How to set-up product shipping in US after offshoring company?

[buffed]

Greetings to forum members. I'm the owner or a relatively successful US-based ecommerce store selling a PHYSICAL product. The web is full of sites touting offshore corporations, bank accounts, intl. card processing, etc., but zero information on what needs to be done to continue getting physical products delivered to customers. Note- shipping into the US from a foreign location is not an option. Also, my business is approximately 60% Domestic / 40% International:


First question, will shipping product from a location within the US nullify my offshore status? Can I set-up a separate US based fulfillment warehouse? I could use my existing corporation, set-up another under my name, or set one of my employees up as an independent contractor?


My interest is to take the $91.5K tax deduction for offshore income, I'm not concerned with sales tax which currently only hits me in one state and is negligable. I also would prefer to live in Thailand or Costa Rica.

 

[JohnLocke]

Well, shipping of physical products from the US means the company is operating and controlled from within the US so it will be impossible to get an offshore status for your business even though you incorporate a company offshore.


Best would be to get in touch with one of the many legal and tax advisers in your area, they may be able to figure out what the best would be, you will need someone with knowledge about the USA TAX and legal system in order to guide you through this process and maybe be able to help you to reduce the tax you have to pay.


Let it be said, for US citizens and corporations there is not much that can be done offshore without a local (US) tax and legal adviser to help, the expanses compared to the risk is simply to high, just my 2cents.

 

[buffed]

Thanks for the info Admin. Apparently, offshoring is not an option for US businesses selling physical products. This would account for the absolute dearth of information available on the subject. What's amazing is that it's almost impossible to even find information/discussions on why it's not feasible for US businesses to go offshore. I can't believe that none of these sites pushing offshore accounts don't at least cover the topic. With the millions of US based businesses and the world's highest corporate tax rate there would be a huge rush to the exits if offshoring was possible. Therefore, if there's barely a word about it online it's likely going to a tax consultant on the subject would be a dead-end. Furthermore, I suspect offshoring is also not even as advantageous for US businesses selling info and services or even individual US citizens looking to lower tax exposure on retirement income. This would account for why Internet searches for Offshoring return a disproportionate number of UK based sites or others which are completely void of information regarding US businesses/citizens.

 

[ezso]

at Buffed. It is an option. Your company would need to outsource the distribution of the physical product in the USA. Your company could not have any extra -business relation to the other USA company handling your distribution.


The structure required for this needs to be set -up by a tax lawyer, which makes it expensive. Also do not forget to file papers with the IRS every time you set up an offshore corporation. It is a huge fine (10,000+) if you forget.