Darlees.com

Merchant accounts make credit card transactions & processing possible over the internet. An e-commerce business will not actually be easily able to grow much or increase its customer base without a merchant account.

Also with an offshore merchant account you can obtain complete privacy & become capable of avoiding most rules & regulations that you might otherwise have to yield to in your own country. A Panama Merchant Account offers you & your company tax free e-commerce solutions for your business. Right. With an easy & quick setup the Panama merchant account will offer you economical advantages.

Moving your business assets offshore is one of the smart ways to start up with a new business. There is more. To gain a strong customer base your internet business would require a way to accept credit card payments on line & therefore an offshore merchant account seems like the best choice for your e-commerce needs. Offshore merchant accounts are preferred due to the various offshore advantages that they offer & that is why a Panama merchant account can be a good choice for your business.

It is comparatively easier to get accepted for an offshore merchant account than getting accepted for a domestic one. The usual requirements that are important for a domestic merchant account are overlooked when it comes to an offshore merchant account.

A Panama merchant account will offer your on line business an easy access to worldwide customers owing to the modern technology. Your business becomes capable of acquiring the best possible deal from anywhere in the world with a Panama merchant account. The factor of not having your bank in the same location helps the business reduce its taxes & places you in a favorable virtual world. The Panama merchant account is a great opportunity for the high risk businesses to gain the many offshore benefits & a strong customer base.

From multiple currencies processing to becoming capable of accepting various major credit/debit cards, the Panama merchant accounts will get you all the privacy & security that your on line business desires.

Instabill gives merchant accounts in Panama. It’s a tax free location offering enormous incentives for all kinds of merchants & on line businesses.

You can read all you like about the legalities & complexities, benefits & risks of going offshore but I am 99% certain that what you really want to read is the definitive answer to your most pressing question which is can I save tax by going offshore?

The fact of the matter is - it’s possible for some people to save tax by going offshore ? why else do you think all your politicians, pop stars & celebrities have offshore structures in place to protect their assets?

Sure, they’re protecting their assets from litigation maybe ? but they’re also looking after their financial butts to ensure they never overpay their tax bill by a single penny because ? did you know ? you’re under no obligation whatsoever to pay more tax that you’re legally obliged to?

That sounds obvious does not it ? but many, many people do actually over pay their taxes annually.

Now before we get on to looking at whether you can save tax by going offshore there’re a few key facts that you have to bear in mind.

First things first going offshore is 100% legal for the vast majority of people as long as they live in a free society. What confuses people is their obligation to report their offshore activities. So, while it’s probably 100% legal for you to go offshore, what isn’t legal is going offshore for criminal purposes or going offshore & failing to report your activities where there exists a legal reporting requirement.

If you’re in any doubt whatsoever assume that a legal reporting requirement does exist! And always, always take professional advice because whatever you do with your finances, their security, your security & your freedom are of paramount importance.

Now, back to the question at hand ? can you save tax by going offshore? Possibly, because whilst tax evasion is illegal, you’re still living within the letter of the law if you go offshore for tax reduction, tax deferral or even legitimate tax avoidance reasons.

Because the nation you live in, the nation you pay tax to & the nation you’re deemed domiciled in can all have a bearing on your tax status you absolutely have to take personal & professional advice about the options available & of benefit to you… And what’s more, you really should take advice as well ? because you have no moral or legal obligation to over pay your taxes by a single penny!

Rhiannon Williamson writes about going offshore & understanding the features & benefits of offshore bank accounts, offshore companies, trusts & investments. Her website http://www.ShelterOffshore.com has all the offshore information you could possibly need.

Offshore bank accounts may be touted as the solution to every legal, financial & asset protection strategy but the myth of the working of an offshore bank account are often much more exaggerated than the reality. That said, offshore bank accounts do have benefits for individual persons & companies but before you go out to open an offshore bank account either for yourself or for your company you must not just be fully aware of the facts but of a lot of other ancillary issues as well.

The first thing any individual should consider before rushing out to open an offshore bank account is their purpose of doing so. Read about offshore bank accounts & their benefits & look at your situation & see if you stand to benefit directly in your way of life & the nature of your business by opening one of these bank accounts. Opening an offshore bank account for the hell of it or just as a reason to crow to your friends is simply not worth it.

Another issue of concern with the offshore bank account is the location in which the bank account is being opened. Make sure the individual or company which is helping you open the bank account is well informed about the legal factors that may concern you in the country where this account is being opened. Also make certain the country the bank account is being opened has a stable economy & not one that is bound to collapse & seize your money along with it.

The third factor of concern about offshore bank accounts is the offshore bank itself… Individuals & companies should make certain that the bank they’re about to maintain an account with has a history as well as a good reputation. Most offshore jurisdictions require low costs for people who wish to purchase banking licenses. There is more. This may result in unscrupulous individual persons opening a bank without a reputation with the sole aim of taking advantage of unsuspecting customers.

About offshoreXplorer.com:

Established in 1999, privately held offshoreXplorer.com serves large & small organizations throughout North America, Europe & Asia with incorporation services, establishing offshore trusts, as well as creating offshore companies aimed at protecting assets to legally reducing annual taxes. There is more. The company’s primary function is to provide businesses & individual persons with the information they need about offshore jurisdictions & how these jurisdictions benefit their businesses legally & financially.

Ron Z. Mendelson, Managing Partner at offshoreXplorer, is a leading expert in offshore asset protection & business strategies. His expertise covers various fields including: wealth protection, foreign asset protection, international business corporations, worldwide investing, global banking, offshore on line gaming, & international e-commerce.

Ron Z. Mendelson
Managing Partner
offshoreXplorer.com
1 888 249 9430
http://www.offshorexplorer.com

If you are self employed, you are affluent, you are married, you have direct clients, business partners or you are just concerned that you are overpaying your taxes, there’s a strong possibility that you should be protecting your finances & assets offshore.

For many people, going offshore is like purchasing insurance against anything from overpayment of tax maybe, to the attrition of assets or wealth as a result of litigation, divorce, law suits or business suspension perhaps ? but the one key thing to understand about offshore asset protection is this ? if you are going to do it, do it sooner rather than later?

When it comes to the question of when to protect your assets & finances offshore your financial, legal & tax advisers will always tell you that the answer to ‘when’ is always ’sooner’ rather than ‘later’ & that simply put, there is no such thing as taking action to protect your fiscal situation too soon ? especially if you want to go offshore for some form of direct affluence protection reasons.

There’s a very good reason for this as well ? basically if ever you’re faced with a large tax bill, issued with divorce proceedings, sued or dragged into the legal system for example then it is actually too late to do anything at all about protecting yourself, your finances or your assets.

If you believe you ever could be faced with legal proceedings of any sort, if you have ever been un or under insured or you’re in a situation where in theory a client, patient or associate could issue proceedings against you & you fail to take any fiscal protective action in advance but attempt to take such action after facing proceedings even though you are certain of your innocence or of being in the right, you’ll be committing a criminal offence known as ‘fraudulent conveyance.’

Fraudulent conveyance is the term used for action taken if you attempt to move assets or wealth offshore or to the protection of individuals, entities or locations which are better protected from potential judgment after you have been advised of a pending law suit ? so do not wait, get yourself & your assets the protection deserving today.

And remember - in the world of offshore advice, services & solutions there’s a saying that virtually everyone lives by & it’s this ‘if you are going offshore, do it right’ ? i.e., take advice, do not go it alone ? & take professional & qualified advice because if you rush your decisions, if you rush your planning & you get it wrong you run an incredibly real risk of inadvertently falling into government & regulatory compliance traps or even tax avoidance nightmarish situations.

Rhiannon Williamson writes about going offshore - how to do it right & who can benefit from it - & understanding the features & benefits of offshore bank accounts, offshore trusts & investments. Her website ShelterOffshore.com has all the offshore information you could possibly need.

Most people surf the Internet everyday & are swamped with adverts & articles describing the benefits of offshore company formation in various financial & legal aspects. For business owners contending with increasing tax rates on an annual basis the idea of offshore incorporation might just be what you need. While your company struggles to make profits, the powers that be seem only interested in shaving of a substantial portion of your profits by demanding that you pay tax rates that are no reflection of the current state of the economy.

There is nothing wrong with tax; it’s the tax that businesses pay that go towards the improvement of the state of a nation & its economy. When the concept of tax was established the idea was to create a compulsory avenue for individual persons & businesses alike to contribute a quota of their earnings towards the well-being of the economy. However the disbursement of funds accumulated from charging hefty tax rates are hardly subject to the decisions of the people who pay these taxes but to politicians & lobbyists. Most business owners struggle to pay their taxes regularly only to see majority of these funds misappropriated.

If you are trying to run a profitable business & look for a legal way of avoiding tax payments, you may want to consider the idea of offshore incorporation. Incorporating your business offshore requires that you pay your taxes on the profits made by your business in the jurisdiction the business is located. Usually this jurisdiction happens may be a small island or country whose government requires only a small fraction of what your company makes. There is more. This way you can make much more & pay less tax on what you make from your profits. If you are the conscientious type you can even invest a measure of your profits into areas of your local economy that you want your money spent in. This way you not just save money on tax but you can contribute your own quota positively to your society without worrying about political wrangling of who gets which tax funds & not knowing what happened to your tax contributions.

About offshoreXplorer.com:

Established in 1999, privately held offshoreXplorer.com serves large & small organizations throughout North America, Europe & Asia with incorporation services, establishing offshore trusts, as well as creating offshore companies aimed at protecting assets to legally reducing annual taxes. There is more. The company’s primary function is to provide businesses & individual persons with the information they need about offshore jurisdictions & how these jurisdictions benefit their businesses legally & financially.

Ron Z. Mendelson, Managing Partner at offshoreXplorer, is a leading expert in offshore asset protection & business strategies. His expertise covers various fields including: wealth protection, foreign asset protection, international business corporations, worldwide investing, global banking, offshore on line gaming, & international e-commerce.

Ron Z. Mendelson
Managing Partner
offshoreXplorer.com
1 888 249 9430
http://www.offshorexplorer.com

The International Business Corporation or IBC is basically an offshore company, which is formed under laws governed by that particular offshore location. The most important fact is that an IBC can not do business in the same offshore location where it has been formed. These days many corporations are being forced, at offshore locations, to utilize the different benefits provided there, which include asset protection & tax shelter among others. There is more. These are the two main reasons for opening an account at an offshore bank or registering as an IBC.

The best part of operating an IBC is that it will provide you with complete confidentiality & there will be no tax penalties whatsoever on the profit that your business makes. In the normal procedure, it’s the responsibility of the bank to report your financial health as well as profits to the government but when operating an IBC, this isn’t the case. But the point is how can you open an IBC & operate it? Where should you register ® your IBC? And what are the legal procedures for registering an IBC?

Different countries have different legal procedures & requirements for IBC & the one person who can really guide you through this is your offshore consultant. The laws at offshore locations & their requirement checklist, for an IBC, keep changing from time to time. Hence, you’ll need an experienced & seasoned offshore consultant. Your offshore consultant needs to have enough experience handling IBCs & always be updated regarding the changes that take place at various offshore locations. Knowledge is power & the more abreast your consultant is with the rules, regulations & updates, the better equipped he/she will be to guide you through the procedures. By example, Antigua & Barbuda charge 40% tax on profit from incorporated, registered, or continued companies & 2% tax on gross income of unincorporated businesses. There is more. This percentage can change in 2008 or by the end of the financial year. Hence, your offshore consultant needs to always have the information in case there’re any changes. After all, if you’re registering an IBC in Antigua & end up paying more taxes on profits than required then the entire venture will be a total loss.

In some places, the documents required for IBC include original Certificate of Incorporation, Articles of Association, Memorandum of Association, the Minutes, & Resolutions dealing with the appointment of Directors & the allocation of shares, share certificates, copies of the Registrar of Directors & the Registrar of Shareholders. There is more. There will be additional documents required if ordered to provide a professional director or nominee shareholder service, & this may include share transfer forms, trust declarations & appointments of agent or power of attorney. The agent may also be required to provide the corporate seal. In such a scenario, it’s imperative to select a consultant, who is reliable, & knows his way through the maze of incorporating an IBC. It’s better to invest time & money in an experienced offshore consultant than pay less & hire some one who will misguide you.

Simon is a leading expert in Offshore Banking & Offshore Incorporations. He owns a company dedicated to helping people set up affordable & watertight offshore banking & business solutions. You can find out more about the services he offers at PriorTaxpayer.com

In the world of investments there’re numerous types, styles & varieties of investments that range from the simple to the complex. You can decide upon using local investments, investments that are in the same country & even those investments that are across the ocean in a different country. Some countries have various rules & requirements governing the types of offshore investments that citizens can participate in, but these rules & guidelines are usually entirely possible to still actively make offshore investments without being restricted.

One benefit to an offshore investment is you’re able to find new types of investments that are not normally available in the country where you reside. The exact definition of an offshore investment is investing in a country that isn’t the same country where you live. There’re many benefits to using offshore investments & the exact reasons vary widely depending upon the exact needs & wishes of the investor.

Typically an offshore investment is good for investors because of the reduced taxes that can be charged on the profits from the investment. While of course the number of benefits you can find vary depending upon your exact tax status as well as the amount of money you’re investing there’re some ways you can reduce your overall tax burden by moving the investment to an offshore investment rather than keeping it at home.

It is important to ensure that you’re careful in making sure all information is fully filled out before your tax process comes around. Many people use offshore investments to hide illegal money or to interact in less than ethical practices with money so the tax departments of many governments tend to look carefully into these transactions to ensure that they’re perfectly legal & there is no illegal transactions taking place. You should use an accounting if you’re working with offshore investments to ensure that you’re adequately protected.

When using an accountant for your offshore investment it’s a good idea to seek out an accountant who will offer audit protection in the event that they make a mistake so that you’re not losing all of your potential profits to fines & penalties because your accountant has made a mistake. This is very important & most reputable accountants offer this service to help provide clients with reassurance. You can find out more about investment & hedge funds at vega-asset-management.com

There are many good reasons why offshore investments are good, with many of the reasons revolving around fewer regulations, tax savings & even greater privacy for the investor. These reasons along with asset protection help encourage more people to seek offshore investments each year. One of the most popular places to see offshore investments tend s to be the Cayman Islands because of the openness & flexibility of the investment & tax laws in the area.

Regardless of your reason for looking to offshore investments it’s always a wise idea to ensure that you’re searching for investments with a good financial professional who can assist you ensure that you’re making good decisions regarding investments before you spend your money… Careful planning will often help you reap the best rewards for your offshore investments.

Article by Dean Forster at http://www.vega-asset-management.com . More great free information on investing & hedge funds at => Vega Asset Management

If you have had more than your fair share of financial knocks & scrapes in life & you have been made bankrupt or you simply have a poor credit history you will know that being in such a financial position isn’t only emotionally very hard & stressful, it can also lead to you living in a catch 22 situation where you can not even establish a new business or get a new business bank account to enable you to trade & rebuild your professional reputation & financial standing.

There are however excellent legitimate offshore options for bankrupts & those with poor credit history because even though you are bankrupt in one country, that financial label & unfairly associated stigma doesn’t travel outside the borders of the country in which you have been declared.

So, if you are in a position where you want to start a new business or resume contracts where you left off, where you want to open a bank account to receive cheques & payments for work undertaken & completed & everywhere you currently turn you are faced with closed doors & ‘I’m sorry, we can not help you’ type rejections, it is time to turn your own back on so called help-ful banks & institutions who only ever help those who can already help themselves & look at the offshore world.

First things first you really need to know that it’s 100% legal for you to go offshore. Secondly here’s an example scenario of when you could go offshore & how you could go offshore: -

Example Scenario

You have been declared bankrupt because clients bounced cheques on you & failed to pay you for work you had undertaken.

You now have a new client base & have orders open for which you’ll be paid in part up front thus giving you the capital you really need to get started.

You can no longer be a director of a new company in your home country.

Without a company you can not open a business bank account.

You can not risk using your personal account for these transactions.

Example Solution

You could immediately establish an off-the-shelf company offshore & open an offshore business bank account in the name of the company.

You can use the company to trade through & raise invoices from, you can use the bank account to send & receive payments.

Hey presto you are back up & running!

Just remember that you really need to select a reputable offshore tax haven that your clients will not actually be suspicious of or have black listed in their minds as a location used by ‘dodgy’ business persons!

Additionally if you use an offshore company incorporation service provider you should be issued with a 100% money back guarantee that if they can not open you an offshore business bank account in the name of your company they refund all monies paid up front to them - because opening an account can be tricky for some service providers & you do not want to be left in the position where you have a company to trade through but no account to receive payments into.

And finally, remember also that by going offshore you can not evade taxation. Where a reporting requirement exists in your own home country you’re legally obliged to abide by that reporting requirement.

Rhiannon Williamson writes about offshore company formation & incorporation - how to do it & who can benefit from it - & understanding the features & benefits of offshore bank accounts, offshore trusts & investments. Her website ShelterOffshore.com has all the offshore information you could possibly need.

Some of the best tourist destinations of the world also offer offshore banking opportunities. There is more. There was a time when Switzerland was the world leader in offshore banking but today the market has widened & opened up. Some of the islands in the Caribbean’s offer offshore banking opportunities; Panama & Belize in South America are also hot spots for offshore banking. One may wonder why go so far off to do banking? Offshore banking is a small part of the bigger & broader wealth management market. There’re certain advantages of offshore banking that makes it a lucrative & economically viable option.

What offshore banking really offers is Security, Privacy & a tax shelter. Banking offshore can be accomplished by individual persons as well as corporations. There is more. The best way to select the country for banking is by getting information about its economy & asset protection laws. Most of the offshore banking countries provide a strong asset protection law under which no one can get any information about your assets or investments. There is more. There’re times when you really need to hide your assets & money from lawyers & other people who claim a stake in your assets. In such a scenario they will require proof of your existing wealth, which when kept in an offshore bank will not actually be on records for people to see.

The assets that you have domestically can be subject to bad to worse political & social factors & these are the ones that you can not really control. So if your asset is under protection from offshore banks then they will not actually be affected by these factors.

Some of the other advantages include tax shelter. A country with a good economy will offer you tax shelter if you open an account in their country. There will not actually be any taxes unless you’re running a business there. And so… Some of the facilities provided by these banks are equivalent to actually having an account in your home country. You can have an ATM card to withdraw money… You can wire transfer to & from anywhere in the world & in any currency. As a corporation this is an very good feature because if your company is based in the US & you’re doing business in Europe then having a Swiss bank account makes a lot of economic sense.

There is a strong code of secrecy followed by these banks to protect your account. In Switzerland for example, the banks do not employ people who can not follow their confidentiality code. Moreover, all employees have to sign a document stating this code of confidentiality & it’s a mandatory employment requirement. The bottom line is that your money is in safe hands & you can imagine how strict these codes of conduct are. Another major advantage is for increasing savings. Now you may ask that the same is possible in your home country too. But then how many people are actually able to save money in their bank accounts. There is more. There is always a reason to withdraw money & there’re always unexpected expenses. There is more. The good thing about keeping your money in offshore banks is that you would not want to withdraw them whenever you choose. It’s like a fixed deposit & you can let it accumulate interest.

There was a time when offshore banking was the domain of the rich & the famous but today the scenario has changed considerably. People from any background or segment can open an account in an offshore bank. The only drawback as seen by individual persons is the amount of money required to open an account, which is mostly on the higher side. Although, the deposit amount varies from bank to bank & country to country. Offshore banking isn’t just an option or opportunity, it’s the speediest & one of the most popular investment tools in the world today.

Simon is a leading expert in Offshore Banking & Offshore Incorporations. He owns a company dedicated to helping people set up affordable & watertight offshore banking & business solutions. You can find out more about the services he offers at PriorTaxpayer.com

There are many specific advantages of foreign or offshore trusts for lowering explicit taxation, increasing after-tax profit & safeguarding assets amongst other benefits. Domestic asset protection will be reviewed against the more formidable advantages of the foreign or offshore asset protection. Within asset protection there’re two basic types of asset protection: Revocable Trust & Irrevocable Trusts. Each has their specific filing sequences.

TAX COMPLIANCE MAKE FOR A STRONGER OFFSHORE TRUST - FEDERAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER

A domestic trust may or may not apply for a federal identification number. Revocable trusts need not apply, but an irrevocable trust generally applies for Federal identification. A federal identification application is filed on federal Form W-4. If it is a foreign trust, the grantor must check the box on Form 1040 schedule B, line 7a for the existence of a foreign bank account, & Form 1040 schedule B line 8 reporting the creation of a foreign trust on Form 3520.

WHY CONSIDER A FOREIGN OR OFFSHORE TRUST

OFCs (Offshore Financial Centres) can be often used for legitimate reasons taking advantage of:

1. Lower explicit taxation & consequentially increased after-tax profit.

2. Simpler prudential regulatory frameworks that reduce implicit taxation.

3. Minimum formalities for incorporation.

4. The existence of adequate legal frameworks that safeguard the integrity of principal-agent relations.

5. The proximity to major economies, or to countries attracting capital inflows.

6. The reputation of specific OFCs, & the specialist services provided.

7. Freedom from exchange controls, and

8. A means for safeguarding assets from the impact of litigation etc.

They can also be used for dubious purposes, such as tax evasion & money-laundering, by taking advantage of a higher potential for less transparent operating environments, including a higher level of anonymity, to escape the notice of the law enforcement agencies in the “home” country of the beneficial owner of the funds.

The practical consideration of going offshore is that court judgments are not enforceable in offshore jurisdictions. There is more. The fraudulent conveyance rules do not apply for example in the Cook Islands & are not enforceable. A U.S.-based creditor holding a judgement in his favor from a U.S. court would be required to commence a new action in the offshore jurisdiction would be required to post a bond & has to hire a local attorney admitted to practice before the courts of the offshore jurisdiction. If this lawyer takes one of these cases, it may very well be his last case. Offshore lawyers get paid upfront, because they do not take contingency cases.

WHEN DOMESTIC ASSET PROTECTION IS NOT ENOUGH

When onshore (i.e. domestic) asset protection isn’t enough, the only alternative is to go offshore. The U.S. lawsuit explosion is forcing people to think outside the box. Even where Alaska & Delaware have enacted special provisions to allow these states to compete for the offshore trust business, the requirements are too burdensome. In other words, some of the assets must be domiciled in Alaska & the trustee must be in Alaska.

These states that have enacted special provisions say their provisions are competitive with offshore jurisdictions but they’re sadly mistaken. If the asset is within the jurisdiction of a U.S. Judge, the assets are at risk to the full extend of the U.S. Court system. It’s true it may be a little more hard to enforce but it’s certainly within the U.S. borders & therefore can not compete with a non-executable judgment offshore.

Author bio - Rocco Beatrice, CPA, MST, MBA
Award-winning estate planning & trust expert
MS - Taxation, Master of Science Taxation
MBA - Management / Taxation
BSBA - Management / Accounting
CPA - Certified Public Accountant
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Asset Protection Irrevocable Trust-Estate Planning
Differences of Domestic & Foreign Trusts
71 Commercial Street #150, Boston, MA 02109
tel: +1.508.429.0011 fax: +1.508.429.3034