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How to Open an Offshore Company

There are several advantages to setting up an offshore company.

There are several reasons business owners look to open an offshore company. The most frequent ones are the tax advantages involved and the protection of wealth, since offshore laws can be much stronger with regards to the disclosure of assets and protection of confidentiality. St. Lucia is a popular destination in setting up an offshore company with a convenient incorporation process, strong confidentiality laws and a low tax rate.

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Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1

Determine which jurisdiction you would like to set up your offshore company in. For this example we will use St. Lucia since it has a corporate tax rate of 1%, no taxes on capital gains, and privacy for company shareholders. The incorporation facility is called an International Business Company (IBC).

2

Contact a Registered Agent. A registered agent is required for the process. PriceWaterhouseCoopers recommends using Corporate Services St. Lucia as your agent.

3

Much of the work can be done online and via telephone eliminating the need to actually travel to St. Lucia.

Choose a name and provide the required Memorandum and Articles of Association and any other documentation requested to your agent. Your registration agent can also assist in doing a company name search to ensure that the desired name for the company has not already been taken.

4

Choose a registered office and at least one director. To register, your company must provide the address of a registered office in St. Lucia and at least one director on record. This is another area your registration agent can assist with.

5

Pay the requisite government and registration fees. This can be done by credit card and the whole process, once all the documents are available, can be completed in less than four hours