Anyone dealt with these offshore consulting companies? How useful are they?
- Thread starter DavidS
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In various forms, for various projects, and to various degrees, I've worked with or come across them over the years. They have earned their excellent reputations.
But they're not always the right fit. If all you need is company formation and maybe some basic accounting/management, you can find better value elsewhere.
Go with them if you're looking for tax planning and other more sophisticated arrangements, where you want to be absolutely certain that each step is taken correctly and your structure is sound. They will very often insist on providing directors an even nominee shareholders.
But they're not always the right fit. If all you need is company formation and maybe some basic accounting/management, you can find better value elsewhere.
Go with them if you're looking for tax planning and other more sophisticated arrangements, where you want to be absolutely certain that each step is taken correctly and your structure is sound. They will very often insist on providing directors an even nominee shareholders.
It's on a case by case basis.
Local directorship can help establish tax residence there, which can help solve tax disputes back home. It also tends to make bank account opening easier since the bank will already know the board of directors from before. If you run a high-risk business, though, that will still be a problem.
Nominee shareholding keeps your name out of shareholding registers, which can be a boon in case the jurisdiction has public shareholder register but not (yet) public UBO register. It also lets you have more creative arrangements in︀ the back.
Local directorship can help establish tax residence there, which can help solve tax disputes back home. It also tends to make bank account opening easier since the bank will already know the board of directors from before. If you run a high-risk business, though, that will still be a problem.
Nominee shareholding keeps your name out of shareholding registers, which can be a boon in case the jurisdiction has public shareholder register but not (yet) public UBO register. It also lets you have more creative arrangements in︀ the back.
Nominees have been used widely in the past and I believe they are still used as @Sols already explained very well.
In our search of finding valid payment processors I can see more and more also ask for local directors if you come with an offshore entity or and entity that is not registered where the owner lives. Not sure why this step has been taken but it makes the requirement for a nominee director even more important.
In our search of finding valid payment processors I can see more and more also ask for local directors if you come with an offshore entity or and entity that is not registered where the owner lives. Not sure why this step has been taken but it makes the requirement for a nominee director even more important.
In many cases, that's because of Visa and Mastercard regulations, which require that merchants have a presence where they are incorporated (for a wide range of reasons). For EU/EEA, it's sometimes enough that the directors are resident in the EU/EEA region. But different processors make different interpretations of the rules and aren't consistent with how they apply them,︀ but fundamentally that's the reason why.
Do they work with EU citizens?
What specific value do they provide?
So you have a scheme in mind,︀ what now? Will they point out flaws in scheme or just "execute" the scheme?
Are they more of a consultant service or incorporation service?
And how do they work now︁ where EU is asking for mandatory "offshore scheme reporting" by all corporations that consult?
What specific value do they provide?
So you have a scheme in mind,︀ what now? Will they point out flaws in scheme or just "execute" the scheme?
Are they more of a consultant service or incorporation service?
And how do they work now︁ where EU is asking for mandatory "offshore scheme reporting" by all corporations that consult?
It is not all about reporting, from time to time it can be useful to have a nominee director or shareholder for your foreign setup which may not have sufficient substance but still is used to apply for accounts to separate your entities from each other.
Generally speaking;
- Tax residence: by having local management of the company, it may become tax resident there and if you as the UBO don't overstep your boundaries and start acting like a director (signing agreements, controlling the bank account, et cetera), this can in some cases be enough to avoid corporate tax where the UBO is resident. You're still liable for taxes on dividends. It's not risk free.
- Bank accounts: not always the case, but very often professional directors have bank relationships that they can leverage to more easily open bank accounts. Doesn't always work, especially if you're a high-risk business and/or have a low-turnover business.︀
- Privacy: not as relevant anymore with UBO registers (some of which are public, some not),︁ but your name doesn't appear in the most basic searches. Usefulness depends on jurisdiction and︂ degree of privacy sought.
- Payment processors: many processors prefer to see directors resident in the︃ same country as incorporation. This is a loosely enforced requirement by major players such as︄ Visa and Mastercard. Some processors are strict about it, others not so much.
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