netixone said:
From what I understand, you'd have major issues pulling in money directly from an offshore bank account. There are some methods of getting the money in a UK account, but this could leave you liable for tax.
You could run into trouble putting the money into your daughter's name - as it could be viewed as a taxable gift.
Consider the following option, but please take appropriate legal advice first. This process has its risks. You will need to consider personal tax thresholds, VAT thresholds, and make sure that there is no ambiguity about what you are doing:
1) Setup an LLC in Wyoming or Delaware as the "public face" for X amount that is offshore.
2) Setup a UK Limited company - get a bank account. There are challenger banks like Starling that don't need an "in person" appointment, but most challenger banks will require some type of video recording of you saying your name, etc. I've used Starling myself, and had account setup in under 24hours.
3) Over a period of a few months, invoice from the UK Ltd to the LLC for services you are providing (for example "company management", "consultancy")
4) Get the money paid into your UK account. I don't think you will charge VAT even if you are over the threshold as the LLC will be "outside the scope of UK VAT"
Once you have the bulk/all of the money, you now have two routes to consider:
1) Buying the property in your own name? Use the "low wage, high dividend" route to take money out of the UK Ltd. You will need to check to see if you need to pay any tax
2) Buy the property in the company name? It can be difficult to obtain a UK mortage for a residential property owned by a UK Ltd. You may need to look at a residential mortage at commercial rates (can be something like 5% on top of the interest rate.
Other considerations:
1) If you are getting divorced, you may want to wait until the Decree Absolute is complete and/or until you have a Clean Break Order, to avoid complications
2) You could buy now in the UK Ltd name, and it would be difficult for your "ex" to challenge the corporate veil of the UK Ltd
3) You need to decide what to do with the LLC once the process is complete
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