Properties worth more than one million pounds could potentially find themselves in the firing line and, according to the press in the UK, business secretary Vince Cable may bring the issue up during a speech on executive pay due to be made later this week.

Mr Cable told the Sunday Telegraph that foreigners buying expensive properties but not paying stamp duty was ‘perverse’. He didn’t feel the need to share opinions of people buying foreign property using UK financial structures though. The proposed move would see a 1% annual levy on all property worth over £1 million.

This has come on to the agenda again because according to figures from the UK, the total value of properties registered in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands has rose almost a third in the last 2 years.

It’s a serious point, when the UK press gets its knickers in a twist over offshore bank accounts and secrecy jurisdictions Monaco has never got a look in until today. Even then the press has only mentioned Monaco in a passing fashion, there has been none of the micro analysis, “tax haven” bashing that offshore centers closer to home enjoy. Also part of the whole deal was a company based in Miami but again this has only got a passing mention. If this company happened to be setup in the Channel Islands you could be sure we’d have been treated to a double page spread by now.

With so many apparently world class places to hide your money dotted around the UK, one of which the BBC would have you believe you can just set up an untraceable trust willy nilly, why would you choose to deal with Monaco? Maybe it’s because these white listed, well regulated jurisdictions aren’t quite such an easy place to hide money as people would have you believe? If you took the time to look who found themselves in the initial OECD Grey List compared to those White Listed jurisdictions you might just be surprised.

A CSP Will Be Able To Guide You Through The Process Of Buying Property In The UK

The United Kingdom is also a tax haven for non resident individuals and investing in the UK property market through an offshore company can reap amazing tax savings!

The United Kingdom is an excellent location to invest in property – and through an offshore structure the tax liabilities can be reduced – particularly effective if purchasing the property – but also beneficial if transferring your existing property into an offshore ‘umbrella’ structure.

The property will be held in a tax effective jurisdiction (typically a British Virgin Islands or Isle of Man company) and the shares held in Trust for the owner. As the property is owned by an offshore company that is managed and controlled offshore – a number of tax benefits can be applied. The property can also be rented (upon application to the Inland Revenue as a non-resident landlord).

Such benefits of the structure include:

* Zero Capital Gains Tax – on the sale of the property no tax will be paid on the capital gain.

* Zero Inheritance Tax – the property would not pay any inheritance tax in the estate of the ultimate owner.

* Zero Stamp Duty – in certain cases stamp duties on the transfer of the property can also be mitigated.

Income tax arising from the rent of the property may also be reduced against interest paid on a mortgage and other deductable charges.

The structure is suitable for non-domiciled and non-UK taxpayer’s who wish to take advantage of the excellent return of rental income and the potential growth of UK property

The members of the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts) utilise the benefits of offshore Trusts to ensure they pay only 1.6 percent of all income earned. They keep 98.4 percent of all their income! (Including from the highest grossing performance of all time – This according to the Dutch documents recently published detailing their tax affairs and the offshore structures involved).

Fantastic news for them – but it’s not only the rich & famous that can utilise offshore structures to save tax. There are many opportunities for an up-and-coming business or moderately wealthy individual to minimise their tax requirements and protect their assets from litigation or economic instability.

While it may not be possible to reduce your tax bill down as low as 1.6 per cent (unless you become a tax nomad and exile yourself from your home country) it is entirely possible for people like you and me to have an offshore Company or Trust within a financial management strategy to reduce taxes, protect your estate
and protect your assests in a legal and confidential manner!