How to open an offshore account to an individual and legal entity? Offshore zone

Most recently, the biggest world scandal occurred: accounts in the offshore of many world politicians, famous figures of culture, art, and high-ranking officials became known. The British Prime Minister, the Ukrainian president, closest friends of the Russian president and others had a similar business. The planet was seized with a real shock, which almost led to a global financial collapse. Many are interested in this topic. Some began to think about how to open an account with a foreign bank.

In this article we will highlight this concept. We will tell you how to open an offshore account, list the advantages of registering a business in a foreign jurisdiction, etc.

The concept

An offshore account is an account with a foreign bank created for the purpose of doing business in other countries. For example, the bank is located in the Dominican Republic, and the company that opened the account in it conducts business in Russia. The concept of "offshore" from English is translated as "without borders."

Goals

Registration of a company in a foreign jurisdiction serves the following purposes:

1. Tax burden reduction.
2. Preservation of assets in the event of an unstable situation in their country.
3. Getting the opportunity to carry out operations in the international stock market.
4. Maintaining confidentiality of beneficiaries, etc.

As can be seen from the list, offshores perform many functions, however, some states are actively fighting them, since they receive significant amounts of taxes. Let us examine this question in more detail.

Tax cuts

An offshore account can significantly reduce the tax base. The reason is that many countries deliberately create preferential conditions for the registration of foreign companies and hide them from taxes at home.

It is a mistake to believe that only dishonest, "dirty", "gangster" or "corrupt" financial schemes use this tool in their activities. Many of the largest companies - Apple, Google, etc. - are registered in offshore countries in order to reduce their tax rates. In 2014, US analysts reported that major US corporations hold more than $ 2.1 trillion in savings in third countries. Almost half of Russian companies (222) from the rating of “500 largest companies in Russia” compiled by RBC are also registered in foreign jurisdictions.

Asset protection

Asset protection is one of the reasons why the offshore business is booming. In many countries, there is a high risk of raider seizure by criminals, government agencies, law enforcement agencies, and others. Companies that are registered as foreign fall under international jurisdiction. Consequently, disputes will be considered by international arbitration courts, and this is fraught with consequences for the state in whose territory the company operates.

Bank secrecy

One of the reasons for registering an offshore company is the reluctance of the beneficiary (otherwise, the beneficiary) to disclose information about his business. Often this is due to a violation of domestic law. For example, Russian officials are prohibited from doing business. However, the latest offshore scandal in Panama showed that a large number of our senior officials are still involved in it. Their firms are registered to dummies in foreign jurisdictions.

The secret of the beneficiary is the main credo in the politics of states where offshore companies are actively registered.However, do not forget that they can disclose it if foreign accounts are used for money laundering, illegal drug trafficking or other illegal activities.

Why do countries create an offshore zone?

So, we already said that an offshore account saves companies from taxes, since the countries in which it is registered do not take taxes from them. Many people have a question: for what purpose do they do it? The fact is that offshore states are, as a rule, island poor countries. They have an underdeveloped economy, so they allow themselves to register firms. The only condition is that activities should not be conducted on their territory. They charge a fixed standard fee for their service, therefore the authorities of these countries do not require any financial calculations. It does not matter how much profit the company has - the pay is the same for everyone. Although there are other reasons for creating a preferential tax zone. More on this later.

Types of Offshore

Depending on the conditions for opening an account, reporting requirements, disclosing information on sources of income, the following types of offshore are distinguished:

1. Classic. They completely abolish taxation; there is no financial control over foreign exchange transactions. All companies must pay a fixed annual amount to stay in the preferential tax zone. These countries include the British Virgin Islands, Belize, Panama, etc.
2. With preferential taxation. In countries that belong to this group, strict financial control is observed, but preferential taxation applies. These are Cyprus, Seychelles, Gibraltar, Ireland, etc.
3. Focusing on the development of the economy. In them, only certain economic sectors are exempted from taxes in order to develop them. An example is the Netherlands, Lithuania, Bulgaria, etc.

How to open an offshore account

The Russian authorities all the time make it clear to their citizens that in the near future they should expect an increase in the tax burden. This makes us think about withdrawing from the Russian tax jurisdiction not only to large financial players, but also to medium ones. There are cases when small enterprises managed to register in foreign countries, although this is already quite problematic due to some restrictions related to the minimum authorized capital and legal status of the company.

How to open an offshore account? There are two ways to do this:

1. Trust a specialized company.
2. Open an account yourself.

It’s easier, of course, to trust companies specializing in this service. They know the law, all the legal nuances that will help you choose the best product. The downside, of course, will be the reward for mediation. However, self-opening an account without a real understanding of the matter can be much more expensive. The final price, of course, should be clarified directly with the company itself. It depends on the package of services, as well as the selected country. The British Virgin Islands, for example, cost an average of $ 700-900 for registration and about the same for annual service.

Self-opening an account for a legal entity

How to open an account in a foreign bank to a legal entity yourself? This will require:

1. Read in detail the rules for enterprises in the offshore.
2. Choose a qualified registration agent.
3. Provide the registration agent with information in the framework of due diligence (in the lane "due diligence") - the procedure for compiling an objective idea of ​​the company.

Documents for opening an account in an offshore bank for a legal entity

To register an account with a foreign bank, they will usually require the following documents:

1. Passports of the beneficiary, shareholders and directors. Customer can use nominee service.This means that legally the company will have a director from among local residents, who is unlikely to be found by anyone.
2. Bank recommendation.
3. Detailed description of the company.
4. Account for interbank transfers.
5. Constituent documents.
6. Tax return that confirms the presence of income.

The exact list of documents depends on the specific country in which it is planned to register the company, as well as on the bank in which the account will be opened.

Documents for opening an account in an offshore bank for an individual

To open a foreign account, the following documents will be required from an individual:

1. Passports (national and foreign).
2. Income statements.
3. A resume with the obligatory indication of the main sources of income, the goals of opening an account, the volume of planned operations.

Other documents will need to be provided at the request of the bank.