Offshore Asset Protection

The concept of wealth management is one that all expatriates should come to grips with – it is not sufficient to go abroad and ‘just’ concentrate of sorting out your taxation position or ‘just’ ensuring you bank sufficient funds when overseas to see you right in retirement.  Rather, you need to take a complete and an holistic approach to managing your entire fiscal status if you want to enhance your financial position to the best of your ability…

…and expatriate wealth management as a concept is just that – i.e., the complete and holistic management of your financial affairs – from how and where you bank to how your tax status is managed, how your physical assets are owned, where your money is invested and how you structure your affairs so that they are ‘appropriate’ for your status and position today, tomorrow and into the future.

In this report we’re going to outline the main fiscal elements that you need to consider when you move abroad, and how they all interlink when it comes to the effective management of your wealth.  We will explain why a given aspect of your financial status is important to focus on, and give suggestions about where you might begin getting the help and advice you need to effectively manage your wealth for the best possible returns.

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If you weren’t aware of the fact already, America takes an even harder line than the UK when it comes to its citizens and taxing them.  For example and to put it simply, an American is liable for US taxation on income, assets and gains no matter where in the world they live and no matter where in the world said income, assets or gains are located, herald from or are earned.

Of course, the nation has many double taxation agreements in place, but that doesn’t detract from the unpleasantness of the taxman’s reach for the likes of Americans living and working abroad who effectively have no other ties with their ‘homeland’ than that they have to pay taxes to it!  The most recent news is that America has now put so much pressure on Switzerland that it has forced the nation to reveal American bank account holders’ details just in case they are not paying full taxation on what they have squirreled away in that country.

So, will the UK ever go as far as America in terms of an offshore tax clampdown?  In this report we’re going to look at facts and opinions about how Britain and America may well be thinking of advancing their Big Brother stance that is eroding the privacy and freedom rights of their citizens.

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The wonderful world of offshore has been used for many years by many people for legitimate asset protection purposes – fact!  Those who have assets and wealth that they would quite legitimately like to shield from possible litigation or from a spouse, family member or business partner have used offshore structures such as trusts and companies to secure themselves and their wealth in the past.

However, is the offshore asset protection advantage now being eroded by the actions of the OECD and the G20 who are seeking to have tax information exchange agreements in place between all offshore financial centres?

The organisations involved in pressuring for this exchange of information would categorically say ‘no,’ for if you have nothing to hide and are using your offshore structures correctly, then you will never come under scrutiny.  However, many offshore experts disagree, and they believe that those who are offshore perfectly legitimately could have their own confidentiality and privacy breached as a result of the new rules that are being enforced.

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