Off shore bank accounts

[sunnyp81]

Hi there

What are your views on them?

I came across a fella (doing very well for himself!) who has a good few bank accounts over seas ie spain swiss even asia. Said its the best way to avoid tax charges for small uk businesses. Especially if you are doing the business part time and working full time therefore contributing to tax anyway?

Has anyone got any experience in this or views about this?

Thanks

 

[Ben8472]

You are describing tax evasion. This is of course wrong.

There is no need to evade tax, there are plenty of legal ways to reduce tax if you get yourself a decent accountant.

Also offshore should no longer be seen as a place to hide money - information sharing agreements are almost global now.

I suspect your friend is either 1: Full of cr*p or 2: He is indeed hiding funds but the only reason he is yet to be caught is not because his funds are out of reach but rather because HMRC are quite busy and he is not big time.

If you don't like the UK tax system, move your business to another jurisdiction - businesses are not forced to stay here (Of course that is easier if you trade online, not so easy otherwise).

You can still live in the UK and run a business in another jurisdiction but of course you will still have to pay tax at the UK rates on your personal earnings from the business and quite rightly so.

As I have previously said there is no need to evade, you can lower your tax significantly without breaking any laws.

Ben