Set Offshore structure anonymously with <5% tax (trust, holding company, directors etc).

[Henryb77]

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to understand what is the optimal and most safe (under the radar) offshore structure.
I have a business in France and want to lower my taxes as low as possible. I know that the money needs to stay outside of the country.
I considered buying a shelf company in Cyprus with a local director, but the high tax rate is 12.5%, and the registry (name of the owner) will be sent to UBO, which is available to tax authorities.
I thought about Dubai with 0% tax, but I'm unsure if I can stay anonymous and have safe access to the money.

I would like to know your thoughts.

Thank you

 

[Marzio]

I would like to know your thoughts.

Move from France, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches and possibly doing stupid things like the trying to hide the fact the you operate an offshore company from France.

 

[Henryb77]

Move from France, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches and possibly doing stupid things like the trying to hide the fact the you operate an offshore company from France.

Thank you Marzio, but unfortunately I can't. What are my options if I'm staying in France?

 

[Marzio]

What are my options if I'm staying in France?

Are you currently running a business in France?

 

[Henryb77]

Are you currently running a business in France?

Yes

 

[Marzio]

Well then you should take a look at this

French special economic zone company with 0% corporate income tax

@SasuT mentioned it here: https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/france-tax-optimization.41869/#post-265297 There is something called ZFU (zones franches urbaines) where, if you register a company before the end of this year, you will not pay any corporate income tax for 5 years, and after...

www.offshorecorptalk.com

 

[myhand]

You could setup an anonymous company in the UK and let it do what you want to.

 

[Henryb77]

You could setup an anonymous company in the UK and let it do what you want to.

UK does not share data with UBO?

 

[Martin Everson]

Move from France, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches and possibly doing stupid things like the trying to hide the fact the you operate an offshore company from France.

Best advice .

Anything less than these actions is pointless.

 

[Don]

You could setup an anonymous company in the UK and let it do what you want to.

I am afraid that it is not ethical

Move from France, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches and possibly doing stupid things like the trying to hide the fact the you operate an offshore company from France.

Best advice .

Anything less than these actions is pointless.

There might be structures and strategies that can be legally employed to optimize taxes (known as tax planning), but there is a clear distinction between legal tax optimization and illegal tax evasion.
If someone is considering international business or investment strategies, they should seek advice from a qualified legal or tax professional to ensure compliance with all relevant laws.
You could structure some operations abroad to reduce the overall tax burden from the whole group's perspective (e.g., by moving more profitable operations to jurisdictions with lower taxes).

 

[Martin Everson]

You could structure some operations abroad to reduce the overall tax burden from the whole group's perspective (e.g., by moving more profitable operations to jurisdictions with lower taxes).

Wrong. You cannot do this with the intentional or unintentional purpose of seeking a tax benefit and the taxman makes the determination if a tax benefit is obtained and not you or your tax advisor. Please read up on GAAR. If your country has enacted GAAR - like France has, the ultimate decision maker is the taxman whether your structure is completely legal or otherwise is irrelevant. The mere fact your construct is designed to obtain you a lower tax rate is enough right now to tell me you will fall foul of GAAR.

Bottom line is relocate like plenty others have done .


---- quote start

The ultimate purpose of a GAAR is to stamp out unacceptable tax avoidance practices. A GAAR is a provision of last resort that is capable of being invoked by a tax authority to strike down unacceptable tax avoidance practices that would otherwise comply with the terms and statutory interpretation of the ordinary tax law. A GAAR is typically designed to strike down those otherwise lawful practices that are found to be carried out in a manner which undermines the intention of the tax law such as where a taxpayer has misused or abused that law. This is typically achieved by giving the tax authority the power to cancel a particular tax benefit or assess a different (increased) tax liability against the taxpayer in circumstances where the course of action taken by a taxpayer is so blatant, artificial or contrived that it is only explicable by the desire to obtain a relevant tax benefit

---- quote end

 

[Don]

Wrong. You cannot do this with the intentional or unintentional purpose of seeking a tax benefit and the taxman makes the determination if a tax benefit is obtained and not you or your tax advisor. Please read up on GAAR. If your country has enacted GAAR - like France has, the ultimate decision maker is the taxman whether your structure is completely legal or otherwise is irrelevant. The mere fact your construct is designed to obtain you a lower tax rate is enough right now to tell me you will fall foul of GAAR.

Bottom line is relocate like plenty others have done .


---- quote start

The ultimate purpose of a GAAR is to stamp out unacceptable tax avoidance practices. A GAAR is a provision of last resort that is capable of being invoked by a tax authority to strike down unacceptable tax avoidance practices that would otherwise comply with the terms and statutory interpretation of the ordinary tax law. A GAAR is typically designed to strike down those otherwise lawful practices that are found to be carried out in a manner which undermines the intention of the tax law such as where a taxpayer has misused or abused that law. This is typically achieved by giving the tax authority the power to cancel a particular tax benefit or assess a different (increased) tax liability against the taxpayer in circumstances where the course of action taken by a taxpayer is so blatant, artificial or contrived that it is only explicable by the desire to obtain a relevant tax benefit

---- quote end

You are right to point it out, and yes, it is risky, and to mitigate such risks, you need to ensure that you have commercial substance - ensure that transactions have genuine commercial reasons beyond just obtaining a tax advantage, and document intent - maintain thorough documentation of the business rationale for transactions. Its better to avoid overly complex or contrived arrangements that are difficult to justify from a commercial perspective, e.g., running a chicken farm in Europe with a marketing department in the Bahamas.
Also, not all jurisdictions are equal regarding GAAR and pose different risks. For example, there are countries without the chance that a foreign company can become a tax resident because there is no such provision in its legislation.

 

[Martin Everson]

Its better to avoid overly complex or contrived arrangements that are difficult to justify from a commercial perspective, e.g., running a chicken farm in Europe with a marketing department in the Bahamas.

lol

 

[bonox]

I am afraid that it is not ethical

Do we need to take it into consideration for a short business venture.

 

[Don]

Do we need to take it into consideration for a short business venture.

Some philosophers say morality, ethics, humanism & civilization are all bulls**t.
According to academics, bulls**t itself is challenging to define, and arguably it can be ethical since some suggest that bullshitting may be productive and useful in certain situations.
I'm not particularly eager to overcomplicate things and believe that whatever leads to the welfare of the individual or society is morally good, and whatever is injurious is morally bad.
Should your forthcoming venture align with these principles, expect an endowment of favour from God Himself.

An Ethics of Bullshit: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. - Document - Gale Literature Resource Center

<em>Gale</em> Literature Resource Center includes An Ethics of bulls**t: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. by Joshua Cruz. Click to explore.

go.gale.com

 

[lahav]

Best advice .

Anything less than these actions is pointless.

The real question is where ? Cyprus Resident ? What's your recommendation ?

 

[Martin Everson]

The real question is where ? Cyprus Resident ? What's your recommendation ?

Recommendation for what? A good restaurant serving a good Eggs Benedict?

Please explain.

 

[JohnLocke]

The real question is where ? Cyprus Resident ? What's your recommendation ?

please elaborate on your question to get better answers!