Cheapest business formation outside of the US in a business-friendly country?

freakin said:
That offshore company will probably be considered a Controlled Foreign Corp where he would have to pay US taxes on all money the offshore made.
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To get around this, you have to enter a bit of gray area.
Setup company in BVI (British Virgin Islands) that owns your Hong Kong company (or any other offshore country you pick).

It's totally illegal but they can't trace it back to you, so you're in the clear.

I know people who are worth well over a 100 mil who do this.
It's fairly easy to setup as well. You won't even have to leave your chair, you can get it all done sitting in the comforts of your office/home while smoking a fat one.
 


DumDum said:
To get around this, you have to enter a bit of gray area.
Setup company in BVI (British Virgin Islands) that owns your Hong Kong company (or any other offshore country you pick).

It's totally illegal but they can't trace it back to you, so you're in the clear.

I know people who are worth well over a 100 mil who do this.
It's fairly easy to setup as well. You won't even have to leave your chair, you can get it all done sitting in the comforts of your office/home while smoking a fat one.
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The more I look at HK the better it seems - Virtual office space is much less, I can get a HK local skype number among a few other things.

However the actual incorporation is a bit murky - The places I see want $2k+ to incorporate.

Also is it true you need to physically visit HK to set up a bank account? Could a director/shareholder do it instead?
 
schockergd said:
The more I look at HK the better it seems - Virtual office space is much less, I can get a HK local skype number among a few other things.

However the actual incorporation is a bit murky - The places I see want $2k+ to incorporate.

Also is it true you need to physically visit HK to set up a bank account? Could a director/shareholder do it instead?
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The link I provided earlier in the thread for Jumpstart offices is less than 2K, maybe 1K-1.3K.

Your director can set up the account sure.

I'd still rather do things myself instead, because a lot of people are shady with these things. Keep in mind there is due dilligence with the banks. You can't just say you do internet stuff and get an account.
 
schockergd said:
The more I look at HK the better it seems - Virtual office space is much less, I can get a HK local skype number among a few other things.

However the actual incorporation is a bit murky - The places I see want $2k+ to incorporate.

Also is it true you need to physically visit HK to set up a bank account? Could a director/shareholder do it instead?
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I did have to go physically to sign some documents.
 
I talked to a guy on another forum in terms of hong kong as a place to start a company. Won't mention his name obviously, but you might find some of this helpful.

I live in Shanghai and getting a visa for China mainland is easy-peasy (uuh,well for UK passports, but EU Is cool also I think) and for HOng Kong, you don't even need a visa to go there, you can stay 3 months with a EU passport without a visa. If you do want to apply for a visa, you can check in with your China embassy in the country, or closest to you.

For registering a company, nothing could be easier, you can check out this agency HK company registration services . They help you incorporate (but you have to be in China or Hong Kong) and are much cheaper than a lot of other agencies I saw , you can email fasai@fxld-hk.com (Miss Luo) or Msn: fxldsz@hotmail.com , leadinghk@hotmail.com . They'll be happy to discuss all the formalities with you.

Honestly, moving here is the best decision I ever made.. I run a couple of e-commerce websites, I mean you have all the suppliers of everything you can imagine at your doorstep, you just need to put their products on your website and you're ready to start making decent money. Only thing is the language which is a bit tough, best thing to do is get a chinese gf/wife/business partner (or good friend at least), especially for business, but also for settling down and daily life.
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They refer to China mainland and Hong Kong as "one country, 2 systems", which basically means that Hong kong's GDP is counted in China's GDP.. but that's all they have in common. For me (UK citizen), I can travel to HK for 6 months visa free, but my chinese girlfriend needs a visa to go there.. even though its part of 'her country'.

So for China mainland you'll need a temporary (3-6 months) visa for sure. But i think its very easy to get, a friend of mine from Serbia came to work 9 months with me and he had absolutely no problem. If you want to live there 'permanently' though, you need a work permit or need to marry a Chinese lady... both are not too difficult either though.
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Internet censorship is a joke, I have a VPN I pay $11 for 6 months, and I surf the internet like I was in the USA. Without a VPN its a pain though, Facebook, twitter, youtube.. all blocked; but you have the chinese copy sites (weibo, renren, youku). just all in chinese, lol. But with VPN, its absolutely fine.

The only reason why I don't want to live here permanently is the pollution, which is pretty bad. Apart from that, its nice here, food is awesome, girls are awesome, nightlife (in the big cities) is awesome, business is super-awesome.. everything is so cheap. You should definitely consider it, at least try and find a company that recruits you for like 6 months, and get a feel for the place, some people never leave, others never really adapt...
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Now, Bulgaria is obviously different. Being that I was born in a nearby country I managed to snatch up a passport for like 350-400 euros in total which grants me EU citizenship. It'll be a lot more expensive if you're a complete foreigner to the place though: Bulgaria Passport from 5,900 USD

Also another consideration is Nicaragua: Nicaragua Passport from 2,900 USD Easy to gain citizenship in, great weather year round, pacific & caribbean coast, cheap labor.
 
I'm a Hong Kong permanent resident. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are NOT included in China's GDP count. They are considered separate jurisdictions.

Also not sure why this guy is living in Shanghai instead of HK. You don't have to deal with Internet censorship in HK (The Internet service is faster and better here too), you legally don't need to pay any tax for foreign sourced income in HK, once you live in HK for over 7 years you qualify for permanent residency, after 7 years you also qualify for a HK passport which is great if you're a US citizen and want to renounce, and finally you're still close to Chinese suppliers since China is right next to you.

In China you'll never have the opportunity for permanent residence nor citizenship. You'll be on temporary visas for the rest of your life with no chance for right of abode.

Also another big plus with HK corporations, is that they're one of the few offshore corps that will work with Paypal.
 
bluechinagroup said:
I'm a Hong Kong permanent resident. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are NOT included in China's GDP count. They are considered separate jurisdictions.

Also not sure why this guy is living in Shanghai instead of HK. You don't have to deal with Internet censorship in HK (The Internet service is faster and better here too), you legally don't need to pay any tax for foreign sourced income in HK, once you live in HK for over 7 years you qualify for permanent residency, after 7 years you also qualify for a HK passport which is great if you're a US citizen and want to renounce, and finally you're still close to Chinese suppliers since China is right next to you.

In China you'll never have the opportunity for permanent residence nor citizenship. You'll be on temporary visas for the rest of your life with no chance for right of abode.

Also another big plus with HK corporations, is that they're one of the few offshore corps that will work with Paypal.
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This is interesting but some things are sorta unclear to me still. What does china have to do with hong kong in reality? Is it similar to say the relationship between france and monaco?

I don't see a way for me to spend more than 3 months out there, can I apply for a mainland china visa and then enter hong kong with it? Also is it allright to start a company on a tourist visa?
 
kumansk said:
What does china have to do with hong kong in reality? Is it similar to say the relationship between france and monaco?
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It is similar to the relationship between France and Monaco, though Monaco is a nominally sovereign state while HK is a highly autonomous Special Administrative Region of China. In practice, they both behave like city-states who are also client-states of a larger state.

HK has its own legal system and currency. Chinese law doesn't apply. Common law however DOES apply, which means even rulings from places like the UK and New Zealand continue to set legal precedence in HK as they would in any other common law jurisdiction.

kumansk said:
I don't see a way for me to spend more than 3 months out there, can I apply for a mainland china visa and then enter hong kong with it? Also is it allright to start a company on a tourist visa?
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A mainland China visa can't help you with HK. HK does its own border control and has its own visa and immigration policy separate of China's. However most passports do not require a visa to enter HK, even though they probably require one to enter China.

If you're a permanent resident of Hong Kong, you still need a Visa or other entry-permit to enter China. The border between HK and China is like a typical international border crossing. You leave HK immigration control and then deal with China's immigration control and have your passport stamped or use your entry-permit.

Also yes you can form a corporation while under a tourist visa. Just don't pay yourself a salary with it. If the company loans you money, that's not technically a salary though. It's a good thing to discuss with your HK accountant.
 
DumDum said:
To get around this, you have to enter a bit of gray area.
Setup company in BVI (British Virgin Islands) that owns your Hong Kong company (or any other offshore country you pick).

It's totally illegal but they can't trace it back to you, so you're in the clear.

I know people who are worth well over a 100 mil who do this.
It's fairly easy to setup as well. You won't even have to leave your chair, you can get it all done sitting in the comforts of your office/home while smoking a fat one.
Click to expand...


Is that legality based on US laws or India? You said you were from India so that made me wonder.

The hard part is bringing the money back without paying a shit load of taxes. The only way I can see is routing that money from a place like HK to a low taxed country that has a tax treaty with the US, like Ireland.

You should be able to then take out qualified dividends at the 15 to 20%.

It still needs to be legit companies doing legit business. No investing or passive income otherwise you fall into the CFC status and will be taxed to hell and back.

I am relocating my business to Hong Kong as well. I am still working out the qualified dividends portion. I just like to have some knowledge before hitting up some tax attorneys so I can ascertain if they are full of shit or know what they are talking about.
 
bluechinagroup said:
Just don't pay yourself a salary with it. If the company loans you money, that's not technically a salary though. It's a good thing to discuss with your HK accountant.
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If you plan on staying in HK long term, you should apply for a residency visa so that you can legally earn an income in HK and work towards qualifying for permanent residency.
 
kumansk said:
Now, Bulgaria is obviously different. Being that I was born in a nearby country I managed to snatch up a passport for like 350-400 euros in total which grants me EU citizenship. It'll be a lot more expensive if you're a complete foreigner to the place though: Bulgaria Passport from 5,900 USD
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Is that for anyone or just for people who have ties to Bulgaria through ancestry?
 
Before you incorporate an offshore company make certain that the crowdfunding source that you're considering will allow financing of entities within the jurisdiction you're looking at.

For example, I believe that crowdcube only finances UK businesses.
 
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