Offshore Tax Planning
Content on Offshore Tax Planning:
- Tax Havens, Offshore Financial Centres and Preferential Regimes
Tax Havens According to the OECD tax havens are jurisdictions that impose no or low taxes and offer themselves, or are perceived to offer themselves, as locations to be used by non-residents to avoid taxes in their home countries. Example: Many of the Carribean locations. Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs) OFCs are countries that either no taxes or low [...]
- Advantages of going Offshore
More than one-half of the world’s financial transactions take place offshore or outside the shores of the main tax levying jurisdictions such as the US or the UK. This is not surprising because wealth generation tends to follow the course of maximum after-tax returns. As many of the offshore locations are low-tax or no-tax regimes, [...]
- Attractiveness of the UK as International Holding
The UK has introduced an exemption on capital gains arising from the disposal of substantial shareholdings. The exemption applies for disposals after 1 April 2002. The exemption relates to all or part of a substantial shareholding – more than 10% of the ordinary shares of the investee company. The investment must have been held for [...]
- Reasons for using Holding Companies
Holding companies: selecting a suitable jurisdiction The first step might be to ask what will be the functions of the holding company and the purpose for using it. Possible reasons for establishing a holding company might include: a) Withholding tax minimisation b) Tax-free or tax-deferred disposal of shares c) Facilitating group activities or functions such as: i) Financing ii) Licensing iii) Group [...]
- Tax Havens, Offshore Financial Centres and Preferential Regimes
Tax Havens According to the OECD tax havens are jurisdictions that impose no or low taxes and offer themselves, or are perceived to offer themselves, as locations to be used by non-residents to avoid taxes in their home countries. Example: Many of the Carribean locations. Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs) OFCs are countries that either no taxes or low [...]
- UK in Offshore Tax Planning
Although the UK is depicted as a “high tax” jurisdiction with significant anti-avoidance legislation, it is surprising how many opportunities still exist for using UK entities as part of a tax-efficient onshore-offshore structure. These opportunities can be summarised as follows: * Holding Company with participation exemption: for trading groups offering exemption from [...]