|
||
Offshore Banking is having a bank account in a country where you are not a resident. Normally this would be in a tax haven (a country that has low taxes or no taxation). Because of the word “offshore” you would think that only remote islands are offering this type of banking. In reality even the USA and Canada can be offshore tax haven for you depending on your country of residence and nationality.
Why Bank Offshore?
For people living in a politically or financially unstable country banking offshore will allow them to keep their hard earned money in a safe place. One way to lower your taxes is re-invoicing using an offshore corporation.
Some of the other advantages of offshore banking are:
- Low taxes or no taxes at all. Avoid tax rate increases in your home country.
- Higher interest rates are often available due to non-existent corporate taxes.
- Possibility of investments that may not be available in your home country.
- Anonymous accounts and strict privacy and bank secrecy laws will keep your banking confidential.
- Increase the level of protection by having an offshore corporation.
- Asset protection.
How to get the offshore bank account?
First make a list of banking services you need. Then check carefully the background of the banks in the various offshore banking havens. Take into consideration the distance from your country of residence, if you need to visit your bank frequently. To keep your account confidential it may be wise to travel indirectly to your chosen tax haven.
Offshore banking can be found all around the world. Maybe you will find a bank in country where you would like to vacation. The Caribbean Islands have many offshore banks. Asian countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore have taxation based on territoriality only taxing persons and corporations on business actually done in the country. Both are major financial centers with world class business facilities.
Depending on the services you require the initial bank deposit could be only $500 but may reach $500,000.00 if you desire private banking services.
Most offshore banks have web sites where you can see the services they provide. Look for a downloadable application form. Read it carefully and check what documents need to be submitted with your application. Some documents may need to be notarized.
Some offshore banks are stricter in compliance of KYC regulations and may require more documentation than others. Some banks may want you to appear in person to open the account.
We've already done the hard work for you by sorting through many sources of information; discover which countries provide offshore banking by visiting http://www.offshoreincorporation101.com
Summary:
Do you want to lower your taxes? Keep your assets confidential? Enjoy more freedom! Then find out why offshore banking is what you are looking for.
One of the biggest decisions you may ever make is selecting a bank, so knowing all the facts is very important. Many people are choosing to open offshore accounts. Why does offshore banking seem to be so great? The 3Ps, or privacy, protection and profit are the three major reasons to consider investing offshore. We will look at them in this article.
Starting with profit, we will take each reason separately. Because of high taxation, Australia will be used as an example to illustrate the point. Australian workers pay taxes on their wages and pay a goods and services tax of 10% on things they buy. What money remains is deposited into a bank account and is charged bank account debt taxes and financial institution duty. The small amount of interest that might be earned also gets taxed. You are not alone if you think this is excessive. The banking taxes can be eliminated by opening and offshore bank account.
It isn't, and probably never will be, illegal to have an offshore bank account. It is legal to move your money anywhere in the world you want and how you want. There are also no restrictions at all on the amount you choose to move. Using the Australian example again, though there are no restrictions on moving money offshore, it is required to report any amount of $10,000 or more to the proper government authorities. On Australian tax return forms, there will be the question of whether you have $50,000 or upwards in offshore investments. As this limitation pertains to individuals, you can put money in accounts under the names of your spouse and/or children as well as your own.
Simply because it is profitable is the first reason you could consider offshore banking. You would be eliminating taxes, and gaining access to investments that only particular jurisdictions offer, eliminating any need for a structure. Finally, a tax neutral jurisdiction makes the compounding effect of money phenomenal.
Privacy is he second main reason for offshore banking. The lack of privacy is something that many people are not even aware of, so it seems a completely foreign concept to them. The details of your private banking have no protection in most westernized countries. Here are some simple steps to discover the banking systems` fundamental flaw, which doesn`t have heavy penalties for banking secrecy. Getting someone`s bank account details is the first step. This is a lot easier than you think. All it takes is for someone to pay you with a cheque and you have ready access to their bank account information. The second step is to take these account details to a branch of that bank other than the one the account is actually held in. For the last step, fill out a deposit for $10.00, submit it to the teller and then ask for `your` balance.
Invading someone`s privacy, even your own, really is that easy. So that your money and identity are protected, offshore banks have privacy and secrecy tenets to help accomplish this.
Now for the last of the 3Ps in banking offshore – protection. Protection of your assets is the third reason that investing offshore is a banking solution that is very popular. It is nearly impossible to get the account balance of a bank account in an offshore jurisdiction, unlike the ease with which it can be done for a bank account such as the example used above. Jail terms and heavy fines can be imposed for disclosing any information regarding bank accounts in most jurisdictions with offshore banks.
A word of caution, though: Even though it is common to conduct onshore banking this way, if you intend to do your offshore banking on the Internet, you should be aware that your hard drive will store all of your information.
As no other account can, banking offshore provides these three assets: profit, privacy, and protection. It is entirely up to you how you use this information.