I had to write a post about how to set your own company. There’s plenty of choices, but in my case I picked Seychelles for a simple reason: there’s many jurisdictions with zero taxes, but for most you still have to present yearly reports for profit and expenses, and others demand you have a secretary on the chosen country (Hong Kong for example). For a Seychelles IBC, which stands for International Business Company, you don’t have to even waste time with that, and time is money, specially when it’s wasted on the yearly tax paperwork ritual. Now receipts can actually be trashed directly (and I don’t have to travel with a folder or box full of them). Opening your IBC is usually done trough a lawyer or a specialized company that takes care of everything for different jurisdictions. I picked one of these companies in Geneva and I am glad I did.
The process was straightforward and surprisingly simple. We even had a few meetings for inevitable questions from my side, and guess what, they were free of charge. Opening the company is as simple as collecting the needed documents, which are basically your passport and some info on what kind of activity you want to start. As a freelancer this is even simpler as you are the sole director and share-holder of your company. Then you just need a name (and another two alternative ones) for your company and it should take a couple of days for you to get your confirmation and a few more to receive all your documents. That’s it: you are the owner of a company abroad
No dodgy steps as hiding one company inside another (inside yet another and so on), it’s all public and legal. Don’t mix this up with the typical financial “structures” often associated with money laundering. Again, this is not tax dodging as far as you don’t settle and become a resident of any specific country, because, of course, in that case, you are eligible to benefits and will have to get back to your contribution with all the taxes and whatsoever you already know. As I get a some friends and colleagues asking if clients won’t refuse an invoice from an offshore company: so far, I’m in my 22th invoice of 2012 and no client posed any problem at all.
The company I used to take care of everything, and I highly recommend is SFM. I did most of the stuff trough their office in Geneva and part remotely, as they can take care of everything by mail/fax/phone/internet. They also have offices in other cities. Check their website for options, jurisdictions and service prices. Talking about that, it got down to a single payment of €790 to get everything setup and from now a €690 yearly service fee. Of course it already made a huge difference regarding money and time saved, as in my last post.
I am starting actually a foundation for doing something genuinely useful with the money that would end up in taxes. It’s technology/education related and a dedicated post about that will be coming soon.
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