Incorporation Advice on Hong Kong, Belize needed

[nettepps]

Hello,

I have recently moved to Cyprus and I am taking advantage of the Cyprus non-dom programme. I have a Cyprus Ltd. + a bank account setup already as a requirement for my non-dom status.
The running costs for a Cyprus Ltd. are high annually. I try to avoid any high-volume business here. I am able to incorporate offshore companies and control them legally, even without substance.

I will be running an online business acting a middleman between vendors and publishers all around the world. I plan to use a Hong Kong Limited in combination with my Cyprus company as intimidiary for clients that are afraid to do business with Hong Kong companies (this "syndrome" is widely spread in DE/AT/CH), then I transfer the money from Cyprus Ltd. -> Hong Kong Limited.

Another business of mine is a mobile iOS application with IAP. Since I will be using my Cyprus company for mainly intermidiary services for my Hong Kong Limited, I am looking for a different scheme. I have thought about using a Nevis or Belize LLC for my mobile app.

A few questions arise:

- I have a german passport. Will it be hard opening a bank account for a Belize / Nevis company? What banks would you suggest?
- Does Apple pay out to offshore companies like Belize or Nevis, anyone has experience with this?
- What are the annual costs of running a Hong Kong company (audit/accounting/gov. fees/etc.)? I know it depends on the volume, but it would be nice to have a gross guess.
- Do I have to visit personally to open a bank account in Hong Kong? I have to open a PayPal and Payoneer account for my Hong Kong Limited, does the bank have to be in Hong Kong for that aswell?

Do you see any other way to reduce my costs? Should I just go with my Cyprus LTD for app business (I will have around 50 transactions a year, outgoing and incoming)?

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks

Last edited: Dec 31, 2019

 

[carlc]

I did open two bank accounts with a Belizean company. It is not hard but‌ it takes long (at least 2 months in my case) and it involves lot's of‍ compliance not only through the opening process but also when receiving wires. I would not⁠ recommend any Belizean banks as half of the industry (2 out of 4 banks) went⁤ bust the last years. Euro Pacific Bank (Puerto Rico) or Global Bank of Commerce (Antigua)⁣ could be options.

I had a HK compay and the costs were couple thousand USD⁢ every year. HK compaies are rather complicated as they require filings of employers and annual︀ profits tax returns.
In order to open a bank account in Hong Kong I had︁ to be present. This was years ago and with HSBC and it could be that︂ other banks do not require physical presence.

With payments from Apple / Paypal I have︃ no experience.

 

[Clip]

If you have a big turnover business it's better to be in Hong Kong as‌ banks are solvent and reliable for big and international transactions.

Taxes are 8.25% for under‍ 260k USD in profits, and 16.5% above but there's a lot of tricks to lower⁠ it.
If you control it from overseas, then the corporate tax is 0%

 

[JohnLocke]

To cut it all down to something easy to understand:

a) HK company with banking‌ is possible if you do personal visit there and if you find some good law‍ or accountant firm til help you. Nice setup, easy to get banking and paypal but⁠ very expensive long term to run.

b) Belize and EMI is easy to get setup,⁤ it's easy to setup the company and open an EMI for that company BUT when⁣ it comes to paypal, payment processing ect. things get very complicated if not impossible. Belize⁢ companies are very cheap to maintain long term.

 

[Clip]

Wich EMIs work with‍ Belize?

 

[nettepps]

Thank you for your replies. Yes, that would interest me as well! I do believe‌ the decision of a bank or an EMI depends also on your passport. Would be‍ really appreciated if you could elaborate on that, @Admin.

@GiGoGo, thank you for⁠ the insights. I have heard about an offshore exemption in Hong Kong which is hard⁤ to get lately. Is it still possible at all? Do I have to pay 8,25%,⁣ 16,50% or 0% only depending on the source of income, or do I need the⁢ offshore exemption status active to pay 0% on foreign income?

Also, I have heard that︀ once you have this offshore exemption status, you do not have to do annual audits.︁ That does decrease the annual costs drastically, doesn't it?
I found a recent cost for︂ auditing / accounting services: https://wirelesslife.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/hk_limited_accounting-auditing_cost.pdf
That looks reasonable to me.

Also, about banking. I have︃ heard it's becoming harder to open bank accounts in the HSBC. I have found an︄ alternative, called https://neat.kh (EMI), which also offers to incorporate your company for a rather low︅ price and you don't have to be in HK personally. Any experiences on this?

 

[zeytin]

I'm not sure neat.hk business is reliable. They are not big like transferwise and so‌ many people had their accounts closed in the past.

 

[Clip]

It isn't, heard‌ horrible histories. Only good if you are going to receive funds from Apple, Amazon, Google‍ and big companies

 

[happyjohn]

Most people have talked about neat in the past and no one got back here‌ on offshorecorptalk with negative reviews! It's more then a year ago when we saw them‍ posted here and still nothing bad.

 

[Alex Fr]

Hm and what's with economic presence demands and corresponding reports mandatory for every commercial entity‌ in Belize ?

 

[JohnLocke]

Forget about Belize, it is a‍ dinosaur from the past who no one want to touch any longer.

There are better⁠ places for instant the USA the biggest tax haven in 2020 with Alaska, Delaware, Wyoming⁤ and New Mexico they won the battle to be the biggest tax heaven on earth.⁣ This will not change in the fight about the world commercial power and to attract⁢ blackmoney.