You have no doubt come across the concept of registering a company offshore. Many people however only has a very basic knowledge of what an offshore company is, so let us briefly explain how offshore company incorporation works.

When a citizen of one country, for example the United States, wants to register a company in another country, for example the Seychelles, that company is called an offshore company.

One of the most commonly known benefits of this type of company is the fact that you can register your company in many countries around the globe and not pay any tax in that country on the profits which that company generates. A good example of this is the Seychelles, where neither the company nor its members will pay any tax.

Before you register your company offshore, you first have to make sure which tax system your country uses. If it uses a system like South Africa, called residence based, it means you still have to pay tax in your own county regardless of where the money comes from.

If you lived in South Africa, therefore, you would still have to pay tax on money which your company in the Seychelles generates.

You do not have to be filthy rich to register your company overseas. In many offshore destinations, among others the Seychelles, there is no requirement for a minimum amount of capital when you create a company. You will therefore have no problem to start up this type of company with a share capital of as little as five hundred dollars.

A further highly sought after benefit of offshore companies is the issue of being anonymous. In most countries around the world you don’t have to publish the names of the members or directors when you incorporate a company. If you are therefore a high net worth individual who does not want everyone to know about his assets, this type of company is ideal for you.

The whole process of offshore company incorporation is usually quite streamlined and should not take more than a few days. The license fees are less than a thousand dollars in most cases