February 12, 2016

Offshore Company

This is part of our Pillar Content of Flag Theory™ where we detail how you can take a well proven strategy for protecting and growing your self and your wealth and apply it. The strategy is comprised of 7 flags, and an Offshore Company is the 3rd flag.

The Foundation

Second Passport

Tax Residency

Offshore Company

Offshore Banking

Physical Assets

Digital Security

Digital Assets

As a quick overview, here are some benefits of offshore companies:

Ability to open a corporate bank account
No taxes at a corporate level
Privacy (for both directors and shareholders)
Strong asset protection
Professional appearance
Debts, assets, licenses, contracts can be made or held by the legal entity
Liability is limited, and you are distanced from the actions of your business

Incorporating a company is a prerequisite for any serious business.

Going offshore, you can also experience these benefits:

Banking/investment opportunities otherwise not available
Planting a flag in a strategic jurisdiction
Mitigation of sovereign risk
Protection from bankruptcy, lawsuits, divorce, civil unrest, and other ‘worst case scenarios‘
Access to higher risk merchant accounts
Access to funding or investment capital

It should be obvious that there are tremendous advantages for entrepreneurs who have incorporated either an onshore or offshore company.

Some legal entities can even lead to passports or citizenship – Singapore, for example, is one such jurisdiction which allows for residency and eventual citizenship for individuals who set up a company there.

Not every jurisdiction was built the same

Hong Kong, for example, has a yearly audit requirement, which is something you might not want to deal with. Singapore is great for someone sourcing physical goods, but their requirement of a local director makes it an expensive option.

Incorporation and passports are our business, and we are on the phone daily with:

Entrepreneurs who need to incorporate a company, 2nd passport, or offshore bank account
Service providers across the globe who provide us with wholesale discounts
Lawyers, accountants, agents and bankers with boots on the ground information and intelligence

The Best Corporate Structure For Your Business

Whether you are sourcing physical goods from Shenzhen, coding in Berlin, setting up niche sites in Cebu, or writing copy in Medellin, you can use our tools to find out the best place for you to incorporate.

Here is a free tool we made to examine your worldwide options for setting up companies side by side.

Checkout our free jurisdiction comparison matrix at incorporations.io — Compare countries to incorporate in with our free jurisdiction comparison matrix at incorporations.io

Here are some starting options for setting up an offshore company and where you can find out more detailed information:

There are also some other places where setting up a company can grant you special benefits, such as residency, and in some cases even a new passport. All from starting companies:

How much does it cost to Incorporate?

Short answer: it costs more to get it wrong! If you incorporate in the wrong state in the US (i.e. Florida) and you are the sole owner, you won’t have single member charging order protection – which means that the creditor can easily pierce the corporate veil – simply by nature of you running your own business! And, they can also liquidate your assets to pay off creditors. This has happened, and it will happen again. So don’t let it happen to you. If you incorporate in Florida, you could literally lose every asset you own (besides your house, which will be protected under a law called the homestead exemption) and pay high tax. But what about if you are smart enough to set up offshore?

Some jurisdictions have hidden costs. A Private Limited Company in Singapore, for instance, requires a local director which can cost $3000 per year, with a $10,000 deposit, and if you want to wind up a company (hey, it happens, not every business works out) it can easily cost you $5000 by the time you get done paying the secretary to get your accounts current with the tax man and you post the mandatory advertisement in the local papers. If a creditor contacts you, you have to start the whole process again. This can easily cost $15,000.

Being aware of these complexities and taking decisions accordingly is our main line of business, and it’s what we do on a regular basis for our customers. Contact us, and we’ll be happy to discuss how we can help you too.

And if you want to simply learn more about these issues, here are some articles:

Or check out our free application, where you can compare countries, browsing by tax rates, offshore policies, legalities, tax treaties, accounting requirements or privacy policy:

where should i incorporate — Grid View for Incorporations.io

Large corporations and multinational companies understand the importance of corporate structure because this can have a powerful impact on the bottom line.

The media confounds and exacerbates the problem by publishing misinformation. They have created a label that anything “offshore” means something illegal or is about evading tax. This is a scare tactic that confounds the truth of the situation: forming international companies is completely legal, effective, and in many cases, essential.