Most Western countries provide reliefs under their laws
which allow assets to pass, free of tax, from individuals
or corporations into Offshore Trust arrangements.
Indeed, the relationship between Trusts, both onshore and
offshore, Taxation, Asset Protection and Wealth
Preservation has brought about a demand for information
which was difficult to obtain only a decade ago. And
this is all quite legal. The super-rich have been doing
it for decades. Most major companies and banks,
globally, have offshore operations.
But, now these arrangements are available to anyone wishing
to enjoy the following benefits:
Save vast sums in taxes.
Pass wealth to future generations free of tax.
Enhance financial privacy away from networked databases.
Shield against harassment and vengeful lawsuits.
Minimise inflation and currency risks.
Protect property against government confiscation.
Limit personal liability.
Avoid currency, capital and exchange controls.
Minimise economic and political risk.
Transfer ownership of almost any asset anonymously.
Reduce costs of property transactions.
Use trust as a money-raising vehicle
Avoid probate on death.
Preserve wealth with financial, investment and pension
planning.
And achieve financial immortality.
Richard Branson saved many millions in tax when he sold his
Virgin Record Company by using offshore arrangements.
Before Virgin went public, Branson took the step which
saved him tens of millions in tax by transferring ownership
of many of his shares in the Company to Offshore Trusts of
which he and his family are beneficiaries. When the
Company went public, and when his music business was sold
later, in a transaction worth over £560 million, the
bulk of the capital gain was free of tax. There was not,
could not, and will not, be any dispute over the legality
of the tax avoidance inherent in the transaction. This
kind of trust arrangement is expressly allowed under
British tax law. And the same is true for most Western
countries.
Here's a possible scenario for an individual with more
modest means:
A man owns, solely or jointly, a portfolio of investments.
These are usually properties, but could be anything of a
capital nature. The properties may be mortgaged.
Using legal strategies, successfully implemented over
decades, the portfolio can be moved, under statutory
protection, into a tax-free, trust-based environment.
The portfolio investments can be sold free of any tax on
the capital gain. Tax-efficient rental strategies remain
available. The investments and their sale proceeds fall
outside estate/death/inheritance taxes.
This arrangement uses statutory reliefs. It does not even
touch on "tax avoidance". It has full disclosure to tax
authorities. It can be set up in conjunction with
existing professional advisers. It uses independent
professional trustees. It is the perfect arrangement.
Tax avoidance is fine. Tax evasion is illegal, no matter
where you reside. A U.S. Supreme Court Judge stated: "The
tax-payer has a right to so arrange his affairs as to make
his tax as low as possible." And a French Chancellor:
"The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as
to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the smallest
possible amount of hissing."
Punitive taxes are among the major obstacles in
accumulating wealth today. In high-tax countries, which
includes most of the Western world, the government will try
to take 50% or more of your income while your alive and
working.
After you have gone, it will try to take at least 50% of
what you have left, in estate/inheritance/death tax.
As privacy is eroded, most Western countries are following
the United States' example. Frivolous, indiscriminate,
costly litigation abounds, with lawsuits appearing
everywhere and for everything. Well-informed lawyers
know exactly what your assets amount to, and can ruthlessly
pursue their clients' claims to them, unless action is
taken to protect them. Offshore arrangements will do
this.
But it's not just lawyers who can gather information on
you. Private investigators, with access to advanced
technology, can glean the deepest personal and business
knowledge, without anyone knowing. According to a UK
television documentary, the UK Inland Revenue uses
undercover vehicles to eavesdrop on suspected tax
fraudsters. Offshore arrangements can help avoid this.
Our lives are finite, but corporations can live forever.
This means that you could use an offshore entity as a
wealth preservation and estate planning vehicle to provide
a source of income to uncounted generations of your family.
Unless you protect your wealth and your estate, your
heirs could lose more than half of it. Then, of course,
the government becomes your biggest "heir".
By using a simple offshore trust, rather than a corporate
one, in the event of the death of the settlor, the
winding-up of the estate can be accomplished simply without
delay.
If you truly wish maximum privacy for your business and
financial affairs, combined with the most efficient wealth
preservation planning, you should do something without
delay, no matter where in the world you reside.
----------------------------------------------------
Duncan Watson, Expatriate Financial Bureau, has advised on
offshore strategies since 1979. For further information
on the advantages of trusts please go to:
http://www.protectallassets.com
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