Real-Estate investment from Offshore to EU

[no1d]

Hi everyone,

EU citizen here looking to invest in real-estate.

I do affiliate marketing and like many others I keep my money in offshore bank accounts, UAE and Seychelles in my case.

Now I'm looking to bring the money to my home country RO through real estate investments and I also want to buy a property in the Austrian or Swiss Alps.

My accountant has suggested to lend money from UAE company to a Cyprus company and from it to lend to a RO company.

However it sound too easy and I don't want to trigger any checks on my name.

Maybe some of you know a better way...

Cheers!

 

[Martin Everson]

Buy property outside the EU. If you ultimately end up with property in your home country that exceeds your earnings then expect questions to be asked - loan or no loan.

 

[CaptK]

Im sure RO has a DTA with UAE, so we can assume you are an habitual resident.
You need a bit of Mentor Group Gold in your life you will find everything you need there.

Buying in the Alps is no problem even use an Austrian or Swiss (whichever side of the mountain you decide on) law firm with a correspondence office in the UAE.

 

[CaptK]

He has no substance in either jurisdiction in which he has funds so CFC comes in and he is due on the whole amount.
He unfortunately is trapped by his success, he needs to leave and utilise 183 day rule but completely cut ties in RO in the process.

 

[no1d]

Buy property outside the EU. If you ultimately end up with property in your home country that exceeds your earnings then expect questions to be asked - loan or no loan.

Outside the EU its hard to manage, I want to invest in real estate development, not just buying something that might drop in value. Question will be asked if I'm not paying tax at all and my real estate portfolio keeps growing.

Buying in the Alps is no problem even use an Austrian or Swiss (whichever side of the mountain you decide on) law firm with a correspondence office in the UAE.

I'll look into that. Thanks

I'm not a RO tax specialist, but it looks like employment income earned by RO tax residents for work done outside RO is not taxable in RO unless it relates to work carried out in RO.
You should check with your accountant if your UAE employment income would not be taxable in RO.

I do affiliate marketing for companies in Cyprus, I don't have clients in RO, but I live here most of the time. However I have an investor visa residence and local bank accounts in UAE. I'm thinking to payout from the FZ corp in dividends and pay the 5% dividend tax.

He has no substance in either jurisdiction in which he has funds so CFC comes in and he is due on the whole amount.
He unfortunately is trapped by his success, he needs to leave and utilise 183 day rule but completely cut ties in RO in the process.

Yeah, I feel trapped somehow because there are many investment opportunities and I can't use the money.
RO has low taxes, don't want to cut ties cause I can't live in UAE. Taxes paid to the gov are a waste here, too much corruption and poor management and nothing is gained from paying.

 

[no1d]

You need a bit of Mentor Group Gold in your life you will find everything you need there.

I have upgraded my subscription but can't find the Mentor Group page.

 

[Martin Everson]

I have upgraded my subscription but can't find the Mentor Group page.

https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/forums/mentor-group.10/

 

[Bencyprus]

Hi there,

I was in the EXACT same position last year: I wanted totransfer money from the Carribean to Austria to buy a property. However, Austria has very strict anti money laundering laws and did not accept money from that bank. They check everything and the recipients bank/escrow bank will send the money back and block the transaction.
Therefore I figured out this scheme:

STEP 1: Buy a property in Cyprus

Buy a property in Cyprus. Buy it in a tourist region with a high commercial value to make sure that it wont decrease in value. Do not buy in expensive regions like Limassol since you might see prices collapse in the next years. Just make sure the property comes with title deeds.
Transaction costs are very low (e.g. for a 100.000 EUR property you pay around 800 EUR). The good thing is that no matter who was on the vendor's side, all transactions were approved: I bought properties from owners in Cyprus, UK, Scotland, Lebanon with bank accounts in their countries. All banks gladly accepted my funds.

STEP 2: Put up the property for sale

In step two you hire various real estate agents on non-exclusive agreements to make sure your Cyprus property will be sold quickly and at a good price.
At the same time hire an AirBnB-facility-manager who makes money of your property (the manager should be paid no more than 20% of the AirBnB-income and should take care about everything regarding the property). Now you can relax and wait until the property gets sold while it still generates 5-10% return from the AirBnB income.

STEP 3: Sell the property

Once you find a buyer, quickly set up a bank account in Austria. Be aware: Austrian banks wont accept foreigners with no residence in Austria as a client. It took me a while to figure out a way how they do open a bank account. I can explain to you in DM how that works. Once you have the Austrian bank account (matter of 1 week), sell the property and have the seller wire the money to Austria where you provide your bank manager with the title deeds and the sales contract.

Voilà: You are now the owner of an Austrian property bought with offshore money.

For further information just DM me.

 

[kkein]

@Bencyprus: can you recommend any AirBnB-facility manager over there?

 

[CaptK]

Fortunately in the UK it is much easier. They don't care whether you have paid your tax or not in your jurisdiction.
Lawyer needs proof of funds and a few months bank statements to see it was earned over time.
If funds came from a sale then the sale documents or inheritance docs.

Then you can buy or even lend to a buyer no issues.

 

[no1d]

Austria has very strict anti money laundering laws and did not accept money from that bank.

Hi @Bencyprus, thank you for the details of your situation, sounds like a good plan. So the Austrian bank did not accept your money for the Caribbean bank? My bank is in the EU and company in SC.

Fortunately in the UK it is much easier. They don't care whether you have paid your tax or not in your jurisdiction.

Exactly this I have in mind, I think many UK property owners use offshore schemes for ownership and have accounts abroad so that makes it even easier.

But in both cases, its possible to have the property registered on my name while paying for it from a company account?

 

[Bencyprus]

@Bencyprus: can you recommend any AirBnB-facility manager over there?

Hey mate, as to your question: There are plenty of AirBnB managers. Most of them obviously only work in the region where they are based. I could give you some contacts for Famagusta / Ayia Napa region which is the strongest for tourism in Cyprus. The managers I know can wire to any account or pay in cash/crypto.

 

[Bencyprus]

Hi @Bencyprus, thank you for the details of your situation, sounds like a good plan. So the Austrian bank did not accept your money for the Caribbean bank? My bank is in the EU and company in SC.



Exactly this I have in mind, I think many UK property owners use offshore schemes for ownership and have accounts abroad so that makes it even easier.

But in both cases, its possible to have the property registered on my name while paying for it from a company account?

Well in my case two major Austrian banks, i.e. Bank Austria and Erste Bank, made very clear that they do not accept money from outside the EU as long as the funds derive from offshore companies. Also, they told me that even money from Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia) will most probably not be accepted. This insecurity is a problem when you want to buy properties because according to Austrian laws, you will have to pay the notary, the lawyer and the real estate agent if you pull back because of payment issues. Bottom line: You ll lose like 8% of the purchase price of the transaction wont happen because of bank compliance.

 

[no1d]

Trouble is I already found the Austrian property and can't go through the lengthy process with Cyprus.

I do have bank accounts in EU under UAE and SEY companies.
I want to register the property on my name and make the payment from any of these accounts, would that be possible? Or I can make the payment from my personal UAE account.

Any thoughts?

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Can’t you borrow money from the offshore companies? The interest might even be a tax deductible expense.
If you are worried it won’t look pretty, can’t you set up a pretty EU company in UK/Estonia/Austria and lend money to that company from your offshore company and then either use that EU company to buy the property, or borrow the money from the EU company instead?

 

[Martin Everson]

Or I can make the payment from my personal UAE account.

You may simply need to obtain a back to back loan from your company to do this. A nice simple loan agreement from a FI works well as source of funds.

 

[kkein]

You may simply need to obtain a back to back loan from your company to do this. A nice simple loan agreement from a FI works well as source of funds.

What's a sensible rate, these days, for such kind of lonas in €, to not get harassed by tax authorities?
I mean, ECB rates are currently negative, banks started to forward this to accounts, so i suppose even a 0% loan could be considered advantageous, for a company to give to <someone> ?

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Ask a couple banks what rate they would give you? Then you’re on the safe side.
You’ll probably want to have high interest rates as a tax-deductible expense?

 

[no1d]

You may simply need to obtain a back to back loan from your company to do this. A nice simple loan agreement from a FI works well as source of funds.

I have the funds in my personal UAE account. I don't understand why I need an additional loan.
My problem is if the Austrian bank will not like the transfer from outside EU and decline the transfer.

 

[Martin Everson]

What's a sensible rate, these days, for such kind of lonas in €, to not get harassed by tax authorities?
I mean, ECB rates are currently negative, banks started to forward this to accounts, so i suppose even a 0% loan could be considered advantageous, for a company to give to <someone> ?

Don't even think about a 0% loan rate that wouldn't pass the sniff test. 3-4% is reasonable. Your not paying back the loan so what does it matter if its high or not....lol.

I have the funds in my personal UAE account. I don't understand why I need an additional loan.
My problem is if the Austrian bank will not like the transfer from outside EU and decline the transfer.

Then why not transfer to an EU bank and make payment from there? There is no problem if you have a good source of funds. However if you don't thats why I suggested what I did .