepreneurs who lived in North America in the 18th century preferred to conclude sales and purchase transactions in Latin American states so as not to fall under the fiscal power of the English crown.

The concept of offshore in its modern sense first surfaced in 1723 during an unremarkable court hearing in England. And the second birth of this term fell on the middle of the twentieth century. Then one of the newspapers published in the eastern United States dubbed the tax optimization of a company that moved its commercial activity outside the country with this word. Having retired from its native tax structures, the company continued its activities where the fiscal fees are not so high.

Russian companies gained open access to fabulous tax-free or low-tax territories in 1991. At this time, the first offshore business swallow appeared in the country in the person of a Swiss company. The European approach to offshore commerce has experienced unprecedented popularity in Russia, which has received a legal opportunity to reduce taxes.

Offshore zones

The rational desire of each owner to make a profit is the basis of the popularity of offshore zones. These are usually the territories of developing states or individual regions to which it has been decided to attract foreign capital. Offshore zones provide reliable, albeit not so large, income of taxes or duties to your budget, as well as some permanent employment for the local population.

Offshore zones create islands of transparent tax reporting requirements for entrepreneurs. As a rule, it does not exist at all, or it is provided in an extremely truncated form. Indeed, if the main type of fees here is a fixed fee, then reporting is unnecessary. The amount of the duty or fee does not depend on the real achievements of the company, which makes it possible to organize a profit center for holding structures offshore.

Among the well-known offshore zones, third world countries are often mentioned, for example, the Dominican Republic or Belize. The main tax-free jurisdictions are in the Caribbean. Low-tax regions include Gibraltar, Uruguay, Hong Kong and many others. Even in large countries with powerful economies, you can find offshore zones. In Russia, such a territory with preferential taxation is the Kaliningrad region.

Of course, the presence of tax havens does not please the powerful. Under pressure from other states, fiscal indulgences in Europe disappear. The principality of Liechtenstein has lost its former attractiveness. In 2015, the postponement of VAT exemptions for Luxembourg ends. But firms, accustomed to profit from offshore zones, are in no hurry to switch to "fair" competition and are registered in the remaining offshore zones.

Offshore companies

In order to organize a profitable business, taking into account tax-free jurisdictions, it is necessary to use offshore companies. To understand what offshore companies are and what their value is, you can use the example of a simple tax scheme for buying and selling. By organizing import deliveries, you can pay for the goods through a controlled offshore company. Then, regardless of the real cost of imports, you can specify any entry price. This will make it possible to reduce income tax and at the same time withdraw funds to a safe and stable area.

This scheme has its own pitfalls associated with customs legislation. In addition to the list of reasonable prices, in many countries there are restrictions on admission to expenses for the purpose of taxation of goods and services received from companies registered in offshore zones. But you can always find the optimal entry price that fits into the customs corridor and is large enough to give real savings on taxes.

An offshore company allows you to create expenses for enterprises in those countries where income and income taxes are high. At the same time, it is not necessary to use offshore structures in pure commerce. Construction, investment, consulting schemes are widespread, in which offshore companies play a significant role.

"Blacklists" of offshore companies

Offshore zones are not hidden, they are popular centers of international commerce. All offshore companies are conventionally divided into completely closed for external control, partially open and offshore with insignificant tax and currency benefits. The absence of a single list of offshore zones indicates a different attitude of the members of the world community to this phenomenon.

Similar lists in different countries are created for their own needs. For example, Russian blacklists aim to tighten financial control over currency movements by forcing banks that cooperate with offshore companies to create significant reserves for the funds they move. Another similar list removes offshore companies from the clause on zero taxation of dividends received by a Russian organization from a foreign company.

Ukrainian legislators have compiled lists of offshore companies in order to indicate to their residents which companies' costs cannot be fully taken into account when calculating income tax. According to Ukrainian legislation, if the costs are confirmed by the documents of a company that is registered offshore, then no more than 85% of the amount presented can be attributed to costs.

Offshore company registration rules

Unlike Russian laws, offshore companies can be registered in a very short time. The proven technology allows in a matter of moments to organize an offshore company with a loud name and unlimited possibilities. A significant role here is played by the legal distinction between such concepts as the founder and the owner of his own business. If the owner of a property in Russia cannot remain in the shadows when registering his business, then in offshores his right to confidentiality is sacredly respected.

Special secretarial bureaus act as founders of companies, having nothing to do with the true owners of the firms.

In order to get a ready-made offshore company, it is enough to fulfill a number of conditions:

• organize a secretarial office;
• pay the fee for the initial registration and subsequent annual (if necessary) re-registration;
• rent a room for a permanent establishment of an offshore company (secretarial office) in the registration area;
• or instead of all of the above, contact a company specializing in the sale of offshore companies.

The cost of an offer for the creation or sale of a ready-made offshore company can reach 10 thousand US dollars, depending on the range of services provided by such specialists.

Among the restrictions for offshore companies, there is often a ban on doing business in the country of registration. Thus, offshore territories are freed from the risk of being "captured" by international companies.

It should be noted that the registration of offshore companies is carried out by well-to-do businessmen of large and medium size. In this case, the costs of maintaining such a structure justify themselves and bring real savings in taxes.

Benefits of offshore business

Tax consultants in the late nineties of the last century often proposed offshore companies for tax optimization purposes. At the same time, interesting schemes of interaction between partners were created, which made it possible to use offshore companies in literally any kind of activity. Today, the mass excitement about offshore companies has subsided somewhat, which is associated with the global trends of tightening currency controls and transparency of capital flows.

However, offshore business does not lose its attractiveness. Today it is the easiest way to withdraw money abroad. The bank account of an offshore company allows you to "tie" to it the cards of corporate clients, the owners of which are the real owners of the business and their family members. This kind of financial security is very popular in international travel.

Offshore companies mean reduced taxation of personal income, reduced income tax rates or no such tax at all, no import duties on the import of equipment for a representative office, complete privacy of information about business owners.

The offshore business also includes the law on the elimination of double taxation. If the activities of a company can equally be tied to the jurisdiction of a state whose tax regime is more lenient, then why not? In practice, lawyers carefully study the legislation of the countries with which an agreement has been signed that eliminates double taxation, and select the most favorable schemes for conducting transactions.

Thus, doing business offshore coincides with the time when the first trade restrictions and duties appeared. The lack of a unified approach to taxation in different countries is the basis for the existence of offshore companies and the basis for their prosperity for many years to come.

Useful video on what you need to know if you are planning to open an offshore company

Why is offshore business so popular lately? The advantages of offshore companies are obvious.

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An offshore company is considered to be an entity that is incorporated within a tax-free zone or pays a small fixed amount in return for tax levies. At the same time, the prerequisites for obtaining benefits are the presence of foreign owners and making a profit outside the jurisdiction in which the company is registered. Legally, it is impossible to distinguish such an organization from a resident company, in the documentation there is not even the word "offshore".

Conducting offshore activities cannot be separated from planning and optimizing tax collections, reducing taxes on income of individuals and businesses. The following reasons determine its widespread use:

• Firstly, a person with any citizenship and level of well-being, regardless of race or nationality, can register an organization offshore.
• secondly, any competent undertaking can carry out management, which for the most part is connected with the control of the firm's bank account and work with employees.
• thirdly, the registration of an offshore company can become an effective development tool for any business.

Benefits of offshore business

The following signs are derived from the practice of foreign offshore zones:

• a large set of tax breaks;
• conducting business anonymously;
• there is no currency control;
• the firm has minimum requirements in terms of financial reporting, shareholder meetings, etc .;
• you can conduct transactions using any currencies;
• other benefits and advantages.

The first attribute is key for tax havens and offshore centers. Offshore zones in the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jersey, as well as the corresponding offshore companies in Ireland, Panama, Gibraltar, Malta and the Isle of Man do not levy tax on non-resident organizations.

Switzerland, Luxembourg, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein and Western Samoa either do not levy taxes or greatly reduce them (when compared with resident firms).

In most cases, the organization is required to pay an annual fee to the government, which includes license fees, secretarial office costs, auditor fees, etc. The anonymity of doing business is ensured by the methods of nominal shareholding and company management. In fact, this means the creation of an organization by local shareholders (they are also called incorporators), who subsequently formalize the waiver of rights and rights to shares using letters of resignation and trust declarations sent to the beneficiary. A similar method is practiced in England, Ireland, Cyprus.

At the same time, for businessmen from Russia, compliance with the legislative norms in the field of currency relations is ensured, which provide for the mandatory receipt of approval from the Central Bank for investing abroad (which includes, among other things, the purchase of shares of foreign companies).

A number of offshore zones (such as British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Panama, St. Christopher and Nevis) provide anonymity by blocking access to financial statements and the register with the names of shareholders.

Some jurisdictions (Monaco, Panama and a number of others) allow the issue of bearer shares. Typically, this privacy enhancement method is used in conjunction with allowing the director of the company to be a non-resident.

Companies registered in an offshore zone are entitled to operate in any currencies, keep funds and manage accounts in any banks, as well as keep the currency received in the form of proceeds for themselves without converting into local currency (residents are usually required to sell it on the domestic market). Even financial statements in some cases can be kept in the currency of another country.

Offshore banks due to this can offer clients accounts in any currency, as well as carry out netting and clearing using their own rates. In fact, in many offshore companies, non-resident firms face less stringent requirements than resident companies. In particular, the exemptions relate to the methods of submitting financial statements and shareholders' meetings.

So, the laws of Ireland and Switzerland indicate the minimum accounting records. The Antilles and Cayman Islands, as well as Panama, generally freed offshore companies from the need to keep records or conduct audits, and annual meetings of shareholders are allowed to be held anywhere.

Other benefits include important provisions regarding the relaxation of money laundering requirements, the ability to not contribute share capital, the relative ease of obtaining licenses and necessary permits, and facilitated reorganization procedures, etc. All of the above made the offshore business extremely attractive and caused a boom in this area.

Due to the assurance of anonymity, it is impossible to determine the total number of such firms. According to experts, we are talking about about one and a half million companies, about 50,000 of which were created by Russian businessmen.

At the same time, Panama takes the first place with more than 300 thousand registered organizations. The top three also included the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Ireland, for which this figure is about 200 and 150 thousand, respectively.

In legal terminology, the definition of an offshore company began to be used in the 50s of the XX century in the United States since the publication of an article about a well-known company at that time that moved its headquarters to another country and thus avoided increased attention from the US government.

In the article we will talk about what it is and about the principles of working with it.

Basic terms and definitions

Literally, the term offshore is translated from English as “offshore”, that is, outside a given country, so it has an economic and geographical character.

An offshore zone is called a state or a part of it - an area, a state on the territory of which special conditions apply for registering and doing business by non-residents, that is, citizens of other countries.

The emergence of these zones is due to different approaches in the tax policy of states, the lack of unified international laws. An offshore zone for conducting business activities of a non-resident, in fact, can be any state whose tax policy compares favorably with the policy of the native country.

As an economic phenomenon, such schemes appeared in ancient Rome, when merchants, trying to reduce their tax expenses, bypassed or bypassed territories with high duties, conducting trade on neighboring islands.

Today, an offshore company is considered to be one that does not conduct business in the country of actual registration, and its owner is a non-resident, that is, a citizen of another state. For example, an American who registered his enterprise in Cyprus, but conducts his main activity in the United States, becomes the owner of an offshore company.

Offshore business includes companies that are engaged in a variety of activities - trade, finance, construction, manufacturing. It is possible to highlight the main characteristics that will classify the enterprise in this category:

• non-residence of the owner in relation to the country of registration;
• commercial activity is conducted outside the country of registration;
• simplified registration procedure;
• confidentiality and anonymity in relation to the owner of the company;
• absence or significant simplification of foreign exchange and financial control of activities, accounting and auditing;
• low taxation or replacing it with a single flat fee.

Offshore zones

Offshore zones, or, as they are more correctly called, jurisdictions, is a state or territory in which tax benefits for non-residents are in effect and the registration of a legal entity is simplified. They are conventionally divided into three categories:

• island territories - usually small islands in the Caribbean, Indian and Pacific oceans;
• European states;
• administrative divisions in the United States, Malaysia and some other countries. Some experts include Russian territories here - Kalmykia and Altai Territory.

The emergence of offshore zones was historically and geographically determined. In the 1970s, the island colonies of Great Britain gained independence and became independent states. But at the same time they faced the problem of insufficient budget financing.

Since all these states are insular and often have a small territory, their economies and industries are underdeveloped, the extraction of natural resources is very limited. As a colony, they received subsidized aid. Having lost it, the governments had to think about alternative sources of filling the state treasury; an acceptable solution was the registration of companies offshore.

Many European countries also have similar budget financing problems and, in order to attract foreign capital, simplify the system of taxation and business registration.

These include Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein... Companies registered in these countries have a positive reputation and a high level of customer confidence. However, these countries have stricter than the island tax systems, compulsory accounting and auditing.

Island zones include Seychelles, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic other. The peculiarity of the island zones is the complete absence of income tax and dividends, a cheap and simple registration procedure, complete confidentiality of the owners, but at the same time the dubious reputation of the company.

Registration of a company in an offshore

As noted above, the opening of firms in free economic zones is very simple, for this it is not even necessary to stay in a given country. Now these issues are overwhelmed by specialized firms that analyze such zones, compile a comparative characteristic to simplify the choice of a country, deal with legal and financial issues - as a result, the client receives a ready-made enterprise in just a week. In such firms, you can purchase an existing offshore company with a history and "experience" of work.

Thrifty owners can also easily register a company on their own, for this it is necessary:

• First, analyze the countries and determine the most favorable tax conditions for a kind of activity.
• Secondly, to organize a secretarial bureau, which will perform a representative role, and rent premises for it, thereby obtaining the legal address of the enterprise. If the owner wishes to completely remain in the shadows, he can attract local residents as shareholders of the company, who willingly agree for a small fee.
• Thirdly, it is necessary to pay a state registration fee, the amount of which in the island zones varies from 50 to 800 US dollars, and in European countries can reach several thousand.

A ready-made company can be purchased for $ 300, but the price maximum can exceed $ 10,000. The registration fee must be paid annually, in addition to this, in some countries there is a single flat tax system. Therefore, there is no economic benefit to running an offshore company for a mid-level entrepreneur.

There are also certain restrictions on activities, among which a ban on conducting business activities within the country of registration can be distinguished. This provides some financial stability to the state and eliminates the risk of economic takeover by international companies.

Advantages and disadvantages of working offshore

Offshore companies are created to achieve certain goals:

• minimization of the amount of taxes and fees;
• concealment of a financial transaction;
• hiding the owners of the company;
• withdrawal of "criminal" capital from the country;
• concealment of the owner's real income;
• lack of foreign exchange and financial control.

The scheme for minimizing the amount of taxes paid is simple - suppose that in country X the amount of income tax is 20%. An enterprise in country X, carrying out trading activities, receives $ 1 million in net profit, of which it pays $ 200 thousand to the state treasury.

The same enterprise can sell goods to an offshore company at a lower price, having received a profit of 200 thousand dollars, and the offshore, by reselling the same products, receives the rest of the profit - 800 thousand dollars. Income tax in country X is paid in the amount of 40 thousand dollars, in offshore zones it is zero. As a result, the enterprise has saved 160 thousand dollars, which it can receive in the form of a loan from a foreign company.

The same schemes are used to evade payment of value added tax, personal income tax, various duties and excise taxes.

The insurance scheme can be considered on a real example of the well-known transnational corporation "Phillips". An insurance company “Kingstone Captive Insurence” was registered in Bermuda, the main activity of which was the insurance of “Phillips” operations.

The manufacturer of the well-known equipment transferred to this company most of its profits as insurance payment, thereby lowering its taxes, and Kingstone Captive Insurence credited Phillips for the same amount annually. It is known for certain that Phillips saved more than US $ 18 million under this scheme.

The big advantage of offshore companies is secrecy of transactions and confidentiality of information about the owners... In many countries, government officials are prohibited from engaging in entrepreneurial activities in order to avoid lobbying for dubious and disadvantageous legislative projects for the country.

By registering a company in the Seychelles, a deputy or an official receives guarantees of complete anonymity and can safely promote their commercial activities, while evading taxes and declaring their income as an individual.

According to rough estimates of experts, more than 12 trillion dollars are kept in the accounts of offshore banks, which is approximately one third of the total fortune of all millionaires in the world.

Lack of exchange controls allows you to profitably conduct transactions on the securities market and currency exchanges, approximately 80% of such transactions are carried out in offshore zones. Lack of accounting and statutory audits leads to complete misinformation about the nature of the company's activities and prepares a fertile ground for criminal operations and transactions. The disadvantages of doing business in offshore zones for companies are reduced to the limitation of such activities by the state.

Influence on onshore

Offshore activities negatively affect onshore states. Onshore is a company that is registered in the territory where the main part of its activities is concentrated... Open accounting is conducted here under a full-tax scheme. This is the exact opposite of offshore. Such states suffer mainly from tax shortfalls and, consequently, under-budgeting.

Many experts are inclined to argue that the global economic crisis has arisen precisely because of the proliferation of activities of offshore companies. About 90% of Russian big business has been transferred to free economic zones.

With the increasing financial instability in the United States and the national budget deficit, the government took anti-crisis measures, which led to higher taxes. Large companies, responding to these measures, transferred their business to offshore zones, mainly to the British Virgin Islands, where more than 800 thousand enterprises are registered.

The legality of working offshore

From the point of view of the company's activities within the offshore zone, one can say about the legality of its economic and financial operations. But from the point of view of the state from which this business left, the exact opposite is observed.

As described above, the state loses huge amounts of unpaid taxes, in addition, there is a significant outflow of capital and real investments to other countries, which does not support and does not develop the national economy.

Many offshore companies carry out illegal activities in the financing of terrorism, due to the fact that in free jurisdictions there is no financial control of transactions and there is no mechanism of open contractual relations, all activities are in complete secrecy.

From this point of view, offshore companies pose a great threat to the entire society, therefore, special organizations have been created that develop measures to prevent the development of such a business:

• One such global organization is FATF... Its recommendations on the prevention of terrorist financing and money laundering have been adopted by the governments of most countries.
• OECD- Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation - also maintains lists of countries and territories with a simplified tax system and non-transparent financial and economic laws.

The states that support the recommendations of these organizations more closely monitor firms that cooperate in their economic and economic activities with companies from generally recognized offshore zones, limit the amount of their transactions, carry out full identification of enterprises and their owners, exercise control over the pricing of products in order to avoid unreasonable understatement. prices.

The plot on how to choose an offshore company

The video shows the process of choosing an economic zone for doing business:

The term "offshore" (offshore, offshore) - literally translated as far (off) from the coast (shore) or "mainland", which indicates the withdrawal of capital to the islands. This is not always true, because such preferential zones are also present on the continents. On the other hand, in American slang, the word "shore" itself is often interpreted as "to deprive of something" or "to rip off as sticky." Thus, a more accurate definition would be - "outside the territory, where you are charged too much." There is one more meaning of the word "shore" - a region or region, which indicates the registration of a company outside the region of business.

For the first time this term was used in the middle of the last century, although the very practice of bringing business to zones with preferential taxation was used by the ancient Greeks. Today, offshore are countries, regions or certain territories that provide foreign companies with reduced tax rates, as well as a simplified system of registration and filing of reporting documents. They received the name offshore zones. There are more than fifty of the latter in the world. These include both island territories (Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Cyprus) and mainland states (Costa Rica, UAE, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein).

Thus, if we talk about what an offshore company is, then it is a company registered in an offshore zone, but operating outside of it. The advantage of creating such conditions for the states and regions themselves is the easy attraction of foreign funds to the budget. Most often, by providing the possibility of registration to companies, the country receives a fixed remuneration, and sometimes employment of the local population, while the main activity of the company is carried out in its country.

For many, the concept of an offshore account is often associated with violation of the law, fraud or concealment of real income. And it should be admitted that this is indeed the case. The main method of the state fight against such actions is to tighten the requirements for cooperation with such firms for resident companies, as well as the imposition of sanctions on the offshore zones themselves by various international organizations. This means that when choosing a suitable offshore zone for yourself, you must first of all check whether it is included in the "black" or "gray" lists.

Schemes of work in an offshore zone and stages of company registration

In practice, to open a company in a privileged zone, you can register from scratch or buy an offshore company already registered in the country you need. To do this, it is not necessary to make a trip to the offshore zone itself, but it is enough to order a service from an intermediary company. Since there is a certain fee for this, before choosing this path for yourself, it is important to understand who and in what cases it will be really beneficial.

Purposes of registering a company offshore

From a practical point of view, the purposes for which offshore companies and accounts can be opened are not only tax cuts. In reality, they include quite broad business opportunities:

• Export-import operations... This is the most popular scheme that allows to reduce the price of goods as much as possible during export by sending them to an offshore company, with subsequent resale to the actual buyer at real value. The difference remains offshore. In turn, when importing, the maximum price reduction is carried out to reduce VAT and customs duties. Sometimes companies operating on the simplified tax system are involved in such a scheme.
• Opening bank accounts... The main purpose of such accounts is the accumulation and saving of capital, as well as the performance of various banking operations. Such accounts are not subject to audits by the tax authorities (unlike standard accounts in foreign banks), and financial institutions themselves do not disseminate information about the amounts of customers' money. Such accounts can be opened not only by companies, but also by individuals.
• Tax reduction and efficient planning.
• Elimination of double taxation... This option is used when doing business in the international market with a wide range of countries.
• Liquidation of enterprises... Using an offshore company in this case allows you to speed up the process, as well as to solve the problem of the company's existing debts to creditors or the budget. To do this, a nominal offshore company is included in the founders of the company, after which its main participants leave and the general director is replaced, which completely brings the company into a privileged zone.

Types of offshore companies

By type of activity for offshore companies, the following areas are most popular:

• Investments... Conducting investment activities offshore allows you to reduce taxation, as well as protect your capital from creditors in the event of bankruptcy or default. This is done through the creation of funds, trusts, investment portfolios, management companies and holdings.
• Insurance... A common way to reduce taxation and increase profitability is to create a captive insurance company (a subsidiary that only serves the parent company). For example, this can be used in the case when the legislation of the state in which the activity is carried out does not allow self-insurance. Also, this method allows you to carry out insurance for cases that are not included in the list of insurance in commercial insurance companies.
• Banks... Such institutions can only cooperate with offshore or foreign firms and individuals. It is impossible to cooperate with citizens of the country in which such a bank is registered (i.e. the offshore zone itself), as well as companies operating in it. The creation of a personal offshore bank for banks and large companies provides an opportunity not only to receive tax benefits, but also to organize their own payment center without involving foreign banks intermediaries.
• Shipping companies and shipping companies... Registration in the offshore zone of such companies allows you to almost completely avoid taxes on the provision of cargo transportation services.
• international trade... Here, import and export schemes are used through their own offshore companies. In this case, the goods are sent directly from the seller to the buyer, and the offshore intermediary participates in the scheme only on paper.
• Property management and ownership... In practice, an offshore company can own residential and commercial real estate, and even manufacturing facilities. The territory of such objects remains under the jurisdiction of the country in which they are located, but tax liabilities on them will be placed in the privileged zone of the copyright holder. This means that by selling or renting such properties, you can minimize taxes. Moreover, in fact, the information about who owns this property is completely hidden in reality. If we talk about production capacities, then taking them offshore also makes it possible to secure the company from raider seizures, since in this case the interception of assets is impossible.
• Leasing... The creation of an offshore leasing company allows you to purchase equipment, reducing tax deductions on it. Such a nominee company acquires the required property and leases it to the parent company. Regular lease payments paid are charged to cost, reducing the total income tax for the parent company, while offshore has reduced rates on payments received.
• Licensing... It is much easier to obtain a license offshore, which is actively used by financial institutions (online casinos, forex brokers, non-bank credit companies, travel operators, providers).
• Intellectual property and franchising... To reduce taxation when receiving income from the sale of a license or franchise, you can transfer the rights of your own offshore company. In this case, the parent company will no longer have official rights and will also need to obtain a license and royalties. Such payments may be subject to income repatriation tax if there are no agreements between the countries (in which the business is conducted and the offshore zone) to avoid double taxation.

Offshore company registration process

If you decide that the registration of an offshore company is a profitable option for you, you need to know what stages this procedure consists of. First of all, make sure that the zone you choose is suitable for achieving your goals. Next, select the name of the company to be created that suits the activity. However, please note that it must meet the following requirements:

• The name should not coincide or be consonant with existing companies registered in the relevant offshore. You can check the company name in special web registries.
• Lack of associations with government bodies.
• If the name contains the words - bank, trust, fund, insurance, it can be registered only if there is a license to conduct such activities.
• The name should not contain obscene language, as well as words indicating terrorism, racism, violence, belittling of dignity, insult to the person and religion.

If the name is approved by the registrar, the next thing you need to register an offshore company is to draw up the incorporation documents. It is issued in printed form and defines the types of business activities of the company, as well as the basic rules. The charter or the memorandum of association must be drawn up in the state language of the country in which the registration is carried out. The signatures of all directors (founders, shareholders) and certification by a notary are required. When processing documents through an intermediary, the services of nominee directors or shareholders are often provided, which speeds up the procedure and allows you to hide the name of the true owner.

The next stage is the formation of the authorized capital. Here you need to know if local legislation has established its minimum size and how it affects the tax rate obtained in the offshore. Also, for registration, a legal address is required, to which requests from the tax service will come.

A ready-made offshore company or registration through intermediaries will save you from these difficulties, but will require financial investments. Depending on the zone, the cost of a full range of services can vary from $ 2,000 to $ 20,000 per year. Likewise, opening an account in an offshore bank will be a paid service from $ 500. On the other hand, it is easier and sometimes cheaper than doing everything yourself. To create a company through an intermediary, you only need documents confirming your identity and place of registration, as well as a description of the type of activity.

Pros and cons of using offshore

The creation of a company in an offshore zone seems to be very profitable for an entrepreneur. After all, this gives a number of advantages:

• Fast registration;
• Concealment of information about the real beneficiary;
• Low taxes and minimal reporting;
• The ability to open a bank account in any country in the world;
• Safe accumulation of capital abroad;
• Proxy management.

On the other hand, this option may not solve your problems and even create new ones. So, in practice, you may encounter the following disadvantages:

• Close attention from the control bodies of international and state law.
• Differences in legislation... Before opening a company, you need to study well in which zone it is better to open your type of business. It may turn out that the territory with the most attractive benefits has problems with licensing your activities.
• Business loss risk... Since you work through representatives and are not familiar with the law, you can become the target of scams, especially if you are buying a ready-made company.
• Problems with obtaining loans... Offshore companies are not credible and the chance of getting a loan is minimal.
• Negative reputation... Registration in an offshore zone is associated with fraudulent activity, since there is a legal concealment of data about the real owners.
• High maintenance cost... This disadvantage is typical for small enterprises and manufacturing companies operating exclusively within one country. In this case, only the use of offshore accounts for capital accumulation will be rational.

Understanding the meaning of the term offshore - what it is in simple words and what are the possible schemes for its use, you will be able to apply new opportunities in the practice of running your own business, gaining benefits for its development.

Part of the taxes that were received by the state where the plant or factory was before the transfer of rights end up in the pocket of the business owner. And with the help of offshore companies they evade taxes on purchase and sale transactions, hide the real owners of the business and even obfuscate the traces of "criminal" capital. After all, many of these "tax-free states" do not disclose information about financial transactions.

According to some estimates, offshore structures today hold a third of the total fortune of millionaires in the world, about 11.5 trillion. dollars (and this is without taking into account securities, real estate, yachts registered in offshore zones). This is almost one tenth of all the money on the planet. Many analysts believe that the presence of these very zones was one of the reasons for the global financial crisis.

90% of large Russian business and the same amount of the fleet with Russian shipowners are offshore. 80% of transactions for the sale of Russian securities are also carried out through these zones. How is it beneficial?

1. Taxes

In Russia

Basic income tax rate - 20%, dividend tax - 9%

Offshore

Taxes are low (for example, in Cyprus income tax is only 10%, dividend tax 5%) or none at all (Bahamas).

In Russia

The Russian company X has products that can be sold to make a profit of 1 million rubles. From this amount, the tax will be 200 thousand rubles.

Offshore

X sells the same products to an offshore intermediary (the owner is the same as that of the enterprise) at a reduced price with a profit of 200 thousand rubles. The remaining profit (800 thousand rubles) will be received by the offshore company by reselling the goods. The tax is paid only on 200 thousand rubles earned in Russia. Only 40 thousand rubles.

Total: The company saved 160 thousand rubles on income tax. (200-40). Offshore schemes can be used to evade VAT, personal income tax, dividends, social payments, payment of various excise taxes and duties.

2. Secrecy

In Russia

You can find out about the owners of the largest enterprises in the annual reports of the companies.

Offshore

The owners of the companies have not been disclosed.

Total: A wealthy Russian who does not want to advertise himself for any reason registers a company offshore. Further, this company buys shares of the Russian company. Thus, the business is protected in case of persecution of the “owner” by the authorities, raider attacks, etc.

3. Availability

In Russia

Firms take 10-15 thousand rubles for assistance in registering a new company. Registration period is from three weeks. Without help, it will take even more time.

Offshore

You can buy a turnkey company in an hour. The cost of the service is from 1 to 15 thousand dollars. You can register yourself for a period of 7 days to 3 weeks.

Plus, in many offshore companies there are no accounting requirements, there is no financial control by the authorities.

Total: Opening an offshore company and managing it is extremely simple and often cheaper than registering a company in Russia.

Nikita Krichevsky, Doctor of Economics:

The use of offshore companies is a worldwide practice. But nowhere they are used on such a large scale as in Russia. It is difficult to imagine that almost the entire aluminum industry of some foreign country belonged to companies on the island of Jersey, and ferrous metallurgy - to companies registered in Cyprus (and this is how we have it!). As a rule, offshore companies own no more than 1% of European and American enterprises. Somewhere this is regulated at the legislative level, in other countries informal rules apply. And if world leaders say that it is necessary to toughen measures against offshore companies, then we are talking, first of all, about financial schemes that are carried out with their help to reduce taxation.

In Russia, with the help of offshore companies, they not only avoid taxes, but also protect property from raider seizures. We are talking about small and medium-sized businesses, since the owners of the largest enterprises, who are included in the highest circles of power, are already protected.

And offshore companies allow, avoiding publicity, to include representatives of federal authorities and law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation among the beneficiaries (those who make a profit) of the company. It is because of the latter circumstance that no effective measures are being taken in Russia to prevent a large-scale withdrawal of money from the country to offshore.