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The top 7 overlooked Offshore Foundation Benefits

By: Doug Sitenal

Many people do not understand the difference between an "offshore foundation", "offshore corporation" and an "offshore trust".

An offshore foundation is used to manage and control assets. This is accomplished through a secret letter of wishes. This letter is, as it's name implies, a private document that is not available to the public. Under no circumstances, is this letter ever required to be made public and is protected by Panama law.

A foundation can be used much like a trust to pass on assets bypassing estate taxes at the time of death. Many countries have made death a taxable event. This makes absolutely no sense of course and every person should consider an offshore foundation (or offshore trust) to protect their assets.

In Panama an offshore foundation is not owned by anyone. In fact it cannot be owned according to Panama law. A foundation can own a bank account and corporation. A foundation / corporation combination is the most respected anonymous offshore asset protection existing today.

One of the greatest features of an offshore foundation is that a judge or court cannot order funds to be repatriated because a foundation is not owned by anyone. The order would be illegal and no judge would make an illegal order, and if he did, it would easily be overturned.

There is some confusion about the difference between a foundation and a corporation. A foundation's purpose is to manage funds while a corporation's purpose is to engage in business activities. It is illegal for a foundation to engage in for profit business activities. For this reason, most asset protection packages include a corporation owned by a foundation. This affords all the added security of a foundation and all the flexibility of an offshore company.

Unlike onshore trusts, which are commonly used in estate planning, an offshore foundation is strictly enforced by Panama courts. In the event of death, family members will not be entering into litigation to try and break the foundation. It is common for an onshore trust to be broken for any number of different reasons. If you want your wishes followed to the "letter" then a Panama foundation is your best option.

The foundation is unique because it cannot be owned by anyone and it does not pay taxes on any funds it holds (as long as the funds are not generated by business in Panama -- ie. You cannot open a bakery in Panama and not pay taxes using this vehicle.) All money that is not generated in Panama is held tax free which makes it the perfect part of any tax plan.

Article Source: http://www.topicinfo.com

If you thinking about an Asset Protection setup you may want to read more about the Panama Offshore Foundlocated ation located at www.offshorelegal.org
Click here for other unique offshore articles.

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