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22 Oct, 2012
With flexible and responsive regulatory systems and low or zero rates of taxation, it is not surprising that the internet gaming industry has a found its home offshore. Those jurisdictions which have invested in an appropriate legal framework and advanced telecommunications infrastructure have generally reaped the benefits of the rapid growth in this sector over the last decade. The tiny Caribbean territory of Antigua and Barbuda, and the Mediterranean island of Malta, a member of the European Union (EU), are two such jurisdictions. However, legislative and regulatory developments in the United States and the EU have put the very existence of the internet gambling industry in these places under threat, with disastrous economic consequences, actual in the first case and potential in the second.
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03 Oct, 2012
One of the ironies of the modern world is that, while it is now probably easier than ever to live abroad, for instance as an international assignee or as one of the growing army of expats choosing to leave colder northern climes for sunnier shores, pension rules are, in the main, stuck firmly in the 20th century, and are anything but mobile.
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27 Jul, 2012
National tax systems, which have traditionally rested on the principles of jurisdiction and physical presence, have been slow to adapt to the nimble and borderless world of e-commerce, especially of the offshore variety. However, driven by the need to raise ever greater sums in tax revenue, this is a situation that is beginning to change.
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25 Jul, 2012
Tax certainty is as crucial a factor as tax rates for an investor or a business when deciding in which jurisdiction to locate a company - if not more so - and this is something that applies to offshore jurisdictions as well as the large 'rich' countries.
A company will be reluctant to invest in a country if it has a history of changing the tax goalposts on a frequent basis, as this makes the important business of long-term planning very fraught and complicates further already complex tax codes.
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12 Jul, 2012
A number of factors combine to influence where companies and owners register ships and aircraft, but none more so perhaps than taxation, and considerable cost efficiencies can be achieved for operators if their businesses are structured in the right way, often across multiple jurisdictions.
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28 Jun, 2012
People with at least a reasonably substantial net worth have traditionally utilised wealth management strategies, often with an offshore dimension, to protect their income and assets from the ever-growing reach of national tax collectors or against attack from frivolous lawsuits, and given the current volatile regulatory and economic environment, this remains very much the case today.
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17 May, 2012
Like many International Offshore Financial Centres (IOFCs), the British Virgin Islands has had to adapt its legislative framework to survive in the increasingly competitive world of offshore and within the ever-tightening straightjacket of transparency demands from the OECD and other multilateral groups. So, in this feature we look at how the BVI is rising to meet these challenges, exploring key aspects of its offshore financial services regime.
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26 Apr, 2012
Last month, the European Commission formally requested that the government of the United Kingdom change two pieces of anti-avoidance legislation deemed incompatible with European Union law, in a move which could have far-reaching implications for investors and businesses who use foreign companies and other offshore structures to achieve tax optimization.
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