Why Choose a Low-Cost Jurisdiction?

Advantages of tax optimization.

Are you sick of unfair taxation? Don’t let your home country take advantage of your wealth any longer. Take a tip from companies like Apple and Nike. With the help of a low-cost jurisdiction, you or your company can save thousands of dollars on taxes.

Some investors seek out offshore investment for the tax benefits. Nations around the globe take pride in their title as a low-cost jurisdiction, a country or territory that offers tax incentives for foreign investors and corporations. These incentives benefit the investor as well as encourage growth of their own economy by attracting wealth from other countries.

low-cost jurisdictions are legal ways for individuals and corporations from all over the world to reduce their tax responsibilities. They provide banking services to foreign entities, allowing them to save money, and making it more appealing than continuing their financial business in their home countries. For individuals, low-cost jurisdictions can offer lower or no capital gains tax, tax on interest, inheritance, or personal income. Many corporations have saved billions by reporting earnings to subsidiaries in countries that have better corporate tax laws.

For examples of low-cost jurisdictions, read this article  that lays out some of the most popular low-cost jurisdictions around the world.

It’s important to note that taking advantage of a low-cost jurisdiction is not the same as not paying taxes. Tax optimization, which is what you are doing in a low-cost jurisdiction, is legal while simply not paying the taxes you owe is illegal.

How Does a Low-Cost Jurisdiction Work?

To be considered a low-cost jurisdiction, a country has laws that provide incentives and advantages to individuals and corporations. The biggest draw, of course, is the lower taxation. This is why we are here.

Lower Taxes

Many countries, like the US and many European nations, have a progressive taxation system that taxes higher earners unfairly with no legal way to minimize tax responsibility. low-cost jurisdictions, however, have very low or no taxes!

Some nations have no corporate tax and many Fortune 500 companies have subsidiaries in these locations. Other countries may not even have capital gains tax, income tax, gift tax, stamp duty, or inheritance tax.

You may be wondering why these countries have lower taxes for these companies and individuals. Nations that are considered low-cost jurisdictions actually benefit from offering lower taxes by attracting global capital to their banks and other financial institutions, fueling their financial sector. Also, by bringing in foreign revenue, even if it’s not much, the country can bring in a significant amount of money through taxation that it wouldn’t gain otherwise. Many foreign companies can also offer jobs to the local residents.

Security and Privacy

Another advantage of a low-cost jurisdiction is the higher privacy and security. Offshore low-cost jurisdictions don’t often keep individual company or personal banking information that is easily accessed by the public. In many countries, it is completely illegal for banks to give that information out. Along with privacy, many offshore low-cost jurisdictions pride themselves in security measures in place.

How to Tax Advantage of a Low-Cost Jurisdiction

To receive these benefits, an individual opens a trust or company in the jurisdictions of the low-cost jurisdiction.

Many choose to form a company if they plan on using the offshore entity as part of their business happenings. Opening an offshore subsidiary of an existing or forming a new company works. If an individual simply wants to store money overseas, a trust would work best. These individuals usually want to minimize taxes, buy assets anonymously, or transfer large wealth to others without the looming hefty taxes.

Forming an offshore LLC

An LLC can be owned by one person or a group of people. These people are known as members. This LLC can protect members against lawsuits, requires less paperwork than other business types, offers tax benefits, and more.

An LLC allows you to move your assets to an offshore company that protects them, to diversify your investments, or even to save money while living abroad.

Offshore Trusts

Also known as an offshore asset protection trust, an international trust can be one of the strongest asset protection plans for you, if you do it right. With an international trust, you can legally transfer out of reach of future creditors and put them in an impenetrable place.

The way this works is taking the assets out of your name and putting them in the international trust. As the owner of the assets, you choose the trustee, settlors, and beneficiaries and still have control of the assets while in the offshore asset protection trust.

List of Popular Low-Cost Jurisdictions:

• Switzerland
• Monaco
• Bahamas
• Luxembourg
• Cayman Islands
• Isle of Man
• Bermuda

Alpen Partners

Your wealth is important. If you are serious about your life goals, financial planning and investments are probably important to you. Financial planning can involve many steps from tax optimization to asset protection. Different investments have different rules with different returns.

With the help of financial planning, you will be able to predict where you will be in the years to come by evaluating where you are currently, what sources of income you plan to have in the future, investments you plan to make, and your retirement plans.

Alpen Partners Wealth Management International AG, the sister company of Alpen Partners AG, is now a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Together with our partner Swiss private banks, our company can now offer the full Swiss private banking experience to American clients, both resident and non-resident.