Offshore Tax Planning, Tax Incentives, and Guides for Expats

Offshore Tax Planning, Tax Incentives, and Guides for Expats Need a little extra advice on how to get strategic with offshore tax planning? By becoming non UK resident or moving your assets offshore it is possible to snip your tax bill to zero. However, there are also many pitfalls to avoid.

Non-Resident & Offshore Tax Planning is a useful option for anyone who:

Anyone wanting to become non-resident to avoid UK income tax and capital gains tax.
Foreign nationals (non-domiciles) who want to make the most of their special tax status.
Anyone interested in using offshore trusts and companies to pay less tax.
Anyone living or working abroad.

However, if you are considering this be warned! The UK's offshore fund tax rules are changing. Subject to the outcome of a final consultation, with effect from 1 October 2009, offshore funds will be able to elect for 'reporting-fund' status. This will be of major importance in enabling UK-resident investors in offshore funds to attain favourable capital gains tax (CGT) treatment for their investment in such offshore funds. It should provide a less intrusive certification process and greater certainty for funds and their investors.

Under the existing regime, unless an offshore fund is certified by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as a distributing fund, UK investors will be subject to income tax rather than CGT on any gain arising from the disposal of their interests in the fund. Since the current highest marginal rate of income tax of 40% is significantly higher than the flat CGT rate of 18%, obtaining distributing-fund status is of utmost importance to most UK individual investors. This significance will increase further in future if the Government's plan to increase the highest marginal income tax rate to 45% with effect from 6 April 2011 is implemented.

A Taxing Fundamentalism

Friday, 29 May 2009 13:41

International investment centre are not an appropriate target for the Government, argues the Chief Executive of Jersey Finance

by Geoff Cook

Many commentators have observed that the April G20 London summit delivered more form than substance, but at least achieved a consensus. Obama clearly excelled at playing the role of mediator; critically with China. Sarkozy and Merkel will feel they have secured a commitment to tough regulation, and Brown may well have seen the event as the pinnacle of his political career.

Weapons of tax destruction?

Written by Geoff Cook, Chief Executive of Jersey Finance
Thursday, 26 March 2009 15:25
Investment International blog Geoff Cook, Chief Executive of Jersey Finance, robustly defends the island’s regulatory regime The recent G20 Preparatory Summit in Berlin has added further to intense media speculation over measures to be taken against ‘Tax Havens’. ‘Tax Haven’ now competes with ‘Bank’ as the pejorative label of choice deployed by politicians and journalists alike. Read more...

Close up on the Far East

Friday, 24 April 2009 12:11

China and neighbouring countries have certainly not remained immune to the recession

by Jean-Charles Sambor, Senior Vice President of Emerging Markets Research and member of SGAM’s Strategy and Economic Research team, Société Générale

In 2008, we had three strong convictions regarding Asia markets: (i) Asian exports would tumble; (ii) the Asian equities decoupling story was a myth; and (iii) Asian inflation was temporarily being driven by soaring commodities prices but would have to go down significantly. In 2009, we expect that