Help for founding Offshore Holding

[HeinzR]

I am living in central EU at the moment and will soon move to a country in South America. However before moving I will do some bigger investments in one Swiss company (trading) and one EU-company (technology), buying shares, representing 30% on the one and 5% on the latter. To avoid all the bureaucracy with expatriation tax and also to be better prepared for the future, my plan is to do the following:

A trustee that already lives in my future country opens an offshore h0lding company. I lend money to that company so it can buy shares in the two companies. A couple of months later I move to the new country, instead of getting my money back, I take 100% of the offshore holding.
The new country will only tax me for money I transfer from the holding to the new country, so as long as dividends or other gains stay in the holding, I will not pay tax in the new country.
Thus I am looking for a offshore jurisdiction where:
1. I can do business with European countries
2. I pay no tax for dividends or gains
3. I can transfer ownership without major difficulties
4. accounting should not be needed, at least not from official accountant

Anonymity is not a big issue for me at the moment since I want to do this as legal as possible anyway. I hardly do any business in Asia and for personal reasons, I guess American or European jurisdictions like Panama or Cyprus would be best for me.

I am quite new to this forum and I stumbled upon it when I was doing some research on scammers. I have been scammed before, when I tried to open an offshore and thus I hope I can find some advice here. I am also open to paid advice but as you know its really hard to distinguish scammers from serious offers. If you can give me some tips here, I would be very thankful.

Cheers!
Heinz

 

[Martin Everson]

A trustee that already lives in my future country opens an offshore h0lding company. I lend money to that company so it can buy shares in the two companies. A couple of months later I move to the new country, instead of getting my money back, I take 100% of the offshore holding.

Welcome to the forum.

A trustee is exactly that i.e a trustee and not the beneficial owner and this matters in 2018 with ATAD and cross border operations. You will be beneficial owner of the holding company. Depending on applicable CFC laws and the tangible presence it has in its native country it may end up being transparent for tax purposes. For example where you are the controlling person and real decision maker it would be considered a local business in your home country until you relocate so would be total pointless.

There is a lot to consider including withholding taxes (WHT) on any income from shares it holds. You see EU parent subsidiary does not apply outside EU if you choose Panama for example and no DTA's exist it may work against you. The whole area is complex so you may want to explain which countries you are talking about. Being vague with "I am living in central EU" and "South America", "EU-company" is not really helpful . Taxation is country specific not region specific so pointless being generic when looking for help . If holding shares in companies in the EU then you want to pick a good entry and exit country for profits. Traditionally this has been the Netherlands due to large number of DTA's. However each scenario is different.

Good luck anyway

 

[HeinzR]

Thank you Martin for your info. I get that the information is a little vague but I have my reasons to not point out all details publicly. You already helped me a lot with the problem regarding trustees. I am aware that this can get quite complicated, so if anyone can offer me good paid advice, or recommend someone , I would also be happy.

 

[Martin Everson]

I would advise speaking to a good local independent relocation expert in wherever it is you live. Don't create or move until you understand the correct sequence you should follow and structure you should use otherwise it could have severe adverse consequences to your plans.

 

[myhand]

It can be really complicated and expensive to relocated. As @Martin Everson already said you need to speak with someone independent about costs and consequences.