Hey there,
First of all, let me say that I just love this forum – you guys make seemingly unavailable things available to small businessmen like myself.
So my question is which the ideal set-up for my planned venture is. Although there is lot of related content in this forum, I feel each case is different and there is no standard one-size-fits-all answer to these kinds of questions. So I try to give you some context below. Feel free to ask if something is unclear.
The situation:
I want to start an adult site based on user generated content, along the lines of “you****” and “mydirtyhobby”. The idea is to make it as hassle free and anonymous as possible for the “amateurs” who upload. Amateurs will earn money and users will pay money. I get a cut of what amateurs earn.
I currently live in Dubai, but am originally from a Western European country. Moving to Cyprus would also be possible if it makes things easier.
The motivation/reasons:
The reasons why I want to use an offshore vehicle for this are numerous:
- Anonymity (I have a professional career in a conservative industry, also I rather not have the Dubai authorities know that I’m involved in ****)
- Adult friendly jurisdiction (I plan to have very simple age verification “above 18years? -> yes” as well as omission of the whole 2257 crap that is mandatory in the US). Of course I want to only offer things that are legal in Cyprus. (For hosting, I plan to use a provider in the Netherlands. But I think that’s not important here)
- Copyright: In case a user uploads content that is not from him, I want to be reasonably safe from any liability in that respect, too. Of course I will have safeguards in place to prevent this but I will not be able to guarantee it 100%
- Relative ease of processing payments
- In case I turn a profit, I want to invest these profits as tax free as possible. Maybe it makes sense to invest via a Cyprus bank/broker?!
- Additionally, I want to invest these assets “discreetly” to have it as a safety net in case of divorce etc.
- I also want the setup to be simple, legally safe and reasonably affordable (this will be a one man show, no dedicated staff to handle complicated structures, legal changes etc).
The options
I looked at other jurisdictions such as Belize and Panama, but my feeling is that Cyprus and/or Seychelles are probably my best bet considering my goals. As far as I know there are three options for a Cyprus/Seychelles setup:
A) Limited on Cyprus, Cyprus bank account, hired director, hired nominee shareholder
B) Company (Limited?) on Seychelles, but having bank account on Cyprus
C) Holding on Seychelles, Limited on Cyprus, Holding owns Limited, bank accounts on both Cyprus and Seychelles. Holding gets profits.
D) Others?!
The questions:
Q1: Which option is the best and why? If it is not A-C, I would be all ears to your suggestions, too.
Q2: What I had in mind is that it might make sense to start with A while the business is still small and then move to B or C in case it is a commercial success. Any downsides with this?
Q3: What are the advantages/disadvantages of becoming a Cyprus resident vs. staying a Dubai resident. I understand that since I will have a Cypriot nominee director anyway there should be not much of a difference (I would have to pay Cyprus taxes either way since legally, the company is owned by a Cypriot?).
Q4. On another note: Since I will be the “owner behind the scenes”, how is it guaranteed that no one just takes the business away (like grabbing domain, getting bank accounts etc). Like can I still legally prove that this is all mine?
I am aware that it will probably be tough to satisfy all above goals but I want to at least make sure I am aware of what I’m getting into.
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Anton
First of all, let me say that I just love this forum – you guys make seemingly unavailable things available to small businessmen like myself.
So my question is which the ideal set-up for my planned venture is. Although there is lot of related content in this forum, I feel each case is different and there is no standard one-size-fits-all answer to these kinds of questions. So I try to give you some context below. Feel free to ask if something is unclear.
The situation:
I want to start an adult site based on user generated content, along the lines of “you****” and “mydirtyhobby”. The idea is to make it as hassle free and anonymous as possible for the “amateurs” who upload. Amateurs will earn money and users will pay money. I get a cut of what amateurs earn.
I currently live in Dubai, but am originally from a Western European country. Moving to Cyprus would also be possible if it makes things easier.
The motivation/reasons:
The reasons why I want to use an offshore vehicle for this are numerous:
- Anonymity (I have a professional career in a conservative industry, also I rather not have the Dubai authorities know that I’m involved in ****)
- Adult friendly jurisdiction (I plan to have very simple age verification “above 18years? -> yes” as well as omission of the whole 2257 crap that is mandatory in the US). Of course I want to only offer things that are legal in Cyprus. (For hosting, I plan to use a provider in the Netherlands. But I think that’s not important here)
- Copyright: In case a user uploads content that is not from him, I want to be reasonably safe from any liability in that respect, too. Of course I will have safeguards in place to prevent this but I will not be able to guarantee it 100%
- Relative ease of processing payments
- In case I turn a profit, I want to invest these profits as tax free as possible. Maybe it makes sense to invest via a Cyprus bank/broker?!
- Additionally, I want to invest these assets “discreetly” to have it as a safety net in case of divorce etc.
- I also want the setup to be simple, legally safe and reasonably affordable (this will be a one man show, no dedicated staff to handle complicated structures, legal changes etc).
The options
I looked at other jurisdictions such as Belize and Panama, but my feeling is that Cyprus and/or Seychelles are probably my best bet considering my goals. As far as I know there are three options for a Cyprus/Seychelles setup:
A) Limited on Cyprus, Cyprus bank account, hired director, hired nominee shareholder
B) Company (Limited?) on Seychelles, but having bank account on Cyprus
C) Holding on Seychelles, Limited on Cyprus, Holding owns Limited, bank accounts on both Cyprus and Seychelles. Holding gets profits.
D) Others?!
The questions:
Q1: Which option is the best and why? If it is not A-C, I would be all ears to your suggestions, too.
Q2: What I had in mind is that it might make sense to start with A while the business is still small and then move to B or C in case it is a commercial success. Any downsides with this?
Q3: What are the advantages/disadvantages of becoming a Cyprus resident vs. staying a Dubai resident. I understand that since I will have a Cypriot nominee director anyway there should be not much of a difference (I would have to pay Cyprus taxes either way since legally, the company is owned by a Cypriot?).
Q4. On another note: Since I will be the “owner behind the scenes”, how is it guaranteed that no one just takes the business away (like grabbing domain, getting bank accounts etc). Like can I still legally prove that this is all mine?
I am aware that it will probably be tough to satisfy all above goals but I want to at least make sure I am aware of what I’m getting into.
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Anton
