Offshore Company – Where to Incorporate?

When considering incorporating an offshore company there are several alternatives with regard to in which jurisdiction the offshore company should be incorporated. Some of the jurisdictions that often are used as the venue for incorporating an offshore company are for example Bermuda, Belize, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands, Mauritius, Cyprus, Malta, Panama etc.

Often one will hear or read recommendations about a certain jurisdiction being the “best” one for incorporating an offshore company. The problem is that there is no one ‘best’ jurisdiction that fits all. The choice of jurisdiction depends completely on the purpose with the creation of the offshore company. Is the purpose to minimize the taxes? Or is it to protect certain assets? Or maybe the purpose is to run a trading company offshore?  Without knowing the purpose of creating the offshore company it is simply not possible to say that a certain jurisdiction is the best choice.

However, knowing the purpose with the incorporation is not sufficient. Another determining factor is where the owner of the company is domiciled and if there are any other jurisdiction where the owner might be held responsible for certain liabilities. Most often the ‘best’ jurisdiction for incorporating an offshore company is not the same for an US citizen as for a Russian or someone living in the Middle East.

Accordingly with what has been said above there are no such thing as one best offshore jurisdiction for incorporating an offshore company. Which jurisdiction that should be chosen depends completely on the circumstances in each and every individual case. Thus, you must first off all analyze the purpose with the incorporation and thereafter do a risk analysis of your personal situation with regard to the jurisdiction where you are domiciled or any other jurisdiction where you can be held liable. When this is done you can start analyzing all the different offshore jurisdictions that are available for incorporating an offshore company.

Other articles that might interest you:

1. Offshore Company
2. How and where to create an offshore company
3. What should an Offshore Company Structure look like?
4. Is it expensive to create an offshore company?
5. Why Offshore Tax Haven Company Incorporation