Are you wondering whether you really need to keep/retain a Private Interest Foundation (“PIF”) as part of your Corporate structure?
In terms of why have/keep your Foundation you may recall a PIF serves two purposes:
(a) It gets you around Controlled Foreign Corporation (“CFC”) laws (most countries have CFC laws)
(b) In the event of a law suit or tax investigation or regulatory inquiry, if you have a valid Foundation in place to own/hold the shares of your Company, you can swear under oath “I am not the legal owner or beneficial owner of this Company”.
Retaining a Foundation to own your Offshore Company will do two things in effect:
- It should enable you to avoid having to report/pay tax on any income earned by the Foundation and any assets/Companies it owns, (ie assuming you are not the Councillor of the foundation and assuming the Company is seen to be managed and controlled from Offshore)
- In the event of a tax evasion investigation it gives you wriggle room. That is, it (ie having a valid PIF in place to hold the shares of/own your Offshore Company) gives you the chance to argue I’m not liable to report any income earned by the Foundation (or any Company it owns). Without a Foundation in place (ie in the event of a tax investigation) if you have an Offshore Company – and you haven’t declared that Company’s income where you live – you will almost certainly be found guilty of tax evasion and sent to jail… (call it a get out of jail free card in the game of life, if you like that’s what a Foundation is or should be, bottom line)
Would you like to know more? Then please Contact Us:
info@offshorecompaniesinternational.com
