Business Finance Issues

The most important thing for you to remember about benefiting from offshore tax havens is that the control and management of the tax generating entity (be it a Company, a Trust or a Foundation) itself should be in the low or zero-tax jurisdiction. There are many corporate service providers that can provide this service. Many large companies use offshore structures to maximise their profits whilst making sure their prices are rock bottom for the end consumer. In the UK a number of supermarket stores have been frowned upon and heavily criticised for their methods of tax effective savings – no matter that they supply their goods at affordable costs for shoppers as well as providing employment within the country of sales.

Several jurisdictions considered to be “high-tax” such as the United Kingdom and Germany have tried to attract headquarters’ offices and functions using a concept called the ‘coordination centre’. What was originally used in Belgium is now seen in many countries throughout the world. Essentially, the high tax country will allow a resident corporation to continue its operations outside the normal tax laws. It is then able to use functions such as cross border intra-group trading or “re-invoicing” to by-pass any withholding tax or other taxes. The taxation of coordination centres is ‘by agreement’ between the corporation and the host country and is widely minimal. This shows just one of the ways in which high-tax jurisdictions, which are against low-tax areas, play the same game themselves.

Who Else Benefits From Offshore Zero Tax Jurisdictions?

I bet you didn’t know that some of the most famous names in entertainment, music and film have benefited greatly from the use of offshore Companies and Trusts? Many of our best known celebrities use offshore structures to save tax and protect their assets. For example, members of the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts) use offshore Trusts to make sure that they pay only 1.6 percent of all income earned, that’s amazing! They retain 98.4 percent of all their income! (This is according to the Dutch documents that were recently published detailing their tax affairs and the offshore structures involved). It’s brilliant news for them, but it’s not only the ultra rich & famous that can utilise offshore structures to save tax. There are many ways for up-and-coming businesses or moderately well off individuals to minimise their tax requirements and legally protect their assets from litigation or economic instability.

Whilst you may never be able to reduce your tax bill down as low as the Rolling Stones 1.6 per cent (unless of course you decide to become a tax nomad and exile yourself from your home country) it is entirely possible for normal people like me and you to have an offshore Company or Trust within a financial management strategy that can reduce taxes, protect your estate and protect your assets in a completely legal and confidential manner.

You don’t want to have your wallet stolen. But like they say, accidents do happen. So make sure that you are ready for the worst. I’ve lost my wallet once and it was big trouble since I had no idea how to deal with the crisis. Let me share the things that I learned from the experience.

Make the Necessary Preparations

One important thing you have to do is to write down your important account numbers. If listing them down is too much hassle for you, have them photocopied. You need you credit card numbers, your debit account numbers, your license number and important O.R. numbers.

And avoic carrying important documents in your wallet, at least those that you don’t need with you. Your social security card and birthday certificate are better off at home. If anything, you don’t want them in the wrong hands. Shrewd identity thieves would definitely want to have them.

What to Do if it is Stolen

So what should you do if the wallet you lost was actually stolen? You must run to the nearest phone and notify the bank. They usually have a deadline for reporting stolen cards. Make sure you do this within 24 hours. Then cancel your credit cards as soon as you’re done calling the bank.

Also, don’t forget to notify the police. The credit card investigators will be looking for a police report. Then call the credit reporting organizations - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - so they can make the necessary alerts on your account and social security number.

Be Well-Informed

Make sure that you utilize of available information. For one, you should keep yourself abreast of the local news. Most hooligans maintain a specific trend when operating. You can avoid becoming the next victim by being aware of such scams.

Learn from the Lesson

Make sure the incident never happens again. You should always check for your wallet. And make sure that you always have extra cash with you, other than what you have in your wallet. Since I lost my wallet, I’ve developed the habit of keeping some extra cash in a separate money clip. I love how it fits snugly in my secret pocket. And since thieves are mostly after my wallet, it’s always safe. And you should see my collection. I have leather money clips and gold money clips that are just magnificent.

Anyhow, keep safe!

There are a lot of reasons that people may look to refinance home loans. Maybe the most common is to take credit of lowered interest rates. Some of the other reasons people refinance home loans is to pay off high priced credit cards, make home improvements, and rebuild credit rating that has taken a turn for the worse.

What is involved when borrowers look to refinance home loans? When you refinance you normally just pay off the old mortgage and sign a new mortgage. Now this will also mean most of the same costs you had when you signed the original mortgage. Depending upon your State or the terms of your mortgage you may pay a penalty for paying the note off early.

Those who refinance home loans look at few things before doing so. Look for a company that may be willing to waive the normal fees. These include such things as an application fee, legal fees and appraisal fees. This are all normally associated with closing fees on a new mortgage. This could save thousands of dollars. It would give you a higher monthly payment but this could be still acceptable with a small rate decrease.

How long do you plan on staying in your home? If the answer is just a few months the monthly savings may not have time to catch up to the costs involved if you were not able to secure a loan from a company who will refinance home loans but will not waive fees involved. What are the new rates? As a rule try and find a rate that is minimum 2 points below your current mortgage rate.

Some who refinance home refinancing do so with the intention of building equity in their home faster. Now with this type of loan your month cost will be higher even with a lower rate. The benefit is you build equity faster and pay less interest over the length of the mortgage. If you wanted to refinance a 30 year mortgage to a 15 but the cost was to high you may want to check about a 20 year mortgage to still be able to take advantage of the lower rates.

The last central point to remember with companies who refinance home loans. Try and get a guarantee on the interest rate so that it is locked in during closing. This will keep the rate the same even if it should raise up prior to your closing. You could even try and see if they will agree to a rate decrease if that should occur before closing. The refinance of home loans is competitive enough that if a company will not do either of those option. You may want to check with another company. The ultimate goal is to reduce your payments or to increase the equity of your home in a shorter time.