Tax Consultancy Services Offered Through An Offshore Bank Account

How can taxes impact you?

Taxes can take a big bite out of your income / wealth, sometimes in quite obvious ways and sometimes in ways that are not so quite obvious. Some of the more obvious ways include income tax (a tiered tax on your income), wealth tax (a tax on your assets that go above prescribed limits)  inheritance tax (or estate duties or more colloquially, death duties; these are taxes on inheritances that go above a certain sum) and gift tax (a tax on the transfer of assets from one individual to another while receiving nothing or less than full value in return). 

For instance, in the United States, estate taxes are applicable if the value of the estate minus allowable deductions is more than the filing threshold for the year of the decedent's death. The filing threshold for 2016 is $5,450,000, for 2015 is $5,430,000, for 2014 is $5,340,000, for 2013 is $5,250,000, for 2012 is $5,120,000, and for 2011 is $5,000,000). And, gift taxes are applicable if the value of the gift to each donee exceeds $14,000 in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The above are some of the more obvious deductions from your income / wealth. The not-so obvious taxes include dividend deduction taxes (if you are receiving income in the form of dividends from companies and investment vehicles like mutual funds) and capital gains taxes (applicable on selling of assets including property, equities, units of mutual funds etc). 

Multi-country asset ownership and the tax question

And, if you own assets in multiple countries the above complexities get repeated in each and every country where you own assets. Things get even more complex if you want to plan towards a certain goal, want to take advantage of cross-border opportunities and arbitrages and want to plan your succession. 

Using an offshore bank for mitigating taxes

The advantage of an offshore bank account for tax purposes is that offshore locations are usually bona-fide tax shelters that impose no tax on income, profits, dividends, interests, transfers, gifts and capital gains. They also have affordable incorporation costs and annual maintenance fees and easy processes. 

So, if you are looking at creating tax mitigating structures like trusts, foundations, International Business Companies (IBCs) or Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), an offshore jurisdiction would be a great bet. Many offshore banks also have in-house advisory specialists who can help and advise you with regard to tax matters. Alternatively, your offshore bank can also work with your tax consultants to help you implement the right tax strategy for your particular requirements.

Offshore Banking Solutions For Expats

Offshore Banking Solutions For Expats

If you are living and working abroad, your priorities will centre around ensuring the security of your income and assets, efficient structuring of your finances / wealth and also ensuring maximum tax efficiency. An offshore bank will be a logical choice for you given that it has the in-house expertise to deal with a wide variety of international financial and other issues. Here are a few ways in which an offshore bank account can help you with your living / working experience abroad:

Moving / immigration planning – It is not uncommon to find offshore banks that help their clients with a variety of services including immigration consulting. These services could include:

▪ Employment and other visa applications

▪ Change of status applications (e.g. from visitor visa to employment visa)

▪ Investment visa applications

▪ Visas for dependants, spouse and children

▪ Helping with document gathering and pre-processing, obtaining required translations and authentications and co-ordinating the processing of visas and applications

Expat Banking – An expat banking service will provide a central location for your money while you move around the world. You also get a variety of multi-currency savings and current accounts, multi currency time deposit account, debit and credit cards, deposits along with a wide choice of international investment products and a variety of channels (including online / mobile / phone banking) through which you can access your money and manage your banking assets.

Income Protection – If you are engaged in the provision of professional services you can consider the setting up of an offshore personal service company or employment company, as it may be known. This company can then contract to supply your services outside the country in which you are normally resident and the fees earned can accumulate offshore, free from taxation. Payments to you can then be structured in such a way to minimise income tax. Such a structure can also help you get asset protection against potential liabilities.

Healthcare Insurance – Medical issues can arise unexpectedly and you may not have access to the class of medical resources and support you may be accustomed to, in the country you may be residing / working. Your offshore bank can also help you identify and choose the right healthcare policy that suits your lifestyle along with fast and efficient claims processing, the ability to choose where in the world you want to be treated if ill and efficient assistance services.