February 2007 Archives

by Bruce Stander

When it comes to the taxation of an offshore company incorporated in Belize there is really only one thing to know and that is an offshore IBC is exempt from all taxes and stamp duty! The structure of a Belize IBC is totally non-restrictive. There are many potential benefits to establishing an International Business Company offshore, but few jurisdictions offer the features and benefits that Belize does. Shareholders and directors can be the same person or corporate entity, there is only one shareholder and director required, they do not need to reside locally in Belize and nominee shareholders and directors can be appointed. The country is committed to remaining 100% attractive in terms of its ability to secure the privacy and wealth management of international companies who choose to incorporate and/or bank offshore in Belize.

by Peter Waterhaze

One of the most common reasons for having an offshore banking account is to protect the person¡¦s identity and privacy. Many people start an offshore bank account because they do not want either their government or private individuals to probe into their accounts. In order to gain protection from this they have bank accounts offshore.

by Richard Price

With an IBC (International Business Corporation), trading offshore can have many advantages. Your offshore brokerage account can be under your IBC company name, which ensures privacy while trading because your personal name is never revealed. Offshore brokerage houses have been using this technique for years to trade in complete privacy in a tax-free setting.

US PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL OBAMA TARGETS HEDGE FUNDS WITH TAX HAVEN BILL

Senator Barack Obama, who has launched a campaign to become the first black US president, has thrown his backing behind a bill that would require hedge funds to establish anti-money laundering programmes under the supervision of the US Treasury Department.Citing an alleged USD100bn lost to the US Treasury through offshore tax evasion and abusive tax avoidance schemes, Obama has joined senators Carl Levin and Norm Coleman in introducing legislation aimed at stopping offshore tax haven and tax shelter abuses.

http://www.hedgeweek.com/articles/detail.jsp?content_id=49947

A merchant account allows businesses to accept credit card payments from customers. Any business without a merchant account is an incomplete identity. Almost all businesses have a normal merchant account. However, there are few businesses that have an offshore merchant account have an edge above the others. The location of the bank is the only thing that distinguishes between an offshore merchant account and a normal merchant account.

The United Nations (UN) defines conflict diamonds as ‘…diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council’.

Singapore The Lion City Roars Conference

25 – 27 March 2007 at The Oriental, Singapore

You are cordially invited to attend the Asia Offshore Association (AOA) Singapore - The Lion City Roars Conference. To learn more and register visit Asia Offshore Association

The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC) today attempted to clear up Wednesday's media circus regarding the Province's alleged interest in I-gaming regulation.

"I guess some of the media had exaggerated and were basically saying that we were moving ahead with that, and that's not the case at all," said Stephanie Francis, a spokeswoman for the AGLC. "We're not moving ahead in any way."

CAC2007 Amsterdam covers European marketing and advertising for the online gaming industry. It has the highest concentration of super affiliates and is expected to be larger than any previous year. Topics discussed include: SEO to E.U. countries, poker marketing, gaming software, mobile affiliate marketing, and other important European marketing subjects. Attendance at this event is limited and is expected to sell out. The exhibit hall for the 2007 Amsterdam Casino Affiliate Convention is completely sold out.

Four UK High Street banks - understood to be HSBC, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB - are to be forced to hand over details of their clients' offshore bank accounts after Revenue & Customs won consent from the Special Commissioner on 1 February 2007.

Revenue officials will now search the records of an estimated 100,000 customers for information on UK-domiciled individuals who have not declared income on money kept in offshore centres such as the Channel Islands. The move is expected to yield £275m in unpaid tax.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Just days after the start of the Single Domestic Space on February 1, 2007, news has come that in just one month, 7,000 applications were received for the Special CARICOM Visa, which is required by nationals of certain countries to visit 10 Caribbean countries as the world prepares to flock to the region for the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007.

ACH/EFT: Easy to shut off. 80% of all activity goes over a network controlled by the US gov. The remaining 20% goes over a small group of networks who are part of the NACHA. NACHA issued the memo that lead to the shutdown of Neteller, Click2Pay, and other payment processors the other week. All they have to do is determine which companies are in the gaming eWallet business. That would be as hard as . . . oh, logging into a poker site and taking a gander at the payment processor page.

On 1 January 2007 the British Virgin Islands Business Companies Act 2004 (the BVI BC Act) became the sole Business Companies Act in the jurisdiction, creating positive changes for financial institutions and corporations undertaking a wide range of structured, asset, and project finance transactions in the BVI, according to Walkers, the global offshore law firm of choice for leading investment managers, prime brokers and international law firms, banks, and corporations.

by Rhiannon Williamson

Many people assume that the offshore world is accessible only to the super rich looking to increase their wealth, or to large multi national corporations looking to escape taxation.

But the truth of the matter is that the offshore world is accessible to everyone!

U2 racked up $389 million in gross ticket receipts, making Vertigo the second-most lucrative tour of all time, according to Billboard magazine. No.1 is the Rolling Stones' current tour, which by the end of 2006 had received $425 million.

Revenue from the Vertigo tour is funneled through companies that are mostly registered in Ireland and structured to minimize taxes. "U2 are arch-capitalists - arch-capitalists - but it looks as if they're not," says Jim Aiken, a music promoter who helped stage U2 concerts in Ireland during the 1980s and '90s.

Continue reading "Bono Likes to Preach but Hates Tax"