Looking for recommendation and general advice

[kjnx88]

We have an established agriculture investment and policy consultancy company. Our clients are predominantly in Asia. As a result of a new client in a different country, we are in a position to need to move the company offshore as they prefer to not work with our business in its current country of residence and incorporation (gov contract).

With respect to the new setup, we will need to keep our names somewhat hidden from normal snooping as directors and the ownership is through a simple trust with the partners acting as trustees. Revenues are inconsistent with large contract payments to cover multi-month assignments and then gaps. Keeping books is not an issue (we all have CPA/MBA quals).

Our main requirements for a jurisdiction are in this order: security, reliable banking with USD, debit/credit card, nominee director, names not in public record, accepted for business in Asian countries, low tax rates (not HK or SG, we have already asked...).

Any ideas or comments on this?

 

[negon]

Have you consulted a local tax lawyer and accountant, they may be the guys to pay and speak with in your situation since I read it you have government contracts! Unless it is a banana country you have these contracts with I can't see how any country in this world will accept anything offshore unless it is prepared by real professionals?

 

[kjnx88]

Thanks and yes we did consult our tax lawyer - taxation is not an issue as all funds would be cycled back to our resident country in a legal manner. His concern was avoiding double taxation. As for the government contract, we work in the agriculture space, bananas are our specialty... Most of our industry and gov clients are not from the wealthy Asian countries but there are peculiarities to this work that limit the ability of companies from certain countries (including the country our current company is domiciled in) undertaking this business. HK was our first choice but we were advised this and SG would not pass. I had initially thought Cayman or BVI (both are commonly used in this country for managing resource export businesses) but this is not my area of expertise.

 

[negon]

To avoid double taxation you want to check wich country your home country has agreed to double tax treaties. You may look into Cyprus, Malta and even the Netherlands and Denmark are sometimes beneficial for this purpose. This info is for a 150% legal setup backed up with plenty of money!

 

[kjnx88]

Think of countries that currently have capital controls in place, have a history with European and American aggressors and you will see why these don't work. In a past life in the High tech tracking space, yes I used these models and Luxembourg to take advantage of R&D and licensing arrangements for products sold in the US, Middle East and Europe. Consulting in Ag in Asia is different. Two of my client countries have been at war in recent times, others have religious hostilities... Thus the BVI/Cayman thoughts.... Belize I saw on another thread but I noticed in one of your responses that bank accounts etc are problematic (caye bank I think it was). We have a trading history to use for the banking side and have used HSBC and Bank of China in the past in our home country.

 

[kjnx88]

Negon - thanks I just asked my tax lawyer about the double tax treaties and he clarified that as long as there is no chance of the company being considered domiciled in my home country, the double taxation will only occur if profits are taxed in the offshore country. As funds will be returned onshore in a legitimate manner, they will be taxed as such in my home country.

 

[James Turner]

Hi, If you are not concerned about tax except for the double taxation issue, which shouldn't really be an issue if funds are being repatriated to your country of residence for taxation, then you could look at Belize, Seychelles, etc all of which can obtain banking in reasonably reliable locations. Other options include Cyprus or Malta both of which from the information provided should work for you.

 

[kjnx88]

Thank you - I will examine both Seychelles and Belize. I had noticed threads on Caye bank not being able to handle USD wire transfers, has this been sorted? Is there a better bank for Belize IBC's? For Seychelles I noticed ABC Bank in Mauritius is recommended with an appropriate introducer.

 

[James Turner]

Belize has problems from time to time with USD capability to be honest. It is a common problem so for periods USD is available and then for periods it is not. There are lots of banking options open to you, but I would suggest using an introducer even if the banks don't enforce it (like ABC), otherwise you can easily spoil an option with a bank by doing a bad job.