gibraltar as an offshore
 

i have heard that from 01.06.2006 Gibraltar wont be a tax-free heaven for offshore companies anymore. can anyone confirm this or its just a rumor ?

Bump for you.

Here's a wikipedia backgrounder on tax havens. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax+haven

here is another bump

The change is for personal owned accounts only.
companies are still protected by the privacy law

it's rumor!

i've just found this http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=5018

Bumpty bump!!

bump!:thumbsup

can anyone confirm this?

Bbb Bump

one more bump here! :)

Webby should be able to help...

who is webby ?

I checked with an accountant and this is his reply:


Dear XXXXXXx

Please note that this company is exempt until 2010.

Only new companies that apply now will have a 2007 dead line.

However this will not effect the privacy of the client with us or banks.

In any case the Government of Gibraltar is working on a new tax solution for exempt companies.

so its true...*sigh*

ok last bump

that's his nic here

search his previous posts to get an idea

zentz, there are changes in the pipeline and some already due to be implemented.

I assume you are interested in Gib as a base to handle processing within the EU? If so, easy! Simply continue with your Gib offshore and as any laws take effect which may affect taxation on the Gib corp, start a Panamanian corp (costs little) and have this issue monthly management fees to the Gib corp and wipe any profits as these invoices are paid by the Gib corp to the Panama corp. There are no taxes applicable on the Panamanian corp. (It's an option, but the Pananamian corp could also be 100% owner of the Gib corp - that bit really depends on your personal circumstances and what you may want to do)

Just an extra comment.. The Gib govt are not going to let their ambitions to be the "Mediterranean Hong Kong" disappear because of EU rulings. They have invested an enormous amount of money towards implementing this and little doubt the status quo will continue in future as they develop workarounds for non-resident Gib corps.

Is it allowed by Gibraltar law to run adult sites, register domains under the Gibraltar company name and host adult porn content on those domains? Some countries donhahaha8217;t allow porn at all or only using an AVS system. How is that in Gibraltar?

bump for more info

Webby,
you seem to have a lot of experience with this topic, would it be possible to ask you a couple things over ICQ or email?

curacao is an alternative, they have 2% tax. If you have questions you can e-mail to [email protected] attn. Richard

It's not an issue Toni - a corp for the purpose intended (unless you are actually going to live there), is a non-resident corporation.

There is no law that says a non-resident corp in Gib (or anywhere else) can't conduct it's legal business anywhere in the world. Gibraltar is not interested in the paper-shuffling of adult or gambling operations and has little interest what a corp may own in respect of domains.

Legal issues may be more relevant for the beneficial owners/shareholder/s, depending on the laws of the jurisdiction where they reside - and also where hosting is actually based.

Obviously if there were gross violations of laws - like CP stuff - this would be traced, probably on an international basis to the "home camp" of the instigator/s and prosecuted there. The relevance of a corp would be incidental under these circumstances.

The other main issue is more personal and varies according to where you are actually resident. There presumably will be, in most instances, a requirement to comply with your "home country" tax laws as regards profits or salaries from eg a Gib corporation. Basically - bottom line is, it's better to pay whatever taxes are due within your "home country" and save the hassle. Any decent lawyer/offshore accountant will give guidance on this - there are plently professionals in Gibraltar who can help.

The total flip side to the last para is if you are not resident in a high tax regime country and live offshore or in a jurisdiction with low or no taxes payable and are not a US citizen, - the previous paragraph is irrelevant and provides considerable more freedom to operate with offshore structures.

Bottom line, there are plenty legitimate options to play with, however these options depend on personal circumstances such as where you are resident.


PS Better add, since this is the exception to almost all other countries. From a US angle, there is a requirement to disclose to the IRS, interest in international corps even where these corps show little activity. This defeats the whole concept of offshore privacy. The flip side is there is an allowance of around $80K for non-resident US folks - but still a requirement for annual reporting of all interests, whether a citizen lives outside the US or not. This is really an issue which needs addressing by an "onshore" US accountant/lawyer.

Webby,
thanks for the great reply!

I got this today:
I am sorry but I am absolutely certain that Gibraltar would not accept a porn company. We at XXXXX incorporate over 22,000 companies every year and have a clear knowledge of where it is possible to incorporate certain business types. If this is due to your merchant account provider I would recommend that you also consider Cyprus which most merchants will accept and where will also accept adult business.

Smells like a snooty lawyer or something Toni :winkwink:

Gib "accepts" companies - they don't exactly ask for porn samples :) There are plenty non-resident "porn companies" in Gib and also gambling operations.

It may be an idea to get a decent lawyer or formation agent who can be "absolutely certain" that they will form a corp without a discussion over it. :pimp

PS Cyprus is actually OK, but company law there is messier and there may be some local taxes due - depending.

Most formation agents don't ask about the business type. I was asking about porn to be 100% sure and most of them seemed like shocked....

Does anybody have a list or contact information of lawyers, formation agents and international tax specialists which have worked especially for people in our industry?

isnt that where all the casinos and poker rooms are run?

a lot of that kind of companies are running from Curacao and Malta. I have some contacts in Curacao for setting up a offshore company. If interested let me know!

Got ya! That's like asking the local preacher if he prefers a swingers party for group sex or just a few girls :winkwink:

Basically formation agents are just that - nada clue on anything other than filling in forms for incorporation. I'd never discuss any biz activity with them - nor anything to do with banking etc.

Mmm.. dunno exactly what you want to achieve Toni, but all they have to do is incorporate and send you the Mem and Arts, POA and certificate of good standing, share and minute book. (Tho... again, you may be using nominees so better he/she deals with that stuff).

If you want this structure for a presence within the EU for transaction processing - it may be an idea to have a word with a processor in that region. The principals of SegPay have very good banking experience and possibly be able to help smooth the way.

Porn is not an issue in almost all offshores - I've never had a problem yet in any jurisdiction.

Yea.. loads of em madawgz :thumbsup

Corps based in Gib - operations in Spain and hosting from Docklands - London. :winkwink:

Setting up a porn company in Gibraltar is not a problem, getting a bank account there might be, I think..

Correct Troels :thumbsup

Part of the terms to qualify as a non-resident corp is that this entity may not maintain a bank account within Gibraltar. There are however, loads of places for banking and this can be started online and completed with, usually some notorized corp paperwork.

Cyprus is also offshore paradise!

i guess those rocks in Gilbraltar will have to come down now :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Webby,
thanks for the great replies and detailed info!

No prob Toni!

To be honest it would probably take a 1-2 day meet to get the basic overall of "offshore" and the possible valid uses, pros and cons of each jurisdiction and a decent grounding.

It is well-worth trying to absorb as much of that as possible to enable the right questions and prompting for lawyers to come up with the best solutions/answers and develop a structure best-suited to individual circumstances. (A "structure" can simply be one corp, two corps one owning the other or not, or a series of corps depending - all over "whatever" jurisdictions suit best).

A few years back we hauled a couple of offshore lawyers along to an adult conference to give advice, but at that time the level of interest was minimal and it really did need more than a short session to cover this. The last adult webmaster event where the subject of offshore was on the agenda was at the Costa Rica Bash 2005 - http://costaricabash.com. It may be worth developing more specialized meetings to cover this subject in detail for folks who are interested.

But... despite all that, the good news is "offshore" is far easier in real life than it may sound :winkwink:

PS You asked about lawyers "specializing" in adult and offshore. This is really more than one specialization - international corp law, adult issues and "home country" taxation law and I don't know of any lawyers who cover all aspects within the adult biz.

good stuff...

Mr. Romance

Hmm i didnt know that this can be done online, could you recommend any places where this is possible ?

Thanks for the great replies.

Hmm i didnt know that this can be done online, could you recommend any places where this is possible ?

Thanks for the great replies.

Do you know any reputable bank (outside the US) that will open accounts for a Gibraltar company?