And
Now for Something Completely Different... Freedom Ship
The World’s Biggest
Ship—The World’s Newest Tax Haven?
A Description Of Freedom Ship With
An Analysis by Mark Nestmann
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| Freedom Ship
International, Inc. (FSI ) plans to offer the opportunity for an unprecedented
lifestyle by constructing a sea-based, mobile, full-spectrum residential,
commercial, and resort community on a mammoth, mobile, sea platform. The
community will travel the entire globe over a two-year cycle, never leaving
international waters. It will spend only 30% of its time in transit and
the other 70% standing offshore points of interest. A fleet of aircraft
and watercraft will ferry people from ship-to-shore, around-the-clock,
residents for touring and business, and as many as 30,000 onshore guests
and visitors daily.
Approximately 18,000 resident-owned
living units, covering a broad price range, and 3000 private-enterprise
commercial units, including 1000 residential/commercial combination units,
will offer buyers a wide variety of living options. They will enjoy over
200 acres of open-air space, most of which will be landscaped parks, with
half for resident use only. The community will levy no taxes of any kind.
Property owners will pay a single competitive monthly maintenance fee. |
"Nearly a mile long, 750'
in width and 25 stories
high, Freedom will be the
largest vessel to ever
sail the seven seas"
- Popular Mechanics
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The community will offer
all the amenities of a modern city, including a large-scale, state-of-the-art
hospital, a kindergarten-through-college school system, and an international
library. It will also feature resort amenities such as casinos, conferences
centers, and an array of athletic and recreational facilities, restaurants,
and entertainment sites. Retailing and world trade will predominate the
commercial sector, creating the world’s largest duty-free mall, but there
will be light manufacturing and assembly operations as well. A small number
of major enterprises such as hotels, casinos, and banks, will operate under
license from FSI. In addition, hundreds of residents will run personal-service
businesses in areas such as health care, media, education, fitness, touring,
counseling, consulting, and arts and crafts instruction.
The World’s Biggest Ship—The
World’s Newest Tax Haven?
Analysis by Mark Nestmann
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Nearly a mile long and
25 stories high, the world’s largest ship—Freedom— will soon be
taking shape.
Freedom will eventually be
home to 50,000 residents, 4,000 businesses and 15,000 employees. Many residents
will own their personal condominium, ranging in price from $185,000 for
a 750-sq. ft. unit to $6 million for a 5,100-sq.ft.oceanside penthouse.3Time-share
rentals will also be available.
Equipped with state-of-the-art communications
technology and a 4,000-foot jet runway, Freedom may become a floating
tax haven for many of its residents. Freedom will impose only a
monthly fee for services depending on the size of the unit purchased. It
will impose nor enforce any other taxes or fees. |
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Designer Norm Nixon envisions the
Freedom to continuously circle the globe in a route to keep its
residents in perpetual sunshine. Anticipated ports of call include stops
on every continent. Many duty-free shops will operate to attract local
tourists. Other residents will operate businesses at sea. Nixon believes
that the size and affluence of the resident population will be sufficient
to support its own local economy.
As a sea-going vessel, Freedom
will fly the flag of a specific country (to be determined) and be subject
to the laws and regulations of that country as well as international maritime
law. So Freedom won’t become be a "sovereign" tax haven. However,
a number of residents plan to offer offshore services.
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Freedom is only the largest
floating tax haven planned. Another (much smaller) ship, The World,
also has cabins for sale. Construction of The World begins this
month in Germany.4
Floating tax havens are only one
option residents of high-tax countries will have in coming years to reduce
their tax burden. New offshore financial centers will develop as well,
as jurisdictions from Montana5 to former Soviet
republics set up shop.
Most countries do not consider persons
working abroad "non-resident" for tax purposes unless they can show residence
in a foreign country. Persons working on Freedom, unfortunately,
are not likely to qualify. Nor are US persons (who are taxed on
worldwide income wherever they live) who wish to claim the annual $72,000
"foreign earned income exclusion."6According
to tax attorney Lawrence D.W. Graves, US oil-riggers, pilots and others
that lack a "foreign tax home," "have met with absolute failure in claiming
the exclusion for foreign-based employment."7 |
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Mark Nestmann publishes
the Asset Protection International E-Letter:
Weekly highlights in asset protection, privacy, and offshore jurisdictions.
The A.P.I. E-Letter is a free weekly communique, highlighting recent developments
in asset protection, privacy, and offshore jurisdictions. Writer and researcher
Mark Nestmann, author of Asset Protection 2000, and many other books and
reports on offshore asset protection and privacy, brings his years of expertise
and experience to your E-mail in-box weekly. Mark Nestmann is also the
editor of "The Sovereign Individual" The
Sovereign Society Newsletter. |
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For more information on Freedom
Ship, visit
www.freedomship.com.-
1. United States
v. Hendler, 952 F2d 1364 (Fed Cir 1991).
2. "City at
Sea," Popular Mechanics, Feb. 1998, p. 69.
3. Freedom Opportunities,
LLC, 10999 Metcalf Ave. #200, Overland Park, KS 66210; phone: (800) 966-7229;
fax: (913) 338-1703;
http://www.freedomship.com.
4. Doyle, "Cruise
Liner Seeks Super-Rich Stay-at-Homes," Reuters, Dec. 29, 1997.
5. "Rocky Montana
High," Forbes, Nov. 3, 1997.
6. 26 USC 911. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/26/911.shtml.
7. Lawrence D.W.
Graves, c/o Fierst & Pucci, 64 Gothic Street, Northampton, MA 01060;
phone: (413) 584-8067; fax: (413) 585-0787; e-mail: Graves@Ent-Atty.com.
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