Paying the 12.5% in Cyprus as a US LLC

[TisTheft]

I am a camgirl. I make around 400k euros a year. I moved to Cyprus to pay less taxes. I opened a company in Cyprus, but as far as I understand, no bank will take the business. The only option I found for a business account is Paxum, and I opened an account for my company there already.
From the company account in paxum, the money has to go either on a company bank account or in my personal paxum account and then in a personal bank account.
Also, I think no bank will accept me as a client receiving money from the adult industry.
The only option I see now is having a non resident bank account in my home country with a bank that is adult friendly, and there are a few. But I would have preferred the tax man in my home country not to have access to my bank accounts in order to not ask too many questions and have me prove I stayed here in Cyprus, which I did, but just don't want the trouble.

Which brings me to something I thought about. In the past I've successfully used an LLC with Wise account to get money from camming.
I was thinking I could use an llc and simply pay the 12.75% in Cyprus. Now I imagine there's a reason that's not possible, cause no one would go through all the bs with opening a Cyprus company, but still I'd like to know why. Doesn't the llc become a tax resident here?


Another option would be getting a revolut business account for the Cyprus company and lying about object of activity. It did work with Wise. I receive money only from one company which is based in Luxembourg and they never asked a thing about it.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

You should definitely setup a front activity like model or corporate flight attendant. Write a contract with the entity that pays you indicating that specific activity and the company’s role as agency.
Stay away from Revolut, Wise and the likes. You make enough money to afford a real bank.
If you move to a zero/territorial tax country you could easily and legally use your US LLC and pay no taxes at all.

 

[Sols]

Which brings me to something I thought about. In the past I've successfully used an LLC with Wise account to get money from camming.
I was thinking I could use an llc and simply pay the 12.75% in Cyprus. Now I imagine there's a reason that's not possible, cause no one would go through all the bs with opening a Cyprus company, but still I'd like to know why. Doesn't the llc become a tax resident here?

The LLC does become tax resident in Cyprus but as far as I know, it's unclear whether Cyprus would seek to tax the LLC as a corporation (12.50% tax) or transparent (no corporate tax, all profits become subject to personal income tax). In the absence of clear guidance, you can probably go ahead as if the company were a corporation. An accountant or lawyer should be able to get a TIC for your LLC, and do the necessary tax filings.

Another option would be getting a revolut business account for the Cyprus company and lying about object of activity. It did work with Wise. I receive money only from one company which is based in Luxembourg and they never asked a thing about it.

It works until it doesn't, and when it doesn't, your funds are frozen until an investigation is completed. All it takes is one person to tell Revolut or Wise that the Luxembourg company they get money from is for adult entertainment. Then that company goes on an internal blacklist and transactions to/from it will be blocked/reviewed manually. Maintain backups.

 

[TisTheft]

@Johnny it's not about not affording. I think it's a lot harder to bulls**t a bank about the nature of a business than an EMI. I think they ask for more documents and more proof overall. Just my impression. I'm also more concerned about legal consequences of showing false documents(like the contract you mentioned) to a bank.


@Sol I'll have to talk to an auditor then, I guess. I've worked with Wise for more than a year and they were fine. I would be confortable working with them and moving the money as soon as I get them into a personal wise account and then into an interactive Brokers account, so that in case it gets frozen I don't have too much money in the account.

 

[HelloFreeLiving]

If you don't disclose what you do, you'll at some point find your account blocked, likely with a lot of money in it. What you need is a proper banking relationship, not so much an avoidance or obfuscation scheme.

We have opened up accounts for entities (as part of our corporate group) in traditional tax havens that are not considered easy to open up accounts in (for asset holding), because of our existing relationships. It's not easy. But usually also not extremely hard. If you just walked into a branch you could not open these accounts, because they don't know you.

Do you know any people with longer term banking relationships that would be willing to introduce you? That could be a good starting point. If you have already built up a healthy amount of capital, a private bank could work as well. They are generally more flexible. Another option would be to reach out to the counterparty Luxembourg bank (look up the Iban) that is paying out your commissions. It is obvious they are willing to work with adult businesses.

 

[TisTheft]

If you don't disclose what you do, you'll at some point find your account blocked, likely with a lot of money in it. What you need is a proper banking relationship, not so much an avoidance or obfuscation scheme.

We have opened up accounts for entities (as part of our corporate group) in traditional tax havens that are not considered easy to open up accounts in (for asset holding), because of our existing relationships. It's not easy. But usually also not extremely hard. If you just walked into a branch you could not open these accounts, because they don't know you.

Do you know any people with longer term banking relationships that would be willing to introduce you? That could be a good starting point. If you have already built up a healthy amount of capital, a private bank could work as well. They are generally more flexible.

People I've been working with to open the company account wouldn't go to the bank with this sort of business.
Also, I don't need for it to last forever. I will only cam for Cyprus for around 2 year. After that I want to move to my home country and pay the big taxes. I wouldn't keep a lot of money in the EMI accounts. I want to move the money from the personal EMI accounts to an interactive Brokers account.

 

[blizz]

US LLC and Mercury bank could work well for you. Speak with an tax advisor in Cyprus on how to setup your business to minimize taxes, I'm sure there are ways to minimize it.

 

[JimBeam]

Have you taken a look at Bitsafe - Protecting Your Identity Online ?

I want to move the money from the personal EMI accounts to an interactive Brokers account.

Smart girl!

The only option I found for a business account is Paxum, and I opened an account for my company there already.
From the company account in paxum, the money has to go either on a company bank account or in my personal paxum account and then in a personal bank account.

Now if you have the money going to your business Paxum all you need now is a personal bank account where you can pay yourself salaries or dividends from your company's account.
So, in case you have EU passport and address in Cyprus and some utility bills, you could easily open a private bank account online at bunq | bank of The Free or N26, Revolut or BitSafe.com.
Just never mention to these bank what your company does and what you are doing. Come up with a good story and stick to it. Even make a website so they could "check" what your company does.

Dutch EMIs like BitSafe or Bunq should be fine with all kinds of things as they one of the most liberal countries (at least on the paper).