We are a young and dynamic office which would like to assist you with all the tax problems you may encounter as a young company, self-employed entrepreneur or liberal professional. All this at affordable and transparent prices. You cannot expect miracles from national tax planning in this overtaxed country. That is why we are trying to relieve your tax pain by means of daring, creative but always legal solutions by crossing the borders. Everyone talks about globalisation … well, why not when it comes to tax. Our team operates in three continents and we are trying to let you take advantage of our experience of the past 20 years in a personal and affordable way.

Just to get acquainted, we will present some concise tax tips on the following pages. You are of course always welcome to talk to us personally.

Hong Kong: Light in the dark

As you probably know Belgium and Luxembourg have entered into an extremely interesting double-tax treaty with Hong Kong. If you are doing business with China or other Asian countries, Hong Kong has to offer quite some tax benefits. For instance, a Hong Kong company is not taxed on income derived from services if these services were rendered outside Hong Kong. There are several creative stories you can come up with if you have your own Hong Kong LTD. If this Hong Kong LTD contains quite some untaxed profits (no HK taxation) … Then, 95% of the income received in your Hong Kong business can be deposited as a dividend to your company in Belgium or Luxembourg, thanks to the excellent tax treaty between Hong Kong and Belgium or Luxembourg. From a company in Luxembourg or Belgium, you can forward the profits, free of taxes, to any country with which those two countries have concluded a tax treaty, e.g. the Czech republic, the UK, the USA, Russia, etc. No withholding tax will be charged on this dividend. In the home country (e.g. the Czech republic) you either leave the moneys in the company or transfer them to your private assets and pay dividend tax.

Do it with an E-zone company

If you really want to engage in tax planning and restrict your taxes, you need to turn it into a cross-border affair.  If you do, you have to operate internationally and be aware of the rules. This is something we are really “into”, so we can provide excellent advice. For one, there is the E-zone company on Curacao (Dutch Antilles). These E-zone companies can be used for internet commerce but also for import, export, etc. The legislation is guaranteed until 2026. An E-zone company pays 2% taxes on Curacao. But the advantage is that, with a sound structure, in which the E-business is set up by a Dutch BV, 98% of the result of the E-business NV can be transferred, tax-free, to the Dutch parent company. Therefore, these profits are not taxed. And then, these profits can be forwarded to another EU country … free of taxes … and you take advantage of it. But we are not telling you everything just yet …

Luxembourg: still wonderful

Luxembourg covers just a small surface area and, regardless, everything is going really well there and it is a particularly creative place when it comes to clever tax solutions.  It is possible, for example, to receive certain profits for almost 80% tax free in a Luxembourg company. How does that work? Well, certain income in the Luxembourg company, which we can describe as “intellectual rights”, e.g. patents, but also renting a name, website address, know-how … You understand that this opens up a lot of opportunities. Once this income enters the Luxembourg company, the tax pressure has been reduced to less than 6%. Due to the extensive tax treaty network of Luxembourg, this money can be further distributed in a really tax-friendly way. There are several possibilities and options, we will be glad to give you more information. In addition, Luxembourg has other attractive vehicles as far as tax relief is concerned. Just think of the universal-life and unit-linked insurance products (branche 21 / 23) whose income is not taxed or the very interesting SPF (Societé Patrimoine Familiale). Such an SPF can manage assets creatively, without taxation of proceeds.

US LLC: the American dream

The United States were and still are quite weary as far as international tax planning or tax avoidance is concerned. The Americans are also the only citizens in the world who are taxed on the basis of their nationality. Others are taxed based on the fact that they effectively live in a certain country, for example. If an American lives on a exotic atoll which has almost disappeared underneath the surface of the sea, he will still be taxed, just because he is a US citizen. Now, the Americans themselves have created a quite popular tax avoidance vehicle, the LLC (Limited Liability Company). This USLLC exists in many US states, including Delaware, but also Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon, California, etc. It is quite easy to incorporate a USLLC. If there is only one shareholder / member, it can even be done anonymously. Otherwise, we will have to find a more creative way, for example through an off-shore company. Such an USLLC which does not do business in the US, is not taxed at all. So, it is an ideal way of tax optimisation with many countries. No one will put the US on a black list of so-called “too” tax-friendly countries. So, the USLLC is a real classic in tax planning country.

A trust or foundation

If you want to protect your assets against third parties, i.e. if you want to keep them somewhere safe.  And if, in addition, you want to use this vehicle for well-considered inheritance or estate planning, or you want to use a certain amount for charities … a trust is the instrument you are looking for. It is a smart way to shield your assets from the tax authorities or other creditors To do so, you can create a trust. Several countries can provide trusts, including Belize, the Channel Islands, but also New Zeeland, Singapore, etc. There is also another option, a foundation, which can be set up via Panama or an Austrian or Liechtenstein Stiftung, which achieves a similar result. These are excellent vehicles but make sure to get expert advice, as this is all customised work. We can provide the assistance you need, from A to Z. You can also see a trust or a foundation as a final instrument where you park the shares of real operating companies for several reasons. We can obviously also make sure that reliable bank accounts are linked to these trusts or foundations.

Switzerland: a classic

Switzerland also provides lots of advantages and opportunities. Despite all the storms we are convinced that the Swiss bank secrecy still stands for most tax payers seeking discretion. But Switzerland has so much more to offer. In certain cantons we can negotiate a ruling, a tax agreement, with the administration for wealthy private persons, which guarantees that they will be taxed at a 10% flat tax rate. You can then live perfectly legal in Switzerland and pay only 10% of taxes. But, make sure to get expert advice, we will be glad to assist you. You can also have a UK company, for example, with a subsidiary in Switzerland. This subsidiary will also pay e.g. 10% tax after a ruling and if you have no other income in the UK, the UK will not charge extra taxes. So, the whole world will see that you have a UK company, but you pay only 10% tax and the advantage of the UK is that no withholding tax is charged on dividends, which opens other opportunities. But, like we said before, we are not letting you in on all the details yet …

Tell us where you want to live

A very different, but for many interesting, aspect of international tax planning is “residence”. The ultimate way of tax planning is to simply move to a low-tax country. There are several – quite agreeable – places in the world where you can live legally and where taxes are low. Sometimes, you will not have to pay any taxes, such as in Monaco, Dubai or Andorra. Some countries will only tax the income earned in the country itself. This is contrary to most countries where you are taxed on your world-wide income. Of course, you understand it is not always easy to find the right country, where you also actually want to live. Sometimes it is about finding the right balance between all kinds of interests. But, if you want, we can help you find the right tax-friendly location for you. Sometimes this will involve wanting to obtain a second passport. For citizens of some countries, their passport is an obstacle to travel smoothly. In this case, in some countries there are possibilities to get a passport if certain conditions are met and/or certain investments are made in this country.

Web shops and online gambling

Many customers have plans to sell products online or organise online gambling, which is very popular at the moment. We can help you with that. An important aspect is where to put the server. If you set up the server in certain countries, you may be taxed there. Apart from the country of the server, it is also important to choose the right location to set up your company. You also have to think about how you want to receive your flow of income when customers pay you, e.g. through paypall or other systems. We can also help you set up an online gambling website. It is important to select a country where this type of gambling is allowed, such as Malta. And, then to strictly comply with all rules in this country, because otherwise you will be getting into a lot of trouble. There are some countries who simply “tolerate” online gambling, like Costa Rica, but you have no legal security there. So, it is better to choose a country with a legal framework on the matter. Make sure to play it safe and think everything through.