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| Offshore
Corporations Dismantling The Hype |
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| New Concepts
& innovations In Offshore Asset Protection |
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| Even though
our web site is high in the ranking for offshore investments we do not
emphasize offshore investments. In fact it is the area about which
we make the least recommendations. We don't like to give economic
advice and we don't like to recommend offshore firms. People lose money
offshore and we don't want to be responsible for anyone losing their money.
As for the lack of advice the main reason we don't write much about offshore
structuring is that there isn't much to say. Most websites that are
'asset protection specific,' are pretty boring websites, because there
isn't much to be said after the basic facts that sheds any new light on
asset protection. |
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| Liken it to
bowling. For years bowling did not have a successful magazine because
after you bought your bowling ball and your bowling shoes there was nothing
left to buy. How do you support a magazine if there are no products
to promote? Of course now days you can have a successful bowling
magazine because the world has changed. A good bowling magazine can
promote health food, shoes, shirts, tournaments, and so on. |
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| The
fact remains, that to bowl, you only need a bowling ball, but in the modern
world of modern hype any venue can engender profitable spin-offs. You don't
just watch the movie Jurassic Park and go home like one did after watching
High Noon. (Circa 1952) Nope. Today, after the flick you have
to get your kids Jurassic Park toys, eat Jurassic Park hamburgers, wear
Jurassic Park tee-shirts and put Jurassic Park bumper stickers on your
car. |
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| The reason
that 99% of the offshore asset protection websites are so ungodly boring
is that there isn't anything to say that couldn't be explained in simple
layman's terms in a few well-worded paragraphs. The few magazines on the
subject are not successful ventures and their only readers are those who
are in the industry. The subject matter involves the 'how many angels can
stand on the head of a pin' type of article. Is Bahamas better than the
Isle of Man? The actual process of going offshore is simple. It is
purposely kept convoluted and obscure so that the average client believes
they need expensive advice. |
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| Note that
in the photo above the author is holding an International Business Corporation
(IBC.) In the photo on the right is the same IBC. The IBC,
the man and the woman are three separate entities. It is this factor
which gives an IBC its special capacity to protect assets from monetary
predators. |
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| An IBC is
a paper interface that acts to separate an individual from direct ownership
of assets. |
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| The fact that
the IBC is a legal entity means that it can conduct business, just as if
it were a man, or a group of men. One might say that the IBC has all of
the rights that a man does, but actually an IBC has more rights. (Greater
liberties in the world of commerce.) The man might be from Libya
and be subject to very strict Libyan and Islamic laws. The IBC may
be Panamanian and have no such restrictions on its business behavior.
If the Libyan man benefits directly or indirectly from the activities of
the IBC he can do so without being attached to the IBC. In fact a man can
control an IBC even if he does not own it, but we'll get to that in a moment. |
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| What is crucial
to understand is that an IBC is a legal entity that can conduct business
and that it can do so on an international scale. There are residual
benefits of this process that are important byproducts. An IBC operates
under the laws of the jurisdiction in which it was formed. (Just as if
the man lived there.) Each jurisdiction has a different set of laws, and
much of the hoopla on typical asset protection websites involves the differences
between these laws. |
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| Panamanian
IBC's are gaining favor because most of the former British Colony tax havens
have recently rolled over on their clients, revealing, if not all, more
than should have been revealed. Unless you are a multi-million dollar
corporation, Panama is the jurisdiction of choice. Panama is a 100%
Tax Haven: Non-resident Panamanian International Business Corporations
(IBC's) and Private Interest Foundations do not pay tax on any of their
income (as indicated below), nor do they have any reporting requirements
to the Panamanian government. |
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. No tax reporting
requirements.
· No
income tax.
· No
capital gains tax.
· No
interest income tax.
· No
sales tax. |
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· No
tax on issuance of corporate shares.
· No
tax to shareholders.
· No
stock sale or transfer tax.
. No capital
stock tax.
· No
property tax.
· No
estate tax.
· No
gift tax.
· No
stamp tax.
· No
succession tax.
. No inventory
tax.
. Easy to
set up. |
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| What is crucial
to understand is that this also applies to anything owned by the IBC, including
real estate, a Panamanian brokerage account, a website, a boat, a business,
or you name it. An IBC is usually formed by a board of directors, and in
many cases owned by a large group of stock holders. Most, but not
all, offshore IBC's are closely held IBC's that are not publicly held.
Some have dozens of owners who are partners, some are only owned by one
person. |
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| If
an IBC is formed correctly, (and you'd be surprised how many are not,)
the board of directors are all Panamanians, and the name of the person
who actually controls the IBC does not appear. If our Libyan friend
Mohammed Averroës has his name on the IBC, then it could be construed
that he was the owner, and thereby subject to the scrutiny of Colonel Quadafi.
In most so-called free nations it is not illegal to own a foreign IBC,
but I suggest that it is sensible to keep ones taxable self intelligently
separated from an untaxable modality like an IBC. In Averroës
case, if the IBC is structured correctly, the Colonel will never be able
to determine that Averroës is connected to the IBC. So Averroës
search is for an honest company (and attorney,) to set up his IBC correctly
to protect Averroës privacy, his assets and his peace of mind. |
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| While
it is not illegal to own an offshore IBC, I still recommend that we do
not appear on the board of directors. What we want is control over
the IBC and its assets without public record of ownership. How do we accomplish
this totally legal slight of hand? |
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| Tealth
Asset Protection |
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| A
correctly formed IBC has three Panamanians on the board of directors.
Once the IBC is formed, the members of the board of directors resign. Their
resignation is not placed in the public registry. The attorney who
forms the IBC drafts a 'letter of representation' which is assigned to
a designated representative who will control the company. (That is
you). |
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| The
members of the board of directors sign this letter, which is notarized
and presented to the 'representative,' along with their notarized letters
of resignation. |
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| What
you then have is the following: |
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1.
An IBC in whatever name you want, that has three directors on its board
as recorded in the public registry.
2.
Three notarized letters of resignation, one from each member of the board.
(Not publicly registered but entirely legally binding.)
3.
A notarized letter signed by the board of directors prior to their resignation,
assigning you full 'power of representation,' which grants you total legal
control of the IBC and all of its assets. (Not publicly registered but
entirely legally binding). |
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| With this
combination of documentation you can open an offshore bank account,
a brokerage account, a business, a website, buy real estate, a boat, or
anything else that you may care to. Because all of the assets earned
and owned by the IBC are not taxable. |
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| The
Rip Off Corporation |
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| The
rip off corporation is one of the most common scams on the internet.
Don't get short-changed on your Corporation. Most so-called offshore service
providers sell 'hot cake,' corporations, that lack proper apostilles, proper
stamps, have unpaid taxes, unpaid subscription taxes, and are merely 'shell
documents,' not legal corporations. i.e. They sell you the document, but
it is not legal in Panama. If you wish to do offshore banking, brokerage
or eCommerce it will require that you have a fully legal Corporation that
meets Panamanian law. |
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| Panamanian
fees & taxes must be paid from day one, not at the end of the year.
(The fees are minuscule, consisting of only a few hundred dollars.) Many
so-called Offshore Service Providers do not pay the taxes, even in subsequent
years, although they will charge you for it. |
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| They
don't care, they figure you'll never come to Panama, never investigate
and therefor never know. This is part of what soured me to promoting
offshore firms. Some firms go even beyond that level of dishonesty and
run what are called Ponzi schemes, using other investors money to pay you
high interest on your investments. (Like a chain letter.) Once they've
collected enough money they disappear. |
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| In
eCommerce, (internet commerce,) the one area I am recommending, you control
your own assets, you control your own website, you control your own bank
account. |
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| We
are not interested in helping people evade taxes, our goal is to provide
the legal means of doing legitimate offshore eCommerce, whether in international
trade, import & export, online eCommerce, product sales, software sales,
and/or any of the many forms of international online eCommerce that will
benefit from the utilization of an offshore jurisdiction. |
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| The most important
tool, and the first tool one needs for offshore eCommerce is the IBC. |
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