Small Business News Article: Moving your business offshore for corporate tax benefits

Moving your existing business, or setting up a new business, via an offshore company offers more benefits than you probably realize. Aside from the opportunities in banking and increased privacy, simply by changing where your business is domiciled, could in fact reduce or possibly eliminate your corporate income taxes altogether. How is this possible?

There are numerous businesses that can benefit from this, but let us start with some of the more obvious. Let us start with a manufacturing or distribution business, especially a type of business that "ships" or delivers it's product via mail, container or otherwise. Many countries, including the Dominican Republic, have special "free-zones" in place to encourage foreign business to "set up shop". Some of the benefits to a company operating out of such a "free-zone" are: Zero corporate income tax for 15 or 20 years, reduced costs for services (such as trash collection & electricity), greatly reduced labor costs (minimum wage of 80 cents per hour), duty free import of raw materials & equipment needed for the business, and duty-free export of finished products. In addition, many countries have very favorable trade agreements with the US & European Union with respect to reduced or even zero import tariffs on goods entering those markets. In fact, based on this alone, if you are currently exporting a product to Europe from the US or Canada, you could possibly reduce or eliminate the duties you pay to the countries you are exporting to, just because your product is now coming out of the Dominican Republic, for example, and not the US. In effect, by simply changing your address, you could possibly save money, and be able to reduce the retail sales price of your product, making it more competitive.

Can service businesses benefit too? Absolutely. Let us say you do not manufacture anything, but instead you market someone else's product, or you sell your own services. By relocating or operating such a business offshore, you can possibly eliminate your corporate income tax liability, and also reduce your labor costs. Some examples of a business like this would include: 800 Call centers (for travel reservations or other), A Tour & Travel company, A "Pack & Ship" warehouse (selling or marketing via mail order or Internet), An on-line book company (such as Amazon.com), and many, many more.

Lets face it. Starting a new business is tough. It is more than tough. Aside from all the government regulations about certain kinds of licenses, you have to worry about marketing, accounting, and a slew of other things before you even get going. Your own money is on the line. It's ironic.....The government doesn't do a thing to help the small businessman, but when you start earning a little money, they want to take a chunk away in taxes. They will not give you money to start your business, nor do they really give you any meaningful tax credits for all the money you loose should the business fail, but they want to take away a portion of what ever you earn. Not to mention social security taxes you have to pay for employees, and all the rest. Sure, there are "small businessman grants" the government says you can get, but did you ever know of anyone that got one? If you do participate in such a program, it's not "free" money, it's a loan that you have to pay back regardless if your business is a success or not.

So, what is the solution? Well, if your own money is at risk, you might as well set it up in such a way that you get the "best bang for the buck". Meaning, operate your business somehow or someway that will offer you at least a fighting chance of not being taxed to death, and not being regulated to death either. It is not a question of necessarily locating your business in a "free zone" , but that is of course just one of many options open to you.

Unlike the case with a US incorporated company, many countries or jurisdictions allow for a business to be tax-exempt if the profits or revenues are earned from outside that particular country. For example, in the case of the formation of an "International Business Company" ,or "IBC" from the Bahamas, Belize, and elsewhere ~ you are granted a tax-exempt status providing you are not selling or doing business within that particular country. In the case of Panama, it is the very same thing (although a Panama Company does offer some additional benefits that the others do not). This obviously is ideal for any mail order, Internet, or Import-Export type of business (we will discuss how other businesses can benefit in a moment). It is possible then to have a incorporated company that can operate completely tax free (see our section about US tax issues for mail order & internet). This is in stark contrast to having a US incorporated company, which will make you liable for corporate income taxes regardless of where you make your money.

Let us say that you have a dry-cleaning business, a 7-11 type of convenience store, a clothing store, a pharmacy, or any other type of business that you cannot (or do not want to) physically move. Can I somehow benefit? Well, there are some strategies you can employ to help reduce your taxable income. I will not get into them here, because I am sure the tax authorities take a keen interest in my information already, and I am not about to offer them advice about loop-holes or ideas that pertain to current tax codes. Let them try to figure it out on their own.

In reality, taxes are truthfully not the major benefit in this case anyway, but asset protection certainly is. What is the number one fear of the small businessman? Being sued and losing everything. Think such a thing is far fetched? Let me tell you about a group of gypsies that make a living out of suing supermarkets. You think I am kidding, right? This group lives in the US. They have false social security cards, sometimes three or four of them (they know to mess with the "system" too, which is where part of your tax money is going). They "fall down" in supermarkets, and then they sue. They are so sophisticated, they even know which supermarket chains have better liability insurance, and what insurance companies they use. This is important, because they try not to file too many claims with one insurance carrier, to reduce suspicion.

It is very unfortunate that there are people that do this sort of thing, it is even more unfortunate that they are successful with the legal system ~ and that they get away with their scam. The point really being, if a supermarket chain, that can afford both "top of the line" insurance and attorneys to defend them in court...... can be sued and lose.........what chance do you think you have? The answer lies in being broke. No one ever attempts to sue a homeless person. Even if they sue, and the court awards them $ 100,000 ~ How and what are they going to collect?

I am not suggesting you become homeless, just make sure your US business never has any assets ~ and that you have nothing to take personally either. How? Get it someplace safe, legally ~ preferably out of the country where it cannot be "snatched". Also make sure your business leases everything from another "company". Listen......There are people in this world that use loop-holes or just take advantage of the stupidity found with the legal system in order to take your money away from you. Why not use that same legal system to protect yourself?

The problem for tax authorities with regards to e-commerce, internet commerce and even mail order, is the assessment and collection of revenues. let us take the case of the Internet especially. The US tax authorities have said they feel they are entitled to tax ALL Internet commerce, based on the concept that ALL internet connections, at one point or another, pass through US telephone lines, or US based servers. That was a nice try, but what do you think the International community had to say about it? Its one thing to mess with the citizens of your own country with regards to taxes, but when you start to say that "everyone" in the world now needs to pay Uncle Sam......Well, good luck.

Let us illustrate this point further. A German company sells porcelain dolls via mail order. The company factory is in Germany. They have a printed catalog, and a web-site, which is domiciled on a server in Gibraltar. People from all over the world make purchases via the internet. It stands to reason that being based in Germany, the company would in fact have a German corporate income tax liability, but what about elsewhere? If citizens of Australia make purchases of this company's product, does that mean that the company must file a tax return with (and pay taxes to) the Australian Government?

Taking this another step further, A Bahamas company markets magazine subscriptions over the Internet. Since the Bahamas company is in fact an "IBC", and as such does not market to or do business with Bahamian citizens, the company has no tax liability in the Bahamas. If the company web-site is domiciled in the Cayman Islands, and customers make purchases which are in effect done directly in the Bahamas, to whom does the company have a tax liability? If the Cayman government said, that no tax liability was due to the Cayman Islands because no Cayman citizens were customers and also there was no company business (receipt of payment, shipment of product, etc.) being done in the Cayman Islands, to whom does the company have a tax liability? On what basis does the company have a tax liability if commerce is done in "cyberspace"?

The point of all this is to illustrate both the complication and possibilities for e-commerce. No matter how you define "point of sale", or the rules currently in place to determine a tax liability, there is either a "tax-free" answer to it, or it is completely impossible to determine. Taking the above "telephone line" argument, how does anyone really know which jurisdictions an internet connection has passed through? How do you track it? How do you prove it? An interesting argument, wouldn't you say?