Hi all,
Hoping for some advice as I'm missing the last link of the puzzle for tax planning. Situation explained below:
- I am a New Zealand citizen, currently living in New Zealand.
- I will permanently move to South Korea (for lifestyle reasons), and in the process will remove myself from NZ tax residency and begin my SK tax residency.
- I am a freelance IT consultant, working primarily for Australian clients.
- These clients would like to pay in AUD to an Australian bank account number
SK has an interesting incentive for new tax residents, as follows:
Given my clients are outside of SK, and foreign income is not subject to income tax in SK, how should I best structure my freelancing to minimize tax?
Est revenue ~$150k USD/year
Initial options:
1. Setup a SK company. The company tax rate is relatively low at 9%, however personal tax rates are relatively high and getting the funds out of the company while minimizing tax may be challenging.
2. Setup a HK or SG company with myself as a director, and then setup TW. No tax will be payable in HK/SG, however it may be argued that the company is domiciled in Korea and subject to SK tax.
3. Setup a HK or SG company with nominee directors. This provides a stronger argument for foreign domicile, however I am unsure how I would be able to receive AUD payments given TW disallow nominee director companies. (side note, would I be able to setup a HK/SG bank account with this structure?)
4. Do not setup a company, and have the clients remit directly to a non-SK bank account (such as HSBC Expat).
I read through many sales pitches as to why it's good to have an offshore company setup as an IT freelancer, so I'm interested to hear on the common strategy to tax minimize particularly regarding corporate domicile.
Hoping for some advice as I'm missing the last link of the puzzle for tax planning. Situation explained below:
- I am a New Zealand citizen, currently living in New Zealand.
- I will permanently move to South Korea (for lifestyle reasons), and in the process will remove myself from NZ tax residency and begin my SK tax residency.
- I am a freelance IT consultant, working primarily for Australian clients.
- These clients would like to pay in AUD to an Australian bank account number
SK has an interesting incentive for new tax residents, as follows:
Given my clients are outside of SK, and foreign income is not subject to income tax in SK, how should I best structure my freelancing to minimize tax?
Est revenue ~$150k USD/year
Initial options:
1. Setup a SK company. The company tax rate is relatively low at 9%, however personal tax rates are relatively high and getting the funds out of the company while minimizing tax may be challenging.
2. Setup a HK or SG company with myself as a director, and then setup TW. No tax will be payable in HK/SG, however it may be argued that the company is domiciled in Korea and subject to SK tax.
3. Setup a HK or SG company with nominee directors. This provides a stronger argument for foreign domicile, however I am unsure how I would be able to receive AUD payments given TW disallow nominee director companies. (side note, would I be able to setup a HK/SG bank account with this structure?)
4. Do not setup a company, and have the clients remit directly to a non-SK bank account (such as HSBC Expat).
I read through many sales pitches as to why it's good to have an offshore company setup as an IT freelancer, so I'm interested to hear on the common strategy to tax minimize particularly regarding corporate domicile.
