Cross Border Assets

PLANNING FOR YOUR CROSS BORDER ASSETS AND USE OF
CORPORATE STRUCTURES & OFFSHORE COMPANIES

Many Singaporeans today invest across borders, be it investments in properties in the U.K. or Australia or own moneys and investments in a bank account in New York or London. When death occurs, the usual pitfalls often relate to high taxation in the form of capital gains taxes or estate duties and inheritance taxes1. The costs of probate and transfers to heirs could also be expensive2. The holding of such foreign assets through offshore structures and companies is an alternative solution not only for wealth accumulation, but also to deal with tax and succession planning.

Offshore structures and companies are used for various purposes and have a number of advantages not available onshore. We make it easy for you to set up offshore companies in various jurisdictions such as British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, Hong Kong, Labuan, Seychelles, Belize, Cayman Island and many more.

Examples of uses of an offshore company include the following:

  • INVESTMENT COMPANIES
    Investment companies could be set up in offshore jurisdictions to invest in all kinds of assets and investments. Receipts of income, gains, dividends and distributions to such entities would be free from further tax on income or capital gains. – Investopedia

  • HOLDING OF OVERSEAS PROPERTIES
    The advantage of such holdings could be to avoid estate duties or inheritance tax, and avoidance of capital gains tax that might otherwise be imposed. – Invest Offshore

  • OFFSHORE INCOME
    Such income could then be accumulated or reinvested. The offshore company could also be the holding company to own the shares of other entities. – BBCIncorp

  • CONFIDENTIALITY
    Assets held through an offshore company are highly effective for maintenance of confidentiality. – Offshore Gateways

  • SHORT-TERM HOLDINGS
    The ease of transfer and the disposal of investments without any complications or restrictions can be invaluable for holdings and investments intended for short-term purposes. – BBCIncorp

  • FOR COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT
    The offshore company is useful for collective investments where several investors are involved.

1. Taxation of gains from sale of foreign assets. Sourced from EY: https://www.ey.com/en_sg/singapore-tax-alerts/taxation-of-gains-from-sale-of-foreign-assets 

2. Understanding probate lawyer fees. Sourced from LegalZoom: https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/understanding-probate-lawyer-fees 

Simplified scheme of using offshore companies for tax optimization purposes. Sourced from ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Simplified-scheme-of-using-offshore-companies-for-tax-optimization-purposes_fig1_357831929