What is a secret offshore bank account?
Secret offshore accounts are generally defined as those which protect the identity of the beneficial owner. Whereas in most normal domestic accounts the government could quite easily ascertain who was the owner of which account, a secret offshore account is placed in a jurisdiction where a high-tax government has no legal authority.
Why use a secret offshore account?
Confidential offshore accounts are used for the following:
Asset Protection: Many people like to keep a ‘lifeboat’ sum of money as a reserve. This often proves useful when faced with litigation, divorce or bankruptcy. If lawyers don’t know about your money they can’t sure you for it. In turn this lowers your risk of being sued, since most law firms asset the net worth of their clients before deciding whether the case is worth their while. Furthermore if assets are held offshore, it can be extremely difficult for the domestic authority to gain access to them.
Privacy: This goes hand in hand with asset protection. The less anyone knows about your assets the safer they are.
Tax efficiency: Many people find they can benefit from secret offshore accounts by lowering their tax burden. Those who run their own businesses often have most to gain. For example some canny people like to register their company offshore and then benefit from tax breaks by donating funds as capital for the offshore company.
How much does it cost?
Offshore accounts are not just for the very rich, but it is most likely not in your interest to open a secret account with under 5000USD. Typical charges could include 2-300 dollars to open an account and then nominal percentages on all wire transfers.
More information on offshore bank accounts
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