Errors of technology transfer No. 3 / “Errors of offshore” + UPDATE
Providing assistance in bringing developments and businesses to foreign foreign markets, one has to constantly observe the same mistakes, and as a result, failures and losses.
The losses are all the more offensive, given that these errors are repeatedly described and analyzed in dozens of open and public sources.
Without pretending to be novelty and exclusivity in any way, we will try to collect in this series of posts a dozen of the most common, obvious and relatively easily avoided errors, the elimination of which greatly increases the chances of success.
For convenience, error descriptions will be sorted by increasing complexity.
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" Offshore errors "
INTRODUCTION
For a correct understanding of the topic, it is necessary make a small introduction.
The fact is that in Russia under the name “ offshore ” they often mean poor island natives, who are photographed naked with visiting tourists for two dollars, and for glass beads, agave juice they print on palm leaves.
This idea was formed due to the fact that in many offshore zones registration fees and annual validation are less than the cost of a tourist trip to these places, and registration itself is supposedly not burdensome, supposedly does not require any materials and documents, and supposedly not carries no consequences.
However, this has nothing to do with the real state of affairs.
Offshore zones are one of the main instruments of the global financial system, and such zones in the world are much smaller than countries possessing nuclear weapons.
(it’s really one in general, but this is a separate conversation)
The fact is that within the framework of Western public democracies all state bodies and institutions are constantly under the sword of Damocles of possible lawsuits, parliamentary investigations and other similar troubles.
But for effective work, tools are often necessary that are formally unrelated to the state, not accountable to it, and not controlled by anyone.
In addition, in addition to state bodies, there are other, and often much larger and more influential participants in the global financial system, with significant capital, the connection of which, and especially the dependence of which on a particular state, is rather arbitrary.
These are multinational companies, non-public banking associations, possessive and magnificent royal houses and other " oligarchs ".
They all need tools that are outside the scope of traditional state and even international control.
So, for the " basing " of such formally independent and uncontrolled forces and instruments from anyone - international offshore zones have been created.
These zones are the main “ hubs ” of world markets for currency, gold, oil, government treasury bonds, credit default swaps, secondary mortgages and reinsurance pools, large blocks of shares of major world companies, trading sea and passenger air fleets, etc. etc.
The combined turnover of the Caribbean and Virgin offshores is much larger than the GDP of the United States, Europe and China combined.
The mere turnover of dollar derivatives, most of which goes through offshore companies, draws more than a quadrillion dollars ($ 1,000,000,000,000,000).
There are no aborigines, natives and glass beads there.
Moreover, to suppress the creeps of real Aborigines and natives in their desire to do "the same" - the International Anti-Money Laundering Group (FATF) has been specially created, which quickly and painfully cures any attempts to even just look in this direction.
In a crisis, various discussions occasionally arise between shareholders, and then events happen such as the cancellation of anonymous accounts in Switzerland, the collective renunciation of US citizenship by billionaires, or the largest European bank moving to Hong Kong.
But this is all a purely family showdown (family - often in the literal sense).
However, for a number of reasons, the procedure for entering and incorporating into these zones has been made open to any, even quite microscopic, third-party businesses.
Why should shareholders allow outsiders and collect ridiculous $ 500 of registration fees at quadrillion turns, this is a long conversation, for this presentation it’s enough to know that ease of entry is deceptive and fraught with serious dangers, but with accurate and correct work, even small Russian IT businesses may well nip off a little from this holiday of life.
It is only necessary to soberly and clearly understand the basic principles and not make obvious mistakes.
Mistake # 1
The most common mistake of Russian technology entrepreneurs starting to use offshore is ... using offshore.
For external users, offshore is a complex, developed and, as a result, not very cheap (if used correctly) tool for tax PLANNING and tax ADMINISTRATION.
Accordingly, the necessity, appropriateness and appropriateness of its use requires two components:
1. Taxes - either already paid, or expected to be
paid 2. Taxes paid, or expected to be paid MUCH
If taxes are not expected to be paid, a planning and administration tool for such payment is not needed at least .
If it is supposed to pay taxes, but these taxes will not be very much, the costs of using a complex and developed tool will significantly exceed the savings received from its use.
The specificity of this mistake lies in the fact that the offshore being slipped into the transaction is visible per kilometer, and the other side of the transaction immediately raises the fair question of why this offshore is needed there.
In all developed countries, the issues of taxes and money laundering are very serious and sensitive, and any unusual or absurdity greatly complicates the deal.
When a small developer from the Russian Federation sells utility for $ 10K to a buyer from the USA, where the address often starts right away with the two-letter state code, and the buyer sees “ Cyprus ” in the contract and the account in the parex bank, he will immediately have a fair question what is Cyprus, and who is a parex bank.
If the transaction is voluminous, multi-way and requires developed structuring and tax optimization, the parties can always calmly and jointly think about its implementation and without any offshore choose the most optimal schemes for all participants.
The shove of offshore purchased on the occasion of all transactions indicates, firstly, disrespect for other parties to the transactions, and secondly, a lack of understanding of the meaning of offshore.
Mistake No. 2
The second mistake in relation to the first is a mirror one, and consists of not using offshore companies wherever possible and moreover, is necessary.
If an online toy is sold for $ 2, and most buyers pay for the purchase from their accounts in online payment systems, it does not make sense to substitute their pure details and real data in the transaction.
Moreover, if such a sale is not entirely pure, for example, in terms of copyright, guarantees, restrictions, prohibitions, or subsequent taxes.
In this case, it is completely justified and even advisable to substitute an anonymous trash dummy created or bought in an offshore for the transaction.
Error No. 3
This error is the reverse side of error No. 2.
All offshore jurisdictions have information exchange agreements with all major countries.
All payment transactions of all payment systems, as well as most electronic messages, are always and unconditionally documented and stored for unlimited time.
In recent years, all previously disparate databases of dissimilar documents are combined into a single pass-through system, and if an online toy was sold for $ 2, an email address was specified, which two years later was indicated as the technical support address for the utility that was distributed from a certain The IP address, which two years later was used to send an online payment via the bank-client system, with confirmation from the phone with the IMEI code, which is ......, then all this data will be brought together and connected to it - Sun will be added other data, including profiles of social networks, SMS, name, etc.
And not the fact that collecting all this data in one place, and even more so, correlating them with each other (and this is done automatically) will give the heroes of the description great joy.
This mistake is handled by the old Soviet rule " Worked - take away the workplace ."
The benefit is the cost of simple phones, new sim cards, Wi-Fi adapters, subscription boxes, etc. Compared to possible troubles, they are simply ridiculous.
No fingerprints should be left when using offshore.
Error No. 4
This error is a continuation of error No. 3, loops a short series of errors, and approaches error No. 1 on the other hand, and already at a higher level.
Anonymous work around error # 3 is a short business.
The entrepreneur does not pay any taxes and fees, but firstly, he is at great risk.
When buying " finished" оффшора, или оффшора с лично ему неизвестными номинальными операторами-секретарями а тем более директорами и акционерами, или оффшора с акциями на предъявителя, весь его бизнес может исчезнуть мгновенно, поэтому сливать кассу необходимо по достижении лимита $1К, что далеко не всегда удобно.
Дело не в злокозненности Карибских или Виргинских островитян, а в том, что при малейшем подозрении, или даже просто раздражении, они могут просто арестовать средства на счетах, и любезно попросить прислать исчерпывающее подтверждение легальности средств и операций, что при анонимном владении или модной в РФ покупке готовых оффшоров "под ключ" будет означать потерю всех средств.
Более того, несмотря на всю показную "анонимность", for all offshore jurisdictions, there is a" long-hand rule "according to which the authorities of any country can recognize any activity as organized specifically to reduce taxes and recalculate taxes as they see fit.
In addition, as mentioned in the introduction, offshores are made exclusively for servicing extra-large and often anonymous operations in global financial, currency, derivatives, oil, gold, etc.
If a visitor arriving at the islands establishes a quiet banking, investment, insurance Holding, financial, shipping or aviation businesses, especially legal businesses, they assist him, since all these businesses bring islands small, but guaranteed, and most importantly quiet profits.
However, when sock dealers from the Cherkizovsky market begin to abuse the kindness of the owners, and drive thousands of payments of $ 5 from stolen credit cards, the islanders' patience may come to an end and they can turn off the light without any warning or even comment.
This is not a joke, but a harsh reality.
So firstly, this is a risk.
And secondly, without paying any taxes, an entrepreneur often deprives himself of quite interesting opportunities.
As stated in the description of error No. 1, offshore, this is a developed tool for tax planning and tax administration.
However, very often, with detailed planning of expenses and profits, it turns out that a clean and legal payment of completely non-burdensome (especially in the initial period of business) payments allows you to get a " much more valuable fur " than saving cheap (especially in the first year) taxes.
This will allow you to get as close to potential buyers as possible by opening an office in their state and city and an account in their bank, which can greatly facilitate the conclusion of the first, most important transactions.
All legal payments may be charged to the costs of doing business, which will then allow you to receive numerous benefits and deductions.
Phone bills, pizza checks, hotel bills, airline tickets, contracts, letters, faxes, DHL, FE receipts, souvenir pens, lighters, etc., which in the case of an offshore, will be impossible.
Legally incorporated, the company immediately receives local status, and as a result - access to all municipal and federal tenders and orders, and to all support programs, of which there are many.
The company immediately opens up great opportunities for lending and attracting portfolio and venture investments, which is impossible in the case of an offshore.
The company immediately acquires the possibility of real estate transactions, which is either impossible or most difficult for an offshore company.
Naturally, with all loans, tenders, ventures and major transactions, due diligence will be carried out, and all the dirty laundry described earlier in “ Error No. 3 ” will pop up and crawl out.
But if cleanliness and order in the workplace are strictly observed, no problems should arise.
In addition to material profits, legal incorporation has other possibilities.
Even if it’s a very small but working company, it immediately gets the possibility of visa support, which otherwise would cost much more, and a year after the start of work, the owner of even a tiny business can initiate a permanent residence.
At the same time, staff can be decorated in hundreds of different ways, optimal for each specific situation.
You can even try to get an SSN (Social Security Number), and get medical insurance and a pension that is much more real than from local fursenki almost for free.
Moreover, the range of possibilities is infinitely wide.
A foreign company can be a “single” (by itself), it can be a subsidiary of Russia, it can be parental to Russia, it can be a Russian representative office, or vice versa, a Russian company can be a foreign representative office in the Russian Federation (it is not a legal entity, it does not pay income tax and property tax).
They can conduct joint activities with the separation of profits and losses, etc.
For an IT business in which the dependence on material equipment and real estate is minimal, any structuring and administration of the business can be done completely legally.
As a matter of fact, almost all well-known Russian IT companies work precisely on such schemes.
And if with such structuring and administration it is advisable to use elements of certain offshore regimes, these elements can and should be used.
Offshore, is a tool for tax planning and tax administration.
If this tool is used for its intended purpose, then it works great.
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Previous:
- " Errors of individualization "
- " Errors of disclosure "
Further:
- " Errors of authorship "
- "
— "Ошибки бюджетных денег"
— "Ошибки двойных технологий"
— " Ошибки токсичных" инвестиций"
— "Ошибки лицензий"
— "Ошибки позиционирования"
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АПДЕЙТ
Совершенно неожиданно тема оффшоров (на наш взгляд для начинающих компаний не такая уж и важная) вызвала повышенный интерес, и большое количество вопросов.
Из них стало понятно, главный меседж материала оказался не таким явным и ясным, как это исходно предполагалось.
Попробуем эту тему немного прояснить и пояснить.
The exclusion of the population and businessmen of the Russian Federation from inadequate local authorities and from the exercise by these authorities of their power to collect taxes and distribute the collected leads to massive withdrawal into the shadows, cash and offshore (which is understandable and fair), but in addition to the transfer of such an attitude to completely other, innocent countries and territories, which is already wrong and unreasonable.
In all generally recognized normal countries, taxes and fees are not a forced “ tribute ” to armed robbers, but a market-based payment for services.
With honest payment and the requirement to receive paid.
And when a businessman from the Russian Federation chooses a cheaper jurisdiction for his business , at best he gets exactly what he paid for.
In the real world, " freebies " - no and cannot be.
A product with a guarantee - is more expensive than a product without a guarantee, a product of a large and well-known brand - is more expensive than a similar noname product, a product in a large shopping center is more expensive than exactly the same (?) Hand-made goods in a dark subway passage.
Half of the global banking business, the entire world insurance business, and the entire market of credit default swaps - consist exclusively in the purchase / sale of guarantees.
The basis of business is trust in a partner.
The less confidence, the worse the terms of the transaction.
But for trust in partners with them, one must speak a language that they understand, and use generally accepted signs and designations.
The appearance of an offshore in ordinary business is a flashing light.
This is a clearly visible attention sign .
The sign itself is neither good nor bad; it is just a sign.
The tragedy of many businessmen from the Russian Federation entering the foreign market is that they put it on, but they themselves do not see it and behave as if it is not there.
This causes surprise and bewilderment among others.
This is the main mistake.
The use of offshore in itself is neither bad nor good, it is just a tool, but in what hands it is, skillful or crooked is another matter.
If from a site on anonymous hosting, for $ 2, broken software is sold that legally costs $ 2,000, then a flashing beacon means "all claims for quality - put yourself in the w. .. ".
Everybody sees this sign and understands it perfectly.
But this is not an offshore, it’s an ordinary trash, or even a trash, but in general it’s just an impersonal account on webmoney or paper.
And in this case there can be no checks, real cards, phone numbers or fixed IP.
Regarding the " cost " of the offshore. The
size of the registration fee and annual fee are those things that should never worry under any circumstances.
It's the same as choosing a clinic according to the even or an odd number of steps has its entrance
99.9% the cost of real offshore is the cost of the local staff + rent.
Only two numbers matter - the total cost of ownership of the company, and the total benefit of conducting through the company a specific type of business with specific partners.
Since there is only one network, there are no miracles in it, what are the fees, such is the service.
Regarding the size of " taxes ".
He doesn’t have any meaning.
If in abstract Singapore 5%, and in no less abstract Hong Kong 15%, then this does not mean anything.
If 5 were clearly less than 15, everyone would move from Hong Kong to Singapore in a month, and the question would close.
However, if such figures have stood at least five years ago, and no one has even moved, then the point is not in them.
AvtoVAZ - costs several times cheaper than Mercedes, well, so they are different, so they cost differently.
Only two numbers matter - the total cost of ownership of the company, and the total benefit of conducting through the company a specific type of business with specific partners.
All the rest is the wiring of offshore merchants (which, by the way, have nothing to do with the zones themselves).
Now directly to the original post.
He - goes as part of the series " Transfer Errors ", and for this reason considers all the phenomena (in this case, offshore) in the context of a positive / negative impact on this particular transfer.
We do this, look only from this point of view, and pay attention only to errors and mistakes in our direction.
If real estate professionals will write on this topic, they will write from a different, probably different position and their practice.
If people involved in divorce and inheritance distribution will write, with a third.
Those who work through the line of emigration - with the fourth.
Those who take people out for treatment are fifth.
Etc.
And from the point of view of bringing developments and businesses to the world market, this topic is clear and transparent.
For testing the market and demand, and for collecting $ 2 from the nose, anonymous, and strictly anonymous dumps, which then should disappear without a trace are quite acceptable.
And when it has already been decided to advance, it is necessary to build clean and fluffy companies from scratch, and build as close as possible to the first, most valuable customers, so that they simply could not have any unnecessary questions.
When a building is being built, large concrete blocks or even one monolithic slab should be laid at its base, then the stability of the structure is guaranteed.
If bales of straw are thrown as a foundation, then one need not be surprised when everything starts to stagger and fall.
Everything regarding taxes and especially offshore companies should be handled by the financial director of an already operating company, and even better by its auditors.
Any other " entry " into this topic is a mistake that is worth certain costs and losses.
The legal incorporation of a small IT company in the same USA costs less than an offshore in Hong Kong or Singapore, and in addition to the lack of questions, customers provide a bunch of additional bonuses and opportunities.
A wonderful American proverb says, " If you do not pay for a product or service, then you are the product ."
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" I would like to nevertheless hear in more detail about the reasons why they may block funds in the account . "
Any doubts of the payment operator (bank clerk, or the company’s nominal secretary) about the legality of the means or purposes of the payment.
He himself decides whether he has doubts or not.
Really - there can be anything, up to his desire to buy new sneakers.
He, unlike you, clearly sees that the offshore is left and anonymous, and no one for this $ 1K will ever come to his island, and his bosses are far away.
The most common reason is to receive a request of whatever Interpol is, and to suspend all operations similar to the one requested.
If the company is registered (not anonymous), clean, etc., then it has an actual non-nominal secretary on the island, and no one will touch it.
" It is planned to withdraw to the account in the offshore ~ $ 30-100k for several months in pieces ~ $ 7k each. What is better to do to be safe ?"
To be safe - from what?
If the company is anonymous, you can immediately forget about this money.
If not anonymous, then it is not clear what is planned to be done with this money later.
If they are supposed to be transferred to a Christian shelter in one payment, OK. - can slip through.
If not in a shelter, it is not clear how the recipient will explain from whom and for what he sent such a lot of money.
And he will have to explain it first of all to his bank.
$ 100K is very serious money.
Any companies registered in the USA are required to report all accounts with any banks without exception, if there is more than $ 10K accumulated there.
We need to talk with the final recipient, and ask him if he can accept such a payment.
"Но не могли бы вы, назвать более конкретные числа (налогов), при которых есть смысл открывать офшор. А также интересно: сколько все же стоить тратить на поддержку офшора, чтобы все были счастливы?"
Всё — элементарно.
Вам звонит финансовый директор вашей строго белой зарубежной фирмы, или ещё лучше аудитор, и говорит "а не сделать ли нам оффшор".
Все остальные варианты это — прямые потери.
"За морем телушка — полушка, да рубль перевоз"
Администрирование легального оффшора и транзакционные издержки на платежи и ведение бухгалтерии (вы — знаете сколько стоит бухгалтер в Гонконге?) — съедают любую экономию.
"Оффшор всегда надо подбирать под конкретный бизнесс."
Not even for a specific business, but for specific personal plans for the next minimum 10 years.
An offshore may not be required for your specific current business, but there may be some controversial issues with your spouse, or making a large acquisition, or - the desire to transfer the inheritance not through the tattered register of a notary flies-laden, especially if the inheritance is outside the Russian Federation.
Or, looking at the general situation - thoughts may appear to receive a pension from other sources.
Etc. etc.
This is a powerful and developed tool that can be used in different ways.
Mythical penny taxes are far from the most important thing.
"It turns out for small online projects, using offshore, completely loses its meaning. In any case, you will have to pay% of income (an average of 20%). Am I right in my reasoning ? "
Taxes are paid not from heightened honesty, but to legalize funds, that is, to enable their subsequent legal use.
For" small online projects "this is not relevant.
If you do an anonymous trash, then nothing to anyone except for registration fees you don’t pay.
You collect $ 2 from the nose, the limit of $ 1K is worth it.
Although it’s easier without offshore, just through anonymous accounts in payment systems.
"XI would like to clarify, 1k is, as I understand it, the costs of supporting the company itself - per month or per year? And also, what these funds are spent on (salary for the “director”, an accountant who hands over papers for us, etc.) . ”
This depends on which zone, which company, which turnover, what kind of service is provided.
Maybe a year, maybe a month.
Maybe in a week.
99.9% of the cost of offshore is the cost of the local staff + rent.
Count the hours of necessary work, multiply by the average salary in that place, estimate the necessary rent, and get an approximate order of numbers.
" I do not agree that offshore is not necessary. "
This was not mentioned.
And it is possible and necessary.
You just need to apply it correctly and competently.
" Offshore is not always useful, and it’s better to work cleanly through a Western company ."
Of course not always.
This is just a tool.
It is profitable to work through your Western company only with volumes of cost-recovery.
" what to do if some confusion is possible from the grandees of the software business regarding licenses, and the payments themselves from end users will be $ 2..5 ."
All such penny payments - it is better to do on anonymous accounts.
Especially if there is a misunderstanding.
" Do we understand correctly that even if the owner of the business is clear, then there will also be no personal lawsuit against him ?"
A personal lawsuit costs money.
If there is no prospect of receiving reimbursement of expenses for the court, there will be no court.
But the funds in the accounts - can be arrested, and for their return - he himself will have to go to court.
And on a personal basis - for example, they can not issue a visa, or upon arrival, cancel it.
"the author confuses the absence of taxes when registering in island territories like Seychelles, Belize, etc. when operating outside these territories (the same mythical and real 0%) with tax optimization ."
No, it doesn’t confuse.
Optimization - consists in accounting for all expenses, including taxes, and registration fees, and the costs of optimization itself (the hour of work of auditors and tax lawyers - costs more than the registration fee, and normal consultation on opening and using an offshore company - costs 2- 3 times more expensive than the very opening of such a company).
Not to mention the correction of errors and the analysis of controversial situations, and especially the courts with tax authorities.
Concerning the " activity outside these territories " the question is complex.
The practice of applying the rules of " long arms " and " gathering at the source " shows that here you can get into unpleasant situations.
Unpleasant doubly in case of accrual of fines, and triple - in the case of claims not Belize offshore, but the real company of the partner.
We are not involved in the sale of offshore companies; moreover, we are not involved in tax optimization either; this is not our area.
We are engaged in the sale of developments and businesses, and as part of this activity - the analysis of stocks and mistakes, the sale of interfering.
And practice shows that in 99.99% no offshore is needed for sale.
If they exist, and their content spent from $ 10K per year (not taxes, but net expenses), then such an offshore business does not interfere with sales (however, it does not help), but if it was spent less then sales often may not be at all.
"the main question is which bank your money will be in "
It just does not matter.
They can generally lie in cash in a suitcase under the bed.
The most important question is to what account customers will pay you, and from what you will pay partners.
Therefore, it was written that it is optimal to have a bank account of the main / first customer so that the payment does not even leave the bank.
If your account in the left bank is not a single normal partner will transfer $ 1 there.
" Offshore is much easier to squeeze out and it will be absolutely legal ."
Anonymous offshore is easier, but you don’t need to squeeze it out, just wrote and stamped and that's it.
Legal clean - it’s already more difficult, you need to steal keys and passwords.
Although the local island secretary can do everything without keys.
It all depends on who you run into.
After all, when you find out that you have accumulated $ 100K that you don’t need, or you put a shopping center in a distant RF on an offshore, to your offshore - you can simply file a lawsuit, which you are from a distant RF, without any theft — you simply cannot beat off without loss, or the repulsion of which will cost you $ 150K.
Therefore, it is said that the cash desk in such places is drained at a limit of $ 1K.
Anything higher is at your own risk.
" you have to choose a jurisdiction with a minimum corporate tax / dividend tax, for example Latvia with its 15% / 10%, then any bank will be glad to open an account for you, your legal entity will be white and fluffy, and your sleep will be calm. "
As an option. (but not for work with the USA)
Latvia is not an offshore, but a member of the EU, with all the rattles due.
And it is close and completely Russian-speaking.
When working with Europe - quite convenient.
Although companies in Cologne or Paris will raise even less questions.
" but paying taxes or not paying taxes at your place of residence (like an individual) is a completely different story. " The
repatriation of profits is really a completely different matter, but if the work goes not through an anonymous offshore, but through a white company, such a white company allows greatly facilitate the use of honestly earned funds.
"Many companies offer to register an offshore as a fake person, while the owner of the offshore is given a card and access to Internet banking. Is it worth considering such an option for an “one-day” offshore or is this option identical to the case with an anonymous account? “An
offshore one-day account or an anonymous account is yours, and no one knows about them except you and the operator on the islands (well, the one who helped you to make them).
And a corporate card is a communal apartment when someone does an offshore on themselves- one-day operation, and then it starts up a hundred accounts and cards, or sometimes even one account, and a hundred sub-accounts. (By purchasing an unnecessary offshore you can do it yourself and pay for it)
For a revolving transfer of payments of $ 10 - $ 50, this is a completely normal option. They always die suddenly.
"Here are the specifics ... "
At the present time it is very simple.
Go through the list of the main so-called" offshore "zones, put them on the map, go through the history of these zones, there are enough circumstances for them to become independent.
And the whole picture will appear before you which the sun still never sets. (although on the other hand, it is the presence of a single owner that ensures the absence of competition between the zones (some graze the merchant fleet, others diamonds, others - banks, etc., no one takes customers away from each other ), and most importantly - clear and b Uninterrupted operation of the entire system 24/7/365)
Therefore, the issue of anonymity is a binary, or a completely depersonalized dump with a limit of $ 1K, or a completely clean and fluffy structure with real names.
There is no middle ground.
On the world market, they all know this very well, and expect the same knowledge from their partners.
The losses are all the more offensive, given that these errors are repeatedly described and analyzed in dozens of open and public sources.
Without pretending to be novelty and exclusivity in any way, we will try to collect in this series of posts a dozen of the most common, obvious and relatively easily avoided errors, the elimination of which greatly increases the chances of success.
For convenience, error descriptions will be sorted by increasing complexity.
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" Offshore errors "
INTRODUCTION
For a correct understanding of the topic, it is necessary make a small introduction.
The fact is that in Russia under the name “ offshore ” they often mean poor island natives, who are photographed naked with visiting tourists for two dollars, and for glass beads, agave juice they print on palm leaves.
This idea was formed due to the fact that in many offshore zones registration fees and annual validation are less than the cost of a tourist trip to these places, and registration itself is supposedly not burdensome, supposedly does not require any materials and documents, and supposedly not carries no consequences.
However, this has nothing to do with the real state of affairs.
Offshore zones are one of the main instruments of the global financial system, and such zones in the world are much smaller than countries possessing nuclear weapons.
(it’s really one in general, but this is a separate conversation)
The fact is that within the framework of Western public democracies all state bodies and institutions are constantly under the sword of Damocles of possible lawsuits, parliamentary investigations and other similar troubles.
But for effective work, tools are often necessary that are formally unrelated to the state, not accountable to it, and not controlled by anyone.
In addition, in addition to state bodies, there are other, and often much larger and more influential participants in the global financial system, with significant capital, the connection of which, and especially the dependence of which on a particular state, is rather arbitrary.
These are multinational companies, non-public banking associations, possessive and magnificent royal houses and other " oligarchs ".
They all need tools that are outside the scope of traditional state and even international control.
So, for the " basing " of such formally independent and uncontrolled forces and instruments from anyone - international offshore zones have been created.
These zones are the main “ hubs ” of world markets for currency, gold, oil, government treasury bonds, credit default swaps, secondary mortgages and reinsurance pools, large blocks of shares of major world companies, trading sea and passenger air fleets, etc. etc.
The combined turnover of the Caribbean and Virgin offshores is much larger than the GDP of the United States, Europe and China combined.
The mere turnover of dollar derivatives, most of which goes through offshore companies, draws more than a quadrillion dollars ($ 1,000,000,000,000,000).
There are no aborigines, natives and glass beads there.
Moreover, to suppress the creeps of real Aborigines and natives in their desire to do "the same" - the International Anti-Money Laundering Group (FATF) has been specially created, which quickly and painfully cures any attempts to even just look in this direction.
In a crisis, various discussions occasionally arise between shareholders, and then events happen such as the cancellation of anonymous accounts in Switzerland, the collective renunciation of US citizenship by billionaires, or the largest European bank moving to Hong Kong.
But this is all a purely family showdown (family - often in the literal sense).
However, for a number of reasons, the procedure for entering and incorporating into these zones has been made open to any, even quite microscopic, third-party businesses.
Why should shareholders allow outsiders and collect ridiculous $ 500 of registration fees at quadrillion turns, this is a long conversation, for this presentation it’s enough to know that ease of entry is deceptive and fraught with serious dangers, but with accurate and correct work, even small Russian IT businesses may well nip off a little from this holiday of life.
It is only necessary to soberly and clearly understand the basic principles and not make obvious mistakes.
Mistake # 1
The most common mistake of Russian technology entrepreneurs starting to use offshore is ... using offshore.
For external users, offshore is a complex, developed and, as a result, not very cheap (if used correctly) tool for tax PLANNING and tax ADMINISTRATION.
Accordingly, the necessity, appropriateness and appropriateness of its use requires two components:
1. Taxes - either already paid, or expected to be
paid 2. Taxes paid, or expected to be paid MUCH
If taxes are not expected to be paid, a planning and administration tool for such payment is not needed at least .
If it is supposed to pay taxes, but these taxes will not be very much, the costs of using a complex and developed tool will significantly exceed the savings received from its use.
The specificity of this mistake lies in the fact that the offshore being slipped into the transaction is visible per kilometer, and the other side of the transaction immediately raises the fair question of why this offshore is needed there.
In all developed countries, the issues of taxes and money laundering are very serious and sensitive, and any unusual or absurdity greatly complicates the deal.
When a small developer from the Russian Federation sells utility for $ 10K to a buyer from the USA, where the address often starts right away with the two-letter state code, and the buyer sees “ Cyprus ” in the contract and the account in the parex bank, he will immediately have a fair question what is Cyprus, and who is a parex bank.
If the transaction is voluminous, multi-way and requires developed structuring and tax optimization, the parties can always calmly and jointly think about its implementation and without any offshore choose the most optimal schemes for all participants.
The shove of offshore purchased on the occasion of all transactions indicates, firstly, disrespect for other parties to the transactions, and secondly, a lack of understanding of the meaning of offshore.
Mistake No. 2
The second mistake in relation to the first is a mirror one, and consists of not using offshore companies wherever possible and moreover, is necessary.
If an online toy is sold for $ 2, and most buyers pay for the purchase from their accounts in online payment systems, it does not make sense to substitute their pure details and real data in the transaction.
Moreover, if such a sale is not entirely pure, for example, in terms of copyright, guarantees, restrictions, prohibitions, or subsequent taxes.
In this case, it is completely justified and even advisable to substitute an anonymous trash dummy created or bought in an offshore for the transaction.
Error No. 3
This error is the reverse side of error No. 2.
All offshore jurisdictions have information exchange agreements with all major countries.
All payment transactions of all payment systems, as well as most electronic messages, are always and unconditionally documented and stored for unlimited time.
In recent years, all previously disparate databases of dissimilar documents are combined into a single pass-through system, and if an online toy was sold for $ 2, an email address was specified, which two years later was indicated as the technical support address for the utility that was distributed from a certain The IP address, which two years later was used to send an online payment via the bank-client system, with confirmation from the phone with the IMEI code, which is ......, then all this data will be brought together and connected to it - Sun will be added other data, including profiles of social networks, SMS, name, etc.
And not the fact that collecting all this data in one place, and even more so, correlating them with each other (and this is done automatically) will give the heroes of the description great joy.
This mistake is handled by the old Soviet rule " Worked - take away the workplace ."
The benefit is the cost of simple phones, new sim cards, Wi-Fi adapters, subscription boxes, etc. Compared to possible troubles, they are simply ridiculous.
No fingerprints should be left when using offshore.
Error No. 4
This error is a continuation of error No. 3, loops a short series of errors, and approaches error No. 1 on the other hand, and already at a higher level.
Anonymous work around error # 3 is a short business.
The entrepreneur does not pay any taxes and fees, but firstly, he is at great risk.
When buying " finished" оффшора, или оффшора с лично ему неизвестными номинальными операторами-секретарями а тем более директорами и акционерами, или оффшора с акциями на предъявителя, весь его бизнес может исчезнуть мгновенно, поэтому сливать кассу необходимо по достижении лимита $1К, что далеко не всегда удобно.
Дело не в злокозненности Карибских или Виргинских островитян, а в том, что при малейшем подозрении, или даже просто раздражении, они могут просто арестовать средства на счетах, и любезно попросить прислать исчерпывающее подтверждение легальности средств и операций, что при анонимном владении или модной в РФ покупке готовых оффшоров "под ключ" будет означать потерю всех средств.
Более того, несмотря на всю показную "анонимность", for all offshore jurisdictions, there is a" long-hand rule "according to which the authorities of any country can recognize any activity as organized specifically to reduce taxes and recalculate taxes as they see fit.
In addition, as mentioned in the introduction, offshores are made exclusively for servicing extra-large and often anonymous operations in global financial, currency, derivatives, oil, gold, etc.
If a visitor arriving at the islands establishes a quiet banking, investment, insurance Holding, financial, shipping or aviation businesses, especially legal businesses, they assist him, since all these businesses bring islands small, but guaranteed, and most importantly quiet profits.
However, when sock dealers from the Cherkizovsky market begin to abuse the kindness of the owners, and drive thousands of payments of $ 5 from stolen credit cards, the islanders' patience may come to an end and they can turn off the light without any warning or even comment.
This is not a joke, but a harsh reality.
So firstly, this is a risk.
And secondly, without paying any taxes, an entrepreneur often deprives himself of quite interesting opportunities.
As stated in the description of error No. 1, offshore, this is a developed tool for tax planning and tax administration.
However, very often, with detailed planning of expenses and profits, it turns out that a clean and legal payment of completely non-burdensome (especially in the initial period of business) payments allows you to get a " much more valuable fur " than saving cheap (especially in the first year) taxes.
This will allow you to get as close to potential buyers as possible by opening an office in their state and city and an account in their bank, which can greatly facilitate the conclusion of the first, most important transactions.
All legal payments may be charged to the costs of doing business, which will then allow you to receive numerous benefits and deductions.
Phone bills, pizza checks, hotel bills, airline tickets, contracts, letters, faxes, DHL, FE receipts, souvenir pens, lighters, etc., which in the case of an offshore, will be impossible.
Legally incorporated, the company immediately receives local status, and as a result - access to all municipal and federal tenders and orders, and to all support programs, of which there are many.
The company immediately opens up great opportunities for lending and attracting portfolio and venture investments, which is impossible in the case of an offshore.
The company immediately acquires the possibility of real estate transactions, which is either impossible or most difficult for an offshore company.
Naturally, with all loans, tenders, ventures and major transactions, due diligence will be carried out, and all the dirty laundry described earlier in “ Error No. 3 ” will pop up and crawl out.
But if cleanliness and order in the workplace are strictly observed, no problems should arise.
In addition to material profits, legal incorporation has other possibilities.
Even if it’s a very small but working company, it immediately gets the possibility of visa support, which otherwise would cost much more, and a year after the start of work, the owner of even a tiny business can initiate a permanent residence.
At the same time, staff can be decorated in hundreds of different ways, optimal for each specific situation.
You can even try to get an SSN (Social Security Number), and get medical insurance and a pension that is much more real than from local fursenki almost for free.
Moreover, the range of possibilities is infinitely wide.
A foreign company can be a “single” (by itself), it can be a subsidiary of Russia, it can be parental to Russia, it can be a Russian representative office, or vice versa, a Russian company can be a foreign representative office in the Russian Federation (it is not a legal entity, it does not pay income tax and property tax).
They can conduct joint activities with the separation of profits and losses, etc.
For an IT business in which the dependence on material equipment and real estate is minimal, any structuring and administration of the business can be done completely legally.
As a matter of fact, almost all well-known Russian IT companies work precisely on such schemes.
And if with such structuring and administration it is advisable to use elements of certain offshore regimes, these elements can and should be used.
Offshore, is a tool for tax planning and tax administration.
If this tool is used for its intended purpose, then it works great.
================================================
Previous:
- " Errors of individualization "
- " Errors of disclosure "
Further:
- " Errors of authorship "
- "
— "Ошибки бюджетных денег"
— "Ошибки двойных технологий"
— " Ошибки токсичных" инвестиций"
— "Ошибки лицензий"
— "Ошибки позиционирования"
=========================================
АПДЕЙТ
Совершенно неожиданно тема оффшоров (на наш взгляд для начинающих компаний не такая уж и важная) вызвала повышенный интерес, и большое количество вопросов.
Из них стало понятно, главный меседж материала оказался не таким явным и ясным, как это исходно предполагалось.
Попробуем эту тему немного прояснить и пояснить.
The exclusion of the population and businessmen of the Russian Federation from inadequate local authorities and from the exercise by these authorities of their power to collect taxes and distribute the collected leads to massive withdrawal into the shadows, cash and offshore (which is understandable and fair), but in addition to the transfer of such an attitude to completely other, innocent countries and territories, which is already wrong and unreasonable.
In all generally recognized normal countries, taxes and fees are not a forced “ tribute ” to armed robbers, but a market-based payment for services.
With honest payment and the requirement to receive paid.
And when a businessman from the Russian Federation chooses a cheaper jurisdiction for his business , at best he gets exactly what he paid for.
In the real world, " freebies " - no and cannot be.
A product with a guarantee - is more expensive than a product without a guarantee, a product of a large and well-known brand - is more expensive than a similar noname product, a product in a large shopping center is more expensive than exactly the same (?) Hand-made goods in a dark subway passage.
Half of the global banking business, the entire world insurance business, and the entire market of credit default swaps - consist exclusively in the purchase / sale of guarantees.
The basis of business is trust in a partner.
The less confidence, the worse the terms of the transaction.
But for trust in partners with them, one must speak a language that they understand, and use generally accepted signs and designations.
The appearance of an offshore in ordinary business is a flashing light.
This is a clearly visible attention sign .
The sign itself is neither good nor bad; it is just a sign.
The tragedy of many businessmen from the Russian Federation entering the foreign market is that they put it on, but they themselves do not see it and behave as if it is not there.
This causes surprise and bewilderment among others.
This is the main mistake.
The use of offshore in itself is neither bad nor good, it is just a tool, but in what hands it is, skillful or crooked is another matter.
If from a site on anonymous hosting, for $ 2, broken software is sold that legally costs $ 2,000, then a flashing beacon means "all claims for quality - put yourself in the w. .. ".
Everybody sees this sign and understands it perfectly.
But this is not an offshore, it’s an ordinary trash, or even a trash, but in general it’s just an impersonal account on webmoney or paper.
And in this case there can be no checks, real cards, phone numbers or fixed IP.
Regarding the " cost " of the offshore. The
size of the registration fee and annual fee are those things that should never worry under any circumstances.
It's the same as choosing a clinic according to the even or an odd number of steps has its entrance
99.9% the cost of real offshore is the cost of the local staff + rent.
Only two numbers matter - the total cost of ownership of the company, and the total benefit of conducting through the company a specific type of business with specific partners.
Since there is only one network, there are no miracles in it, what are the fees, such is the service.
Regarding the size of " taxes ".
He doesn’t have any meaning.
If in abstract Singapore 5%, and in no less abstract Hong Kong 15%, then this does not mean anything.
If 5 were clearly less than 15, everyone would move from Hong Kong to Singapore in a month, and the question would close.
However, if such figures have stood at least five years ago, and no one has even moved, then the point is not in them.
AvtoVAZ - costs several times cheaper than Mercedes, well, so they are different, so they cost differently.
Only two numbers matter - the total cost of ownership of the company, and the total benefit of conducting through the company a specific type of business with specific partners.
All the rest is the wiring of offshore merchants (which, by the way, have nothing to do with the zones themselves).
Now directly to the original post.
He - goes as part of the series " Transfer Errors ", and for this reason considers all the phenomena (in this case, offshore) in the context of a positive / negative impact on this particular transfer.
We do this, look only from this point of view, and pay attention only to errors and mistakes in our direction.
If real estate professionals will write on this topic, they will write from a different, probably different position and their practice.
If people involved in divorce and inheritance distribution will write, with a third.
Those who work through the line of emigration - with the fourth.
Those who take people out for treatment are fifth.
Etc.
And from the point of view of bringing developments and businesses to the world market, this topic is clear and transparent.
For testing the market and demand, and for collecting $ 2 from the nose, anonymous, and strictly anonymous dumps, which then should disappear without a trace are quite acceptable.
And when it has already been decided to advance, it is necessary to build clean and fluffy companies from scratch, and build as close as possible to the first, most valuable customers, so that they simply could not have any unnecessary questions.
When a building is being built, large concrete blocks or even one monolithic slab should be laid at its base, then the stability of the structure is guaranteed.
If bales of straw are thrown as a foundation, then one need not be surprised when everything starts to stagger and fall.
Everything regarding taxes and especially offshore companies should be handled by the financial director of an already operating company, and even better by its auditors.
Any other " entry " into this topic is a mistake that is worth certain costs and losses.
The legal incorporation of a small IT company in the same USA costs less than an offshore in Hong Kong or Singapore, and in addition to the lack of questions, customers provide a bunch of additional bonuses and opportunities.
A wonderful American proverb says, " If you do not pay for a product or service, then you are the product ."
=================================
" I would like to nevertheless hear in more detail about the reasons why they may block funds in the account . "
Any doubts of the payment operator (bank clerk, or the company’s nominal secretary) about the legality of the means or purposes of the payment.
He himself decides whether he has doubts or not.
Really - there can be anything, up to his desire to buy new sneakers.
He, unlike you, clearly sees that the offshore is left and anonymous, and no one for this $ 1K will ever come to his island, and his bosses are far away.
The most common reason is to receive a request of whatever Interpol is, and to suspend all operations similar to the one requested.
If the company is registered (not anonymous), clean, etc., then it has an actual non-nominal secretary on the island, and no one will touch it.
" It is planned to withdraw to the account in the offshore ~ $ 30-100k for several months in pieces ~ $ 7k each. What is better to do to be safe ?"
To be safe - from what?
If the company is anonymous, you can immediately forget about this money.
If not anonymous, then it is not clear what is planned to be done with this money later.
If they are supposed to be transferred to a Christian shelter in one payment, OK. - can slip through.
If not in a shelter, it is not clear how the recipient will explain from whom and for what he sent such a lot of money.
And he will have to explain it first of all to his bank.
$ 100K is very serious money.
Any companies registered in the USA are required to report all accounts with any banks without exception, if there is more than $ 10K accumulated there.
We need to talk with the final recipient, and ask him if he can accept such a payment.
"Но не могли бы вы, назвать более конкретные числа (налогов), при которых есть смысл открывать офшор. А также интересно: сколько все же стоить тратить на поддержку офшора, чтобы все были счастливы?"
Всё — элементарно.
Вам звонит финансовый директор вашей строго белой зарубежной фирмы, или ещё лучше аудитор, и говорит "а не сделать ли нам оффшор".
Все остальные варианты это — прямые потери.
"За морем телушка — полушка, да рубль перевоз"
Администрирование легального оффшора и транзакционные издержки на платежи и ведение бухгалтерии (вы — знаете сколько стоит бухгалтер в Гонконге?) — съедают любую экономию.
"Оффшор всегда надо подбирать под конкретный бизнесс."
Not even for a specific business, but for specific personal plans for the next minimum 10 years.
An offshore may not be required for your specific current business, but there may be some controversial issues with your spouse, or making a large acquisition, or - the desire to transfer the inheritance not through the tattered register of a notary flies-laden, especially if the inheritance is outside the Russian Federation.
Or, looking at the general situation - thoughts may appear to receive a pension from other sources.
Etc. etc.
This is a powerful and developed tool that can be used in different ways.
Mythical penny taxes are far from the most important thing.
"It turns out for small online projects, using offshore, completely loses its meaning. In any case, you will have to pay% of income (an average of 20%). Am I right in my reasoning ? "
Taxes are paid not from heightened honesty, but to legalize funds, that is, to enable their subsequent legal use.
For" small online projects "this is not relevant.
If you do an anonymous trash, then nothing to anyone except for registration fees you don’t pay.
You collect $ 2 from the nose, the limit of $ 1K is worth it.
Although it’s easier without offshore, just through anonymous accounts in payment systems.
"XI would like to clarify, 1k is, as I understand it, the costs of supporting the company itself - per month or per year? And also, what these funds are spent on (salary for the “director”, an accountant who hands over papers for us, etc.) . ”
This depends on which zone, which company, which turnover, what kind of service is provided.
Maybe a year, maybe a month.
Maybe in a week.
99.9% of the cost of offshore is the cost of the local staff + rent.
Count the hours of necessary work, multiply by the average salary in that place, estimate the necessary rent, and get an approximate order of numbers.
" I do not agree that offshore is not necessary. "
This was not mentioned.
And it is possible and necessary.
You just need to apply it correctly and competently.
" Offshore is not always useful, and it’s better to work cleanly through a Western company ."
Of course not always.
This is just a tool.
It is profitable to work through your Western company only with volumes of cost-recovery.
" what to do if some confusion is possible from the grandees of the software business regarding licenses, and the payments themselves from end users will be $ 2..5 ."
All such penny payments - it is better to do on anonymous accounts.
Especially if there is a misunderstanding.
" Do we understand correctly that even if the owner of the business is clear, then there will also be no personal lawsuit against him ?"
A personal lawsuit costs money.
If there is no prospect of receiving reimbursement of expenses for the court, there will be no court.
But the funds in the accounts - can be arrested, and for their return - he himself will have to go to court.
And on a personal basis - for example, they can not issue a visa, or upon arrival, cancel it.
"the author confuses the absence of taxes when registering in island territories like Seychelles, Belize, etc. when operating outside these territories (the same mythical and real 0%) with tax optimization ."
No, it doesn’t confuse.
Optimization - consists in accounting for all expenses, including taxes, and registration fees, and the costs of optimization itself (the hour of work of auditors and tax lawyers - costs more than the registration fee, and normal consultation on opening and using an offshore company - costs 2- 3 times more expensive than the very opening of such a company).
Not to mention the correction of errors and the analysis of controversial situations, and especially the courts with tax authorities.
Concerning the " activity outside these territories " the question is complex.
The practice of applying the rules of " long arms " and " gathering at the source " shows that here you can get into unpleasant situations.
Unpleasant doubly in case of accrual of fines, and triple - in the case of claims not Belize offshore, but the real company of the partner.
We are not involved in the sale of offshore companies; moreover, we are not involved in tax optimization either; this is not our area.
We are engaged in the sale of developments and businesses, and as part of this activity - the analysis of stocks and mistakes, the sale of interfering.
And practice shows that in 99.99% no offshore is needed for sale.
If they exist, and their content spent from $ 10K per year (not taxes, but net expenses), then such an offshore business does not interfere with sales (however, it does not help), but if it was spent less then sales often may not be at all.
"the main question is which bank your money will be in "
It just does not matter.
They can generally lie in cash in a suitcase under the bed.
The most important question is to what account customers will pay you, and from what you will pay partners.
Therefore, it was written that it is optimal to have a bank account of the main / first customer so that the payment does not even leave the bank.
If your account in the left bank is not a single normal partner will transfer $ 1 there.
" Offshore is much easier to squeeze out and it will be absolutely legal ."
Anonymous offshore is easier, but you don’t need to squeeze it out, just wrote and stamped and that's it.
Legal clean - it’s already more difficult, you need to steal keys and passwords.
Although the local island secretary can do everything without keys.
It all depends on who you run into.
After all, when you find out that you have accumulated $ 100K that you don’t need, or you put a shopping center in a distant RF on an offshore, to your offshore - you can simply file a lawsuit, which you are from a distant RF, without any theft — you simply cannot beat off without loss, or the repulsion of which will cost you $ 150K.
Therefore, it is said that the cash desk in such places is drained at a limit of $ 1K.
Anything higher is at your own risk.
" you have to choose a jurisdiction with a minimum corporate tax / dividend tax, for example Latvia with its 15% / 10%, then any bank will be glad to open an account for you, your legal entity will be white and fluffy, and your sleep will be calm. "
As an option. (but not for work with the USA)
Latvia is not an offshore, but a member of the EU, with all the rattles due.
And it is close and completely Russian-speaking.
When working with Europe - quite convenient.
Although companies in Cologne or Paris will raise even less questions.
" but paying taxes or not paying taxes at your place of residence (like an individual) is a completely different story. " The
repatriation of profits is really a completely different matter, but if the work goes not through an anonymous offshore, but through a white company, such a white company allows greatly facilitate the use of honestly earned funds.
"Many companies offer to register an offshore as a fake person, while the owner of the offshore is given a card and access to Internet banking. Is it worth considering such an option for an “one-day” offshore or is this option identical to the case with an anonymous account? “An
offshore one-day account or an anonymous account is yours, and no one knows about them except you and the operator on the islands (well, the one who helped you to make them).
And a corporate card is a communal apartment when someone does an offshore on themselves- one-day operation, and then it starts up a hundred accounts and cards, or sometimes even one account, and a hundred sub-accounts. (By purchasing an unnecessary offshore you can do it yourself and pay for it)
For a revolving transfer of payments of $ 10 - $ 50, this is a completely normal option. They always die suddenly.
"Here are the specifics ... "
At the present time it is very simple.
Go through the list of the main so-called" offshore "zones, put them on the map, go through the history of these zones, there are enough circumstances for them to become independent.
And the whole picture will appear before you which the sun still never sets. (although on the other hand, it is the presence of a single owner that ensures the absence of competition between the zones (some graze the merchant fleet, others diamonds, others - banks, etc., no one takes customers away from each other ), and most importantly - clear and b Uninterrupted operation of the entire system 24/7/365)
Therefore, the issue of anonymity is a binary, or a completely depersonalized dump with a limit of $ 1K, or a completely clean and fluffy structure with real names.
There is no middle ground.
On the world market, they all know this very well, and expect the same knowledge from their partners.