Lawyer blog - Law firm Finance Business Service: offshore registration, tax planning, legal services

How the rules for LP of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will change

Published: 08.05.2018 | blog

Tags:

Essence of the scandal On April 29, a publication on the use of thousands of SLP in criminal activities appeared in the British newspaper The Times. According to the British officials, SLP was used through shills in complex schemes for money laundering. In particular, by means of the scheme, including more than 100 Scottish Limited Partnerships, about 58 billion pounds sterling, accumulated illegally, was withdrawn from Russia. More than 20 SLP was used in a fraudulent scheme, by means of which about 742 billion pounds sterling was withdrawn from Moldova. There is also a link between SLP and organized criminal groups from Eastern Europe for the purpose of conducting weapon delivery deals. All this became a reason for the announcement of the beginning of struggle against fictitious companies by Britain. And on the next day, April 30, a consultative document was posted on the official website of the British government with a number of proposals on reforming the legislation on limited partnerships to reduce the risks of their use in criminal schemes. Importance of Limited Partnerships It is worth noting that a Limited Partnership (LP), including its Scottish form, continues to...

Vehicles as an investment from a non-resident

Published: 02.05.2018 |

Tags:

#Investments #Taxation

Recently, the Internet is full of information that 2018 is the latest year when it is possible to purchase a vehicle that has been used for “preferential excise tax”. As it is known, from 01.08.2016, the Law of Ukraine of May 31, No. 1389-19 on the stimulation and development of the market of second-hand vehicles, came into force. This law is valid until December 31, 2018 and provides for a significant reduction in excise tax rates for the import of used cars, subject to special conditions and restrictions. We, in turn, are talking about the acquisition of a non-used and completely new car, using a ready-made business tool - a non-resident company. The starting point of our acquisition is, in fact, the choice of a vehicle. In this case, the higher the cost of the car (its class), the more significant the saving will be. So, in stages: Choice of a vehicle. There are many online resources where you can have a great time choosing a vehicle. As an example, here is www.lexus.com. On this site, you can easily find the model you are interested in and choose the equipment that suits your needs. Perhaps, it will be necessary to enter the so-called postal code to search for the...

The EU Financial Market after Changes in Legislation: Will It Become More Transparent and Stable?

Published: 28.04.2018 |

Tags:

#Funds #Legislation

The newspaper “Journal du Dimanche” previously published information about the intentions of the French President Francois Hollande to hold a meeting with the leaders of Germany, Spain and Italy on March 6 in Versailles, dedicated to the future of the European Union. This mini-summit, among other things, should have to demonstrate the unity of the leaders of the four major European powers of the euro zone in the face of the many threats and crises that the EU is currently facing. The agenda also included the study of the issues “related to ensuring the strengthening of the development of the European Union”. On March 6, the government supported the changes to the Law on the Financial Instruments Market, the Law on Alternative Investment Funds and their Managers, as well as the Audit Services Act. What is the ultimate goal of these changes? They should make the EU financial market more transparent and stable, reduce systematic risks, protect depositors, and ensure the effectiveness of financial markets and reduce the costs of their participants. The changes in the laws have been designed to adopt the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the markets of...

iForum – 2018: how it was

Published: 27.04.2018 |

Tags:

#ICO #ICO #Ukraine

On April 25, 2018 the Ukrainian forum of Internet activists was held in Kyiv. iForum is the nine main directions with thematic performances that take place simultaneously in several halls. After the official opening on the main stage, the reports continue throughout the day, without interruption. This year the following directions were presented in the program: internet business; startups; advertising and promotion; Internet technologies; future educational technologies; innovations; Blockchain, Digital Fun, CRM. Due to the fact that the emergence of the new startups on the ICO on the Ukrainian market is very topical today, the representatives of the Finance Business Service have chosen the Blockchain direction. The first performance in the Blockchain direction was the report of the representative of the Swiss office of KPMG Andre Gudel. The report referred to the publication of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) of the principles of application of the legislation when considering the requests from the organizers of the ICO. Unfortunately, it is not new information on the regulation of cryptocurrency in Switzerland, but,...

What danger is behind cheap offshore?

Published: 27.04.2018 |

Tags:

#Offshores #Офшори

Before buying an offshore, potential buyers usually compare the conditions of various vendors - so to speak, “ask the price”. At this stage, many people have the same questions: why are the prices for classic offshore companies so different? In fact, the cost of registration of such a company on the sites of competitors may be 5-10 times different. A tempting low price for an offshore company did not forebode good before, and the situation had worsened over the past year and a half to such an extent that at present, such a purchase might result in criminal prosecution. In this blog, we’ll figure out what forms the price of the offshore, how the sellers manage to reduce it and how relevant is the proverb about “cheap fish” and “bad broth”. What is included in the cost of an offshore company? The real offshore price consists of three important components, such as: Required minimum (cost price). This includes the registration of the company in the state register, payment of state duty, a basic package of documents, registration of the registration address, opening of an account in a local bank, international sending of documents and other mandatory procedures. ...

Сentral database of beneficial owners of companies is created on the BVI

Published: 20.04.2018 |

Tags:

#Closing offshore #De-offshorization

Following the introduction of a public register of persons with significant control for the British companies and LLP (from April 2016), as well as for the Scottish partnerships (since June 2017), some British dependent territories, under pressure from the UK itself, have created similar registers / databases. However, these centralized registers will be closed, and the access to data from them will be available only to the British competent authorities and only upon request. This decision has become a compromise after many years of negotiations and frictions, since the overseas territories, although partially subject to the law of Great Britain, are still self-regulatory. On the one hand, access to these closed registers / databases will enable the UK law enforcement agencies to monitor tax evasion, as well as terrorists and criminals hiding behind the anonymous companies. On the other hand, this will put an end to the requirements for the introduction of open registers of beneficiaries in the countries partially controlled by Great Britain. Among such states are the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Isle of Man, Bermuda, Guernsey, Jersey, and others. As the British...

V International Tax Forum through the eyes of the experts of FBS

Published: 18.04.2018 |

Tags:

#Tax disputes #Taxation

The partner of Finance Business Service Yuri Krasilnikov and tax disputes specialist Rolan Bondarets attended the V International Tax Forum, which took place on April 13, 2018. In this blog, we will tell how the event was held, what issues were most actively discussed by the participants, what points were voiced by the speakers, as well as share our own thoughts. The speakers were the representatives of business, representatives of the legislative, executive and judicial branches, as well as the specialists in the field of taxation. Many interesting and topical issues for Ukraine were discussed within the Forum. At the beginning of the event, Algirdas Shemeta - the business ombudsman in Ukraine - recalled the reasons that led to the appearance of the BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) plan and its essence. “Overoffshorization” of the world business became the catalyst of the world economic crisis of 2008-2009. This prompted the OECD to identify the main causes of the crisis, as well as to discover and develop the methods for its prevention in the future. In fact, BEPS has emerged as a protective mechanism to prevent tax evasion, which essence is that companies must be...

How to choose a foreign bank and open an account in it in 2018: will it be easy?

Published: 17.04.2018 |

Tags:

#Confidentiality #De-offshorization OECD

What is important to know when choosing a foreign bank in 2018 Recently, an increasing number of citizens, concerned about their future, the future of their family or business, face the issue whether it is possible to open an account in a foreign bank and what is required for this? Which bank to choose for this: European, offshore bank, etc.? Historically, (and sometimes it is quite justified) the trust to a foreign bank is higher than to local institutions, and obtaining, for example, a loan is possible on more favorable terms than in Ukrainian banks, moreover, many people wish to keep the confidentiality of their actual income. Regardless of whether you want to open a foreign bank account online in offshore or onshore jurisdictions, a number of aspects need to be considered and analyzed when choosing a bank. That is why the company Finance Business Service works with more than 100 banks around the world. We ask only really necessary questions in the process of selecting banks for our clients. The current situation in the banking shows that financial institutions are increasingly facing problems of unexpected loss of correspondent accounts in US dollars. In general, the US is...

Is there bank secrecy in Ukraine, and what must the citizens of Ukraine be preparing for?

Published: 13.04.2018 |

Tags:

#Ukraine

What is bank secrecy The relevance and importance of the topic of bank secrecy is hard to overestimate. The correct application of the legal rules regulating the procedure for its disclosure is necessary both for bank employees and all other persons who are aimed at gaining access to this information. At the same time, it is necessary for natural persons and legal entities to obtain information “protected” by law in order to protect their violated rights. Article 60 of the Law of Ukraine No. 2121-III of 07.12.2000 “On Banks and Banking” (as amended, hereinafter - the Law of Ukraine “On Banks and Banking”) defines bank secrecy as information on the activities and financial status of the client that has become known to the bank in the process of servicing the client and relations with him or third parties when providing services of the bank. Bank secrecy, with respect to the bank’s clients, in particular, are: information about clients’ bank accounts; transactions that were carried out in favor of or on behalf of the client, transactions carried out by him; financial and economic status of clients; client protection systems; information on the organizational and...

VAT Regime for Dividends in Cyprus

Published: 13.04.2018 |

Tags:

#Accounting #Corporate law

The Cyprus holding companies are widely used in the context of international business structuring for the optimization of the channels of incoming and outgoing investment in/from the countries that have signed an agreement with Cyprus on avoidance of double taxation. Recently, the Tax Department has published a guide to VAT accounting for holding companies, which is designed to provide clarity with respect to the circumstances under which the Cyprus holding companies can receive taxable income. Definition of taxable activities The common position and practice regarding the regime for levying VAT on dividends remain unchanged. The simple acquisition and ownership of shares in other companies by a Cypriot company does not constitute a taxable business activity in the sense of exploiting assets for income generation. The reason for this approach is that the dividends received from such ownership of shares are considered to arise solely at the expense of ownership of shares, rather than from the form of business activity carried out for the purpose of income generation. Consequently, an enterprise that simply owns shares or a similar form of a stake in another organization is not...

Lawyer's Blogs