SEYCHELLES TAX HAVEN
Seychelles Tax Haven – Seychelles IBC
KGN Services specializes in Seychelles company registration and opening bank accounts.
Seychelles Tax Haven – Overview
The Seychelles is an archipelago that is located in the Indian Ocean to the east of Africa. In 1994, this island nation passed legislation known as the International Business Companies Act. This created a system for offshore companies to be formed on the Seychelles. These International Business Companies, known more commonly as IBCs, allow foreign individuals and companies to form a limited liability corporation on the Seychelles with all of the powers of a natural person. All of this with zero corporate tax and strong privacy provisions.
Features of a Seychelles Tax Haven
Strong Protections Against Disclosure of Information
The ultimate reasons for forming a Seychelles IBC can be quite varied. However, most parties share one thing in common in forming one, they want and expect high levels of privacy and absolute confidentiality. A Seychelles tax haven offers one of the highest degrees of privacy. At no time are the identities of the beneficial owners, directors or shareholders ever made public. In the Seychelles, the public registration records for a Seychelles IBC are recorded by the Registrar of Companies. When forming a Seychelles IBC, the only information that is kept by this registrar is the name and address of the registered agent, the Memorandum of Association and the Articles of Association. The names of the shareholders and directors are only kept by the registered agent. The registered agent is retained by you to receive notifications. The registered agent is a third-party that has no direct connection to the Registrar of Companies. Any documentation held in their care is treated as confidential to you and cannot be revealed to anyone. The laws regarding the release of such information by a registered agent are very tight.
The Seychelles are not party to any double taxation treaty with any other country. They are also not party to the European Union Savings Tax Directive. This makes it very difficult, some would say impossible, for a Seychelles IBC in legitimate operation to ever have their information shared with a foreign government or institution.
This makes the Seychelles tax haven one of the tax havens with the tightest level of privacy in the world.
A Seychelles Tax Haven is Truly Tax-Free
The fundamental element of a tax haven is minimizing the tax burden. A Seychelles IBC is not responsible for any tax on earnings of any kind. These include profits, dividends and capital gains. Even when property is transferred by the Seychelles IBC no stamp duty is incurred. It is truly a tax-free entity.
All that is required to maintain this tax-free status is for the Seychelles IBC not to own real estate in the Seychelles and for it not to conduct business within the country. Aside form that, the only other limitation is that the Seychelles IBC may not engage in banking or insurance related business operations without an accredited license for those activities. This means that for the vast majority of individuals and companies seeking tax relief, a Seychelles tax haven is open to them.
A Seychelles Tax Haven is More Accommodating Than Other Tax Havens
The three restrictions mentioned above are literally the only requisites imposed by the government of the Seychelles. Unlike other tax havens that often impose other limitations and restrictions, a Seychelles tax haven is free to engage in the following activities:
- Company records and accounting ledgers can be kept either on Seychelles territory or abroad
- It can open bank accounts on the Seychelles or abroad
- Accounting, legal and investment consulting services located on the Seychelles can be retained
- Office space for executive level communication and record keeping can be leased on Seychelles territory
- It can own an airplane or boating vessel even if it were to be registered in the Seychelles. Many other tax havens require such vessels to be registered in another jurisdiction
- It can own shares or debt obligations in another Seychelles IBC or domestic Seychelles corporation
- Director meetings, while not required by statute, may be held either abroad or on Seychelles territory
- Shareholders of a Seychelles IBC can be residents of the Seychelles. Nearly every other tax haven prohibits residents of their jurisdiction from owning a Seychelles IBC. The Seychelles is an exception.
Powerful Anti-Confiscation Provisions with a Seychelles Tax Haven
Along with tax mitigation and privacy, another important purpose of a Seychelles tax haven is to offer solid asset protection. In this regard the Seychelles court system offers a powerful defense against liens and confiscation of a Seychelles IBC’s assets. The Seychelles courts basically preclude any foreign government authority from ever seizing any share or asset of a Seychelles tax haven.
This level of sanctioned protection safeguards an IBC’s assets against creditors, lawsuits, inheritance claims and even from confiscatory divorce settlements. Plainly stated, a Seychelles tax haven is a solid shield against confiscation.
Effective Uses For a Seychelles Tax Haven
Now that the main features of a Seychelles tax haven are known, it is easier to see how such an entity can be of immense support in a variety of circumstances.
Business Operations Through a Seychelles Tax Haven
The absence of any tax on earnings makes a Seychelles IBC ideal for a company wanting to mitigate its exposure to such taxes in their home jurisdictions. Since a Seychelles IBC can engage in any commercial or trade transaction with any company or individual outside of the Seychelles, it can process any type of transaction and any earnings generated from such business activity would be entirely tax-free. This works exceptionally well for service related businesses. It can also work well for independent consultants and freelancers.
Investing and Trading With a Seychelles Tax haven
The Seychelles does not apply a capital gains or trading tax on an IBC. Provided that the Seychelles IBC is trading or investing its own money and not managing a fund for other parties, it is an ideal vehicle for eliminating all taxes that are levied on capital gains and dividends in other jurisdictions.
Safeguarding Intellectual Property Using a Seychelles Tax Haven
Intellectual property, just like any other asset, can be owned by a Seychelles IBC. It can hold on to the intellectual property and then sell it at a premium at a future date and regardless of the amount profited in the transaction, no tax would be incurred. Likewise, the intellectual property can be licensed out and licensing fees and royalties collected. These proceeds would constitute earnings for the Seychelles IBC, but would also be entirely tax free.
Originally, this method was used primarily by those individuals and companies that owned intellectual property such as software, music, published media and digital media. With time, however, the royalty model has been expanded to include such business models as franchising and variations on profit sharing agreements.
Asset Protection With a Seychelles Tax Haven
As it was explained when the strong anti-disclosure and anti-confiscation laws of the Seychelles were presented above, a Seychelles tax haven is one the strongest entities available to protect assets. The degree of impregnability for assets held by an IBC make it ideal for those companies and individuals that may be feeling confiscatory pressures in their home jurisdictions.
Summary
The levels of asset protection offered by a Seychelles Tax Haven surpasses that of most other tax havens. Their additional features greatly benefit the owners in terms of tax mitigation. Whether it is for an individual or a company, for tax mitigation, or asset protection, the Seychelles tax haven is definitely one that is adaptable to a wide variety of situations and merits full consideration.
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Seychelles IBC Formation Prices
Seychelles IBC Formation Package Includes:
- Company Name Check
- Initial Business Approval
- Preparation of Application Documents
- Company Registration Fee
- Registered Office Address for 1 year
- Registered Agent Services for 1 year
- Government filing fee
- Memorandum & Articles of Association
- Minutes of first meeting appointing the director(s)
- Share Certificate(s)
- Register of shareholders
- Register of directors
Starting at: $1790
Why Choose KGN Services?
We’ve been helping business owners since 1996
Incorporating your business is our focus
We make a complex process fast and easy
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Services in the Seychelles Tax Haven
KGN Services provides the following services in the Seychelles Tax Haven:
- Formation of a Seychelles IBC
- Registered Office and Agent Services
- Seychelles Company Secretarial Services
- Nominee Shareholder / Nominee Director
- Opening of Bank Accounts in Seychelles
- Full Seychelles Company Administration Services
- Mailing Address in Seychelles
- Virtual Office in Seychelles
- Trademark Registration
- Yacht Registration
Cyprus – General Information
Location: Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar.
Area:total: 455 sq km, land: 455 sq km, water: 0 sq km. …
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Natural resources: Fish, coconuts (copra), cinnamon trees.
Population: 93,920 (July 2017 est.).
Capital: Victoria.
Time Zone: UTC+4.
Languages: Seychellois Creole (official) 89.1%, English (official) 5.1%, French (official) 0.7%, other 3.8%, unspecified 1.4% (2010 est.).
Government type: Presidential republic.
Legal system: Mixed legal system of English common law, French civil law, and customary law.
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AOSIS, AU, C, CD, COMESA, EITI (candidate country), FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer).
Economy: Since independence in 1976, per capita output in this Indian Ocean archipelago has expanded to roughly seven times the pre-independence, near-subsistence level, moving the island into the high income group of countries. Growth has been led by the tourist sector, which directly employs about 26% of the labor force and directly and indirectly accounts for more than 55% of GDP, and by tuna fishing. In recent years, the government has encouraged foreign investment to upgrade hotels and tourism industry services. At the same time, the government has moved to reduce the dependence on tourism by promoting the development of the offshore financial, information, and communication sectors, and renewable energy.
As a very small open economy dependent on tourism, Seychelles remains vulnerable to developments such as economic downturns in countries that supply tourists, natural disasters, and changes in local climatic conditions and ocean temperature. One of the main challenges facing the government is implementing strategies that will increase Seychelles’ long-term resilience to climate change without weakening economic growth.
Currency: Seychelles rupee (SCR).
KGN Services | Seychelles Tax Haven | Seychelles IBC
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