Why go Offshore?
The main advantages of moving assets offshore are:
1. Asset Protection - To secure against future claims such as judgment, divorce proceedings, bankruptcy, creditors and litigation.
2. Estate Planning - Family and Protective Trusts for accumulation of investment income and long-term benefits for beneficiaries on a favorable tax basis
3. Confidentiality - offshore interests are kept private from any individual or entity unless authorized by you
4. Reduction of Tax liability - Through International Tax Planning, a foreign jurisdiction can offer significant opportunities for reducing your tax liability in your home country.
Why choose Belize for offshore investment opportunities?
Reasons:
There are many reasons for individuals to move both their personal and commercial activities to the offshore world. These objectives are mainly summarized by the following:
TAX REDUCTION -
It is in your best self interest to find manners in which you can lawfully reduce tax liabilities from investment and capital income, thus making your hard earned money work harder for you, not the other way around. Belize IBCs are completely Tax-Free.
CONFIDENTIALITY -
Utmost privacy and confidence are the fundamentals to financial service in the provision of offshore services in Belize. The more knowledge obtained on your financial status; be it title to assets of value, legal ownership and other such private matters, the more vulnerability you and your assets are subjected to. Belize has established a Cost of Conduct by which the International Services Providers should abide in protecting the confidentiality of the clients' buisness. A breach of such a duty by a Licensed Agent can be reprimanded with the revocation of their License.
PROXIMITY -
Belize is located between Mexico and Guatemala, two hours airtime from the US, within Central America and the Caribbean. Belize is the perfect place to have your dream vacation and take care of financial businesses in a stable environment.
ESTATE PLANNING -
After the factoring of teh combined force estate, incomes and excise taxes your hard-earned estate could lose up to 70% of its value. With the proper estate planning one's investment income accumulates and provides for or eventually passes on the designated beneficiaries with minimal tax liability and hassles. Belize offers convenient trust formations.
ASSET PROTECTION -
In today's world, with an environment filled with lawsuits, taxes accidents and financial risks that can easily dwindle/wipe out your assets there is no guarantee of security for the accumulation of assets. Upon the start of accumulation, one must begin to think about how to protect their hard earned assets.
It is generally considered unsafe to deal with advertisers and tax planners based in your own home country. For example, firms in North American countries are subject to the jurisdiction in those countries, whcich means they are vulnerable to pressure from regulatory agencies to divulge sensitive information. In the event that an offshore consultant in your home country is involved in litigation, he or she could conceivably enter into a deal with tax authorities to give up your financial information in exchange for leniency.
Belize has established itself as one of the leading offshore financial jurisdictions in the world. Along with the companion Trust Act, the Belize IBC Act is recognized as the most modern and attractive legislation of its kind in the Caribbean, and is specifically designed to meet the needs of the global investor. It's privacy and confidentiality laws are secure proof, strong enough to withstand pressures from the United States Securities Exchange Commission as evidenced in the case of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) vs. Swiss Trade and Commerce Trust, Ltd., Banner Fund International, Lloyd Winburn et al.
In an important decision asserting Belize's sovereignty as an offshore financial jurisdiction, the Supreme Court of Belize upheld the country's confidentiality laws by revoking a previous court order set in motion by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States requesting that confidential documents, belonging to Swiss Trade and Commerce Trust, Ltd., be handed over to them. Supreme Court Justice Troadio Gonzalez ruled that documents held by the Belize court belonging to Swiss Trade and sought by the SEC, be immediately returned to Swiss Trade and Commerce Trust, Ltd. When asked for his comment related to the decision, Lloyd Winburn, Director of Swiss Trade & Commerce Trust, Ltd., in Belize, stated, "The Court's decision confirms our reasons for establishing our company in Belize originally. The law related to confidentiality has been tested and found to be not lacking clarity and strength." A country's ability to assert its sovereignty without the interference of outside forces is a major deciding factor in choosing a place to invest and protect personal property.
Anti-money-laundering legislation, a professional Central Bank staff, a Financial Services
Commission and a pro-active Government combine efforts for efficiency, service and the necessary prudence and diligence. Belize maintains close supervision over offshore banking because Government's primary concern in to retain Belize's high reputation for integrity and fair dealing.
Principal Pieces of Offshore Legislation
· Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, 1996
· Offshore Banking Act, 1996
· Registration of Merchant Ships Act, 1989
· Registration of Merchant Ships (Amendment) Act, 1996
· International Business Companies Act, 1990
· International Business Companies (Amendment) Act, 1995
· Trusts Act, 1992
· International Insurance Act, 1999
· Mutual Funds Act, 1999
· Limited Liability Partnerships Act, 1999
· Protected Cell Companies Act, 1999
· Limited Life Companies Act, 1999
· International Financial Services Commission Act, 1999 |
