Forming professional body offshore

[Sukhera]

I am interested in opening a company (off-shore) to form a professional education body ( termed as an "association"), it will award memberships to those professionals who either pass an exam or fulfil a certain criteria.

I want to take membership fees & subscription through credit card payments but expect our revenue to be very low (~ USD 1000 per annum) for the first few years.

The main reason I want to have an offshore company is that we can't legally establish a similar body in my country. Rate of tax is not a big concern provided there is a double tax treaty between the country and my country.

Please advise about the best offshore jurisdiction to engage for this purpose.

 

[bizniz]

I could recommend Serbia for this purpose. It is very easy to form an association and open a bank account for it. Associations operate completely tax free.

If you wanted to structure it as a company, you could of course do so, but an association sounds better for what you describe. An association can also be a shareholder in a company.

If you want to grant medical degrees or something like that, of course it would not be allowed in Serbia. So it really depends on what you are trying to achieve.

 

[Sukhera]

I could recommend Serbia for this purpose. It is very easy to form an association and open a bank account for it. Associations operate completely tax free.

If you wanted to structure it as a company, you could of course do so, but an association sounds better for what you describe. An association can also be a shareholder in a company.

If you want to grant medical degrees or something like that, of course it would not be allowed in Serbia. So it really depends on what you are trying to achieve.

Thank you. We want to give accounting and management certifications.

Can you guide me about the cost and time which will be involved in the process?

 

[bizniz]

Well, I am new here so I have to be very careful not to break any forum rules. I just reread the whole rules and am apparently not allowed to post links, not even to government sites that might be helpful. Also although I have used associations before in Serbia, I have not researched the topic of qualifications in depth. I imagine the Accountants body would have something to say about it if you were trying to pass it off as a formal qualification, but Management is more general. Anybody is allowed to sell training and issue a diploma showing that somebody completed the course. This is quite a common activity for associations.

The cost of registering an association should not be above a couple of hundred euro, but of course you need board members, a registered address etc. It should not take more than a few days. Costs of these services are relatively low.

It is wise (although not essential) to have a lawyer draw up your statutes. In fact, the best advice I could give you would be to talk to a reputable lawyer in Serbia. You could also talk to the Chamber of Commerce.

With regard to accepting credit cards: a number of Serbian banks can offer merchant accounts but up until now you have only been able to charge in Serbian dinars. There is however a bank that is now introducing DCC (dynamic currency conversion) for e-commerce so you could charge in any major currency and be settled in RSD.

 

[Sukhera]

Thanks. Will look into Serbia.

Well, I am new here so I have to be very careful not to break any forum rules. I just reread the whole rules and am apparently not allowed to post links, not even to government sites that might be helpful. Also although I have used associations before in Serbia, I have not researched the topic of qualifications in depth. I imagine the Accountants body would have something to say about it if you were trying to pass it off as a formal qualification, but Management is more general. Anybody is allowed to sell training and issue a diploma showing that somebody completed the course. This is quite a common activity for associations.

The cost of registering an association should not be above a couple of hundred euro, but of course you need board members, a registered address etc. It should not take more than a few days. Costs of these services are relatively low.

It is wise (although not essential) to have a lawyer draw up your statutes. In fact, the best advice I could give you would be to talk to a reputable lawyer in Serbia. You could also talk to the Chamber of Commerce.

With regard to accepting credit cards: a number of Serbian banks can offer merchant accounts but up until now you have only been able to charge in Serbian dinars. There is however a bank that is now introducing DCC (dynamic currency conversion) for e-commerce so you could charge in any major currency and be settled in RSD.

 

[Fulton Abraham Sanchez]

If your clients are in Serbia region, go for that. Otherwise Belize will be an option and a bank account in another Caribbean country like Antigua,

 

[Sukhera]

If your clients are in Serbia region, go for that. Otherwise Belize will be an option and a bank account in another Caribbean country like Antigua,

How much will this arrangement cost?

 

[Fulton Abraham Sanchez]

The company and bank account $4K.