Optimizing tax for mobile app development business (Delaware Offshore)

[avalanche]

What the KPMG memo is saying is regarding citizens who "work abroad" i.e not resident in Philippines for tax purposes. You live in Philippines and assume will work from there unless you travel out of Philippines to conduct the works. You have to pay tax on worldwide income. What is your actual residency status over there or are you guessing? Do you i.e spend less than 180 days there in a tax year?

To be honest watching all the setup is a first world problem. Having something to watch is better than having nothing to watch.

Honestly my "work" is purely online and not documented anywhere (I never meet people personally). Technically I am a tourist who just happened to get local tax ID (long story) yet no work permit. Hence I assumed my tax residency is PH. Im living here for more than a year already lol.

 

[avalanche]

What the KPMG memo is saying is regarding citizens who "work abroad" i.e not resident in Philippines for tax purposes. You live in Philippines and assume will work from there unless you travel out of Philippines to conduct the works. You have to pay tax on worldwide income. What is your actual residency status over there or are you guessing? Do you i.e spend less than 180 days there in a tax year?




To be honest watching all the setup is a first world problem. Having something to watch is better than having nothing to watch.

Basically I keep finding info like this:

Please note that aliens are taxable in the Philippines only on Philippine-sourced income.

Source: ITR compliance for expatriates | BusinessWorld

 

[Martin Everson]

Honestly my "work" is purely online and not documented anywhere (I never meet people personally).

So then work is conducted from Philippines - that is clear.

Technically I am a tourist who just happened to get local tax ID (long story) yet no work permit

Do you have a valid tourist visa as we speak? Or are you now an illegal over staying on expired tourist visa and working?

Hence I assumed my tax residency is PH.

It is if you have registered with tax office for Tax ID and are staying there

Im living here for more than a year already lol.

Then you pay tax on world wide income in Philippines as you are there more than 180 days and cannot be considered a non-resident alien....lol.

 

[avalanche]

Do you have a valid tourist visa as we speak? Or are you now an illegal over staying on expired tourist visa and working?

Its possible to stay in PH with tourist visa up to 2 years (just extend it multiple times).

Then you pay tax on world wide income in Philippines as you are there more than 180 days and cannot be considered a non-resident alien....lol.

That would be really bad I know a dude who is running EU company and Philippine company at the same time and he never paid a dime in PH (for his EU company). He is living in PH.

There is no active CFC rule in Philippines so the only way to do it legally I see is to keep my money in Estonian company until I change my tax residency to something better lol. What sort of tax residency would you recommend to render my total taxes to anything below 8%?

 

[Martin Everson]

That would be really bad I know a dude who is running EU company and Philippine company at the same time and he never paid a dime in PH (for his EU company). He is living in PH.

Not surprised. These developing countries don't have the tools or resources to enforce anything. Plus with Philippines not being part of CRS there is no information exchange for those living there with offshore accounts.

 

[avalanche]

Not surprised. These developing countries don't have the tools or resources to enforce anything. Plus with Philippines not being part of CRS there is no information exchange for those living there with offshore accounts.

Thats what I'm thinking as well

 

[Martin Everson]

In Philippines this is how CRS conversation goes

[Finance Minister] Sir we should sign up to AEOI CRS
[President] What is that?
[Finance Minister] Information on offshore accounts are exchanged
[President] You mean if I have account offshore information is exchanged?
[Finance Minister] Yes Sir
[President] Your fired!!!!

 

[avalanche]

In Philippines this is how CRS conversation goes

[Finance Minister] Sir we should sign up to AEOI CRS
[President] What is that?
[Finance Minister] Information on offshore accounts are exchanged
[President] You mean if I have account offshore information is exchanged?
[Finance Minister] Yes Sir
[President] Your fired!!!!

Do you think its bad? Its good in my opinion lol.

 

[Martin Everson]

No not that bad I actually like Duterte.

 

[avalanche]

No not that bad I actually like Duterte.

Hey Martin, what do you think of Labuan jurisdiction? Have you had any experience with it? I can't find any government documents or official relevant instructions.

 

[Martin Everson]

Hey Martin, what do you think of Labuan jurisdiction? Have you had any experience with it? I can't find any government documents or official relevant instructions.

Never dealt with it.

 

[avalanche]

Never dealt with it.

Alright. They seem to be for high-end clients (not my level yet). I'm gonna look at other jurisdictions then.
So much headache with receiving money that I made with my own sweat and blood.

What do you think about UAE (Free Zone)? Are European companies allowed transfer money to UAE without VAT for licensing? I've heard UAE had been blacklisted in EU:

UAE on EU tax blacklist because of poor communication, UAE banker says

Basically I just want to receive my money and be able to pay for my day-to-day expenses with it.

 

[brimstone]

UAE freezone company here and clients in EU and USA have no issue's sending payments

 

[avalanche]

UAE freezone company here and clients in EU and USA have no issue's sending payments

How much did your setup cost you? I'm looking for a simple setup for just receiving IP royalties.

 

[neweraoffshore]

@avalanche sending money to the UAE is no problem normally if you have a valid invoice and the company looks like it has substance, so they need at least webpage which explains what they do. The EU Bank may ask for this. The Mail they will send you will normally look like this :

Hi XXXX,

Hope you are well.

Please provide us with the following information for the below transaction:

10XXXXXX9 at xXX for the amount of XXXXXX0.00 EUR.

1.The complete and precise economic purpose of the transaction, including a description of the underlying goods/services/technologies

2.A copy of the invoice(s) or any other probative document(s) related to the transaction

3.Complete identification of all involved parties, their activities and existence of (recurrent) business with this/these counterparty(ies)

4.Are the goods, services and technologies subject to direct or indirect military/repression use? If so, please explain. Please submit any probative document(s) if applicable.

5.Are the goods or services subject to "dual-use" as regard to the list of items considered by European authorities? If so, please explain.

6.Is the transaction related in any way to financing? If so, please explain


Please send this information at your earliest convenience but if we can have this by Thursday xxxx9, that would be appreciated.

Regards

The On-Boarding Team




So if you can provide all this you won't have problems at all. Maybe they check Dubai transactions a little more detailed (because they are watchlisted http://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/147404/7 - 01 EPRS-Briefing-621872-Listing-tax-havens-by-the-EU-FINAL.PDF ), but I never had a declined transaction to Dubai. Just sometimes declined transaction from Dubai to somewhere else. But there was always a solution for this. If you have an EU company you may be subjected to tax audits from time to time if you transfer money to these watch-listed countries. Keep this in mind. So you have to make some effort to make it "look legal" .

 

[avalanche]

@avalanche sending money to the UAE is no problem normally if you have a valid invoice and the company looks like it has substance, so they need at least webpage which explains what they do. The EU Bank may ask for this. The Mail they will send you will normally look like this :

Hi XXXX,

Hope you are well.

Please provide us with the following information for the below transaction:

10XXXXXX9 at xXX for the amount of XXXXXX0.00 EUR.

1.The complete and precise economic purpose of the transaction, including a description of the underlying goods/services/technologies

2.A copy of the invoice(s) or any other probative document(s) related to the transaction

3.Complete identification of all involved parties, their activities and existence of (recurrent) business with this/these counterparty(ies)

4.Are the goods, services and technologies subject to direct or indirect military/repression use? If so, please explain. Please submit any probative document(s) if applicable.

5.Are the goods or services subject to "dual-use" as regard to the list of items considered by European authorities? If so, please explain.

6.Is the transaction related in any way to financing? If so, please explain


Please send this information at your earliest convenience but if we can have this by Thursday xxxx9, that would be appreciated.

Regards

The On-Boarding Team




So if you can provide all this you won't have problems at all. Maybe they check Dubai transactions a little more detailed (because they are watchlisted http://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/147404/7 - 01 EPRS-Briefing-621872-Listing-tax-havens-by-the-EU-FINAL.PDF ), but I never had a declined transaction to Dubai. Just sometimes declined transaction from Dubai to somewhere else. But there was always a solution for this. If you have an EU company you may be subjected to tax audits from time to time if you transfer money to these watch-listed countries. Keep this in mind. So you have to make some effort to make it "look legal" .

How much do you think does it cost to arrange a very simple software IP holding company in Dubai free zone with a local bank account?

 

[neweraoffshore]

@avalanche . I don't have much knowledge when it comes to dubai company formations. I just do business with some. I always recommend US companies.

 

[Martin Everson]

3.Complete identification of all involved parties, their activities and existence of (recurrent) business with this/these counterparty(ies)

Do they mean passport copies or just names of parties?

 

[neweraoffshore]

@Martin Everson just names and addresses. Passport copies would be too crazy hope we will never reach this point .
For example you have to write something like " Company XXXX, located in XXXX, engagend in XXXX business with the Website www.xxx.xx. We are in business for xxx, did xxx and plan to do xxxx in the future"

Maybe a good to know fact, but only happened once to me. I had to send screenshots from a developed software GUI to prove that the service was made.

 

[Martin Everson]

@Martin Everson just names and addresses. Passport copies would be too crazy hope we will never reach this point .
For example you have to write something like " Company XXXX, located in XXXX, engagend in XXXX business with the Website www.xxx.xx. We are in business for xxx, did xxx and plan to do xxxx in the future"

I guess you mean home address? Seems a bit invasive. If I have to give my home address to a client I would refuse outright.