Disillusioned - is there any working solution left?

[CliffWhite89]

Hi all,

I've been a long-time reader of the public forum and have recently become a Mentor Group member in the hope that I might find a working solution that does not involve bribing homeless guys. I have now spend several days reading through pretty much every recent thread and must say that I've come up disappointed.

My situation:
I'm pretty much a digital nomad (travel a lot but only within EU). I stay mainly in rentals/BnBs and never more than about 6 - 8 weeks in any country. I work as a "repairman" in a very small niche (complex industrial equipment) and as such I visit clients (I have about 5 regulars all over Europe) maybe once or twice a year but 90% of my work is remote (online training, explaining how to fix things). It doesn't pay huge but I can live comfortably and be free - in theory!

I am looking for 3 things:

1. A respectable "front":
I need to face my clients with a respectable front, not only as a company but also for banking (I need a EU-based IBAN, this is the only way they'll pay me). International company would be no problem (US, UK would be great; Ireland, Luxembourg, etc. would be acceptable; Belize, Seychelles or Crypto is not an option).
I've always strongly favored a New Mexico LLC but I have little hope of getting a bank account for it now, except with EMIs like TW which are no long-term solution (ideally I'd only pay myself what I need and store the rest in the company which would also allow me to grow and maybe hire people at some point).

2. Privacy
It's important to me as I have felt first-hand what happened when a crazy ex stole my passport and tried to ruin my credit, stalked me and sent relatives to my flat to beat me up one night... She's in and out of hospital (mental) now but I never want to experience something like this again. This pretty much rules out UK/Ireland and other countries where your full address, birthday and much more is just a click away on a register's website, easy to find for anyone.

3. Low taxes
Naturally, I'd like to keep my taxes as low as possible. By keeping all funds in the company and paying myself only the bare minimum (I don't need much) or withdraw cash, I think I could be fine. However, my problem is how to get a reputable bank account I can use (see above). EMIs are no long-term solution, they can close you down or freeze (steal) your funds at anytime. If I could find a provider or bank in the US that straight up will never share data with Europe, I could go for that in my real name, as I don't intend to do business in America. But do they exist? They would also have to allow remote opening as there is an entry ban for America right now due to covid.

What I think is unworkable (for me):
- Paying homeless guys. I haven't seen a homeless guy in years, I guess it's not that common in Europe. I have seen some "organized beggars" in places but these are like mafia, often actually quite wealthy and they beg as a scheme (they can earn hundreds a day) not because they are desperate for money.
- Photoshopped Darks. I've opened a number of bank accounts over the years, most now with video chat to verify IDs. There's no way I can see that a "photoshopped" fake ID passes this, right? They check security features, ask you to hold it under a light etc. It would pretty much have to be a "real" ID with a bogus name and I don't think those exist anymore in Europe.

There are guys here who claim that they have found solutions with darks or paying homeless guys. I respect that and I'd love if they shared details. If you can pass video ID for an EMI, you can pass video ID for a bank, after all.

I'm really disillusioned right now and frankly I don't know how to proceed. I had hoped to find more/better info within Mentor Group, however there are only vague hints, contradictory statements and banned users. Lots of banned users.

Can anyone actually mentor me for real?

Thanks.


PS: I read that there was a guide in the Mentor Group how to get a 100% private UK Ltd. - I did not find it, searching for it doesn't work. Does this still exist?

 

[VESTANON]

At OP you said quite much, scenarios of growing wealth with a female is Like Oil and Water Tryna mix...
I would suggest you get a setup that would give you access to a DE IBAN, where your clients send in the Funds to the DE IBAN acct.

You have access to the funds through two ways.
1.The DE IBAN required is linked with a physical cash card you control and have access to funds paid by clients.
2.The DE IBAN is linked with a bank acct you own, all payments go into your acct via the DE IBAN.

Gives complete anonymity, its longterm,easy to setup...

Welcome to the MG...
OCT a platform like no other..thu&¤#

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[Sols]

It's not entirely impossible for US LLCs to open bank accounts in EU. I've had success doing it with major high-street banks a couple of times. It's all about the business case and your personal ties to the bank and the jurisdiction. If you don't feel that you have that, though, your only options for banking an LLC is going to be some EMI like TW.

You can also open bank accounts in the US for your LLC but reports about chances of success vary greatly. It seems the best chances of success are with the major banks in New York, Florida (Miami), Delaware, Nevada, and Wyoming. If you have strong ties to Asia, there are a couple of smaller banks in California that cater to the Asian region and might work. Expect to have to appear in person, though, which in these times can be quite a headache. US banking can be very expensive for foreign currencies and international wire transfers. I wouldn't do it for a business turning over anything less than a few hundred thousand EUR/USD a year.

Depending on what order of magnitude of wealth we're talking about, you have few other solutions.

The easiest is probably a Cyprus company with professional directors/shareholders to keep your name away from the public. Cyprus doesn't yet have a UBO registry and once they get one, it will likely be limited in scope to government officials. You're looking at 12.50% corporate tax and nothing else as long as you pay yourself in dividends. Costs to set this up are quite low.

Gibraltar offers reasonably strong privacy for adversaries that aren't committed enough to go through the hassle of sending paper forms and payments to search the company registers. Add nominees to the mix and you have a pretty robust structure. About the same costs as Cyprus and no tax.

If you want to be sure your name is nowhere, you'll need an additional layer such as a trust or foundation. This adds complexity and complexity costs time and money. By placing your company in a trust, you remove yourself from the company and cease to be the UBO. This keeps you safe even from the UBO registers that are popping up across the world.

I would strongly recommend avoiding darks or homeless people. If anyone ever for whatever reason starts looking closely at your company and running background checks, flags will pop up and you won't have satisfactory answers for most of them. Since your name isn't anywhere, you have no legal recourse against a bank or EMI that freezes your funds. The only upside is it won't be you appearing on any of the SARs or police reports, unless you've withdrawn from the company directly to your own personal account.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[CounselRep]

This was a really interesting and useful contribution to the forum, thank you. It made me think of a couple of other questions:

Sols said:
Expect to have to appear in person, though, which in these times can be quite a headache.
Click to expand...

I've read reports elsewhere on the forum that it might be possible to open US business bank accounts using representatives (registering agents, lawyers etc) who are granted a Power of Attorney to do so on behalf of the LLC.

Are you aware if that is correct or not to help get around covid19 travel restrictions?

Sols said:
The easiest is probably a Cyprus company with professional directors/shareholders to keep your name away from the public.
Click to expand...

Is it correct that banks will require the professional directors to be authorities for the business bank account?

If so, does that give the directors exclusive control over the account and is that something you just have to trust them on, or is it possible to have something in place to remove them having access to the account in practice, giving you sole control over the account?

Sols said:
Cyprus doesn't yet have a UBO registry and once they get one, it will likely be limited in scope to government officials.
Click to expand...

I've heard the EU AML Directives will require public access to all EU UBO registers eventually, probably through a centralised EU-wide register?

Until then though, any public access will require having a "legitimate interest", e.g. journalists investigations etc. Plus, like any database, a UBO register is only as ever as good as the quality of data that goes into it I guess, and they are often criticised for the data never being verified...

Sols said:
Add nominees to the mix and you have a pretty robust structure.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming here you'd have to find nominees willing to be listed as UBO instead of you?

Sols said:
If you want to be sure your name is nowhere, you'll need an additional layer such as a trust or foundation. This adds complexity and complexity costs time and money. By placing your company in a trust, you remove yourself from the company and cease to be the UBO. This keeps you safe even from the UBO registers that are popping up across the world.
Click to expand...

In some cases it appears that CRS requires banks to record trust and foundation information like settlor, trustee, beneficiaries, for CRS reports to be sent.

So do you need to use nominees for those positions in the trust/foundation as well so it is them who show up in CRS reports for the trust's bank account (and on any UBO registers for the trust/foundation)?

Are there any countries you'd suggest (EU or non-EU) that are good for setting up trusts/foundations that will not make getting a business bank account a nightmare?

And are there any countries you'd recommend (EU or non-EU) from the perspective of "keeping safe" from UBO registers?

Thanks again for any light you might be able to shed on this.

 

[Sols]

CounselRep said:
I've read reports elsewhere on the forum that it might be possible to open US business bank accounts using representatives (registering agents, lawyers etc) who are granted a Power of Attorney to do so on behalf of the LLC.

Are you aware if that is correct or not to help get around covid19 travel restrictions?
Click to expand...

I haven't heard any reports about this changing unless you're a very attractive client but you can try it. If they say no or insist you come for a visit, at least you'll know. They're not going to blacklist you just for asking.

Using a fiduciary can help increase your chances.

CounselRep said:
Is it correct that banks will require the professional directors to be authorities for the business bank account?

If so, does that give the directors exclusive control over the account and is that something you just have to trust them on, or is it possible to have something in place to remove them having access to the account in practice, giving you sole control over the account?
Click to expand...

Usually, yes, the professional directors will insist on having sole control over the company and its bank account. This is necessary to ensure the company is tax resident in Cyprus.

However, I have seen several examples of where control is shared with the UBO. Discuss with the directors.

Only work with licensed and regulated professional directors. You can find a list here: Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission | APPROVED ASP

CounselRep said:
I've heard the EU AML Directives will require public access to all EU UBO registers eventually, probably through a centralised EU-wide register?
Click to expand...

It's on a national level (for now) and each member can design their own UBO register within the parameters of the directive.

CounselRep said:
I'm assuming here you'd have to find nominees willing to be listed as UBO instead of you?
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, there is no such thing as a nominee UBO, at least not without breaking the law. You have to truly not be the UBO.

CounselRep said:
In some cases it appears that CRS requires banks to record trust and foundation information like settlor, trustee, beneficiaries, for CRS reports to be sent.

So do you need to use nominees for those positions in the trust/foundation as well so it is them who show up in CRS reports for the trust's bank account (and on any UBO registers for the trust/foundation)?
Click to expand...

Trusts are complicated but you usually have three or four roles: settlor (you, giving away your company), trustee (a fiduciary/lawyer), and beneficiary. There can also be a protector, which acts on the settlor's interest to steer the trustee.

You can get creative when it comes to beneficiary and protector to keep your name away from CRS reports.

In addition to trusts, you may also want to explore foundations, Anstalt, and Stiftung.

CounselRep said:
Are there any countries you'd suggest (EU or non-EU) that are good for setting up trusts/foundations that will not make getting a business bank account a nightmare?
Click to expand...

You're not going to be the one opening the bank accounts, since you're not a legal representative of the trust.

The most important aspect here is finding a good trustee company that has strong banking relationships. Discuss the ins and outs of your situation with them, and they will guide you to the right jurisdiction and banks. The choice will depend on your overall profile and expectations. Speak with multiple service providers to get different opinions and quotes. In the quote, make sure you get a full picture of not only setup but also ongoing maintenance costs.

CounselRep said:
And are there any countries you'd recommend (EU or non-EU) from the perspective of "keeping safe" from UBO registers?
Click to expand...

It's only a matter of time before UBO registers appear worldwide. Sure, you can go to the US now and when they implement their UBO register run to the next country, and so on. It's not a sustainable model if you don't want re-incorporation and re-opening bank accounts and so on to be a constant threat.

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This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[CounselRep]

Really valuable advice. Much appreciated @Sols.

 

[CaptK]

I think that you could use a DE IBAN account and have a trading as name. Payments will take longer to clear about 2 weeks initially but after that you will be fine. When they see payments are from regular clients they won't have any issues.
This way there is no register of UBO.

If you can spare a few weeks in the UK you could do the same and set up a sole trader account. Bob trading as ABC Company.
This would mean you obtaining an address in the UK. Opening up a bank account and trading account. Subject to you being a EU citizens.

You do not live in the UK so your not liable for tax. It's similar to an LLP but singular person.

Alternatively you can look at the UAE mainland company. Easy to set up with bank account no issues regarding receiving or making payments.

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Sols said:
In addition to trusts, you may also want to explore foundations, Anstalt, and Stiftung.
Click to expand...

Do you have a little more information about the differences? Can you use them to legally avoid tax while resident in a high tax country, as long as you keep the money in the foundation/trust? Any downsides, apart from the cost? What about less expensive foundations from countries like Panama or Seychelles, or even Malta?

OP:
If you're truly nomadic, meaning you never stay anywhere long enough to become tax resident, why don't you get an official tax residency in a tax-friendly country like the UAE and then just use a US LLC? You can use an EMI like TW for your business and make payments to your personal bank account. If you're properly tax resident in a zero-tax country, there shouldn't be any issues. Opening personal bank accounts is generally much easier than opening business accounts. There is still a small risk of permanent establishment if you keep going back to the same customers/countries over an over, but I'd think it's negligible. I don't know about the US tax/reporting implications, but you might also be able to use a company from a country with no public company registers (such as the UAE) as the member for the LLC, if you want even better privacy. It would be an extremely cost-effective solution.

The only downside I see with this is that you wouldn't be able to get a tax residency certificate for the US LLC, which might be a theoretical problem if you deal with very sensitive clients or your clients are audited.

 

[Sols]

JustAnotherNomad said:
Do you have a little more information about the differences? Can you use them to legally avoid tax while resident in a high tax country, as long as you keep the money in the foundation/trust? Any downsides, apart from the cost? What about less expensive foundations from countries like Panama or Seychelles, or even Malta?
Click to expand...

From what I've seen of these types of arrangements (which are rare, compared to just incorporations), each of these setups tends to be tailor-made to the client so it's hard to speak about them in general terms. A good fiduciary will work something out that takes into account all aspects of the arrangements.

The main drawback of the cheaper jurisdiction seems to be perception/reputability. This can restrict the trustees' access to banking if the client insists on having the assets with a bank in Switzerland or Liechtenstein. The client might also seek specific protection or legal concept that is or isn't available in a certain jurisdiction.

But yes, they can be used and are being used to legally reduce, defer, or avoid taxes for residents in high-tax jurisdictions. What's possible depends on the situation. They're not magical tax-saving silver bullets.

In addition to high costs, you lose the flexibility of having the money in your own pocket. Every payment to yourself needs to go through the proper channels, which takes time and restrict your liquidity.

Toggle signature
This is the probably the answer to your question.

 

[cyprusbanker]

Sols said:
n addition to high costs, you lose the flexibility of having the money in your own pocket. Every payment to yourself needs to go through the proper channels, which takes time and restrict your liquidity.
Click to expand...

it may also be costly to have a 3rd party to handle each and every payment. However, for people that have sufficient time it me still be a valid solution.

 

[PaulKruger]

cyprusbanker said:
it may also be costly to have a 3rd party to handle each and every payment. However, for people that have sufficient time it me still be a valid solution.
Click to expand...

but if it works and you have sufficient of money you may be good doing it that way!

For some people with hundred of thousands it's not a big deal to pay a few hundred euro to stay under the radar.