All of the offshore jurisdictions offer at least one type of company often they offer several types of company. The different types of company vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Incorporated in the same way but offering different tax benefits and limiting some activities. Companies are most commonly limited by shares or by guarantee some are hybrid companies that are limited by both shares and guarantee. They can either be public or private.

Offshore companies are used predominantly to:

• Separate personal debt from business debt, providing limited liability for the shareholders
• Limit Liability
• Provide anonymity
• Raise capital

The four main characteristics of a company are:

• Limited Liability - The company itself has unlimited liability but the shareholders have limited liability - shareholders can lose only the amount which he has paid for his shares. His personal assets are safe in the event of the company becoming insolvent.
• Separate Personality - Limited liability is only possible because of the principle of “separate personality”. The company is treated by law as being an individual in its own right. It can sue and be sued, it can enter into contracts etc. Therefore a person entering into a contract with a company does just that. He does not have a contract with the shareholders and cannot sue them.
• Perpetual existence - A company cannot die there can exist forever
• Transferable ownership - Easy to transfer shares.

Trusts Structures - The use of underlying companies

It is very common for a trust to be established as part of a tax or estate planning strategy. A trust may own all or part of the share capital of a company which in turn owns the assets, originally settled on the trust. It may be desirable to segregate certain types of assets or assets located in a certain country into a company. The place where an asset is situated for tax purposes may change depending whether it is directly owned by a Trust, company or an individual.

Example: In the UK, a property placed into a Cayman company is no longer classed as being situated in the UK and becomes an asset of the company and hence a Cayman situated asset. This may be critical importance for UK inheritance tax.

Retirement schemes are essential and must be set up during your working years in order to provide adequate income later in life.

Due to the fact that government schemes are often unsatisfactory, an increasing number of individuals and companies are making private, supplementary arrangements.

We can help you plan for your retirement, by assessing your current assets and building a portfolio that will provide a realistic level of income while minimising your tax liability.

Overseas Pension Transfers
Do you have deferred benefits held within UK Occupational Pension Schemes as a result of former employment, or have paid-up individual pension arrangements? If so, it is important to remember that even if you are residing outside the UK at the time the benefits are payable, they will still be fully liable to UK income tax. Our members can help you export your pension.

When can I retire?
Many people envisage a retirement age of 65 (men) or 60 (women). This is in line with previous State Retirement pension regulations. Recently the State Retirement age has changed to 65 for all women born after 6 April 1955. For earlier retirement, additional planning would be required.
Under normal circumstances, benefits from private pension plans cannot be drawn before the age of 50 or over (men or women), except in the case of certain occupations which provide for early retirement, e.g. sports professionals and others.