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Thoughts on the Tokelau Islands?
- Thread starter BritishSecret
- Start date
Unfortunately I don’t speak Tokelauan, but it seems a nice place. You can probably call the president and ask him directly, he shouldn’t be very busy.
you can always ignore me, there’s a function for that.
Don’t forget the Holy See as a tax haven btw. Latin is easier than Tokelauan.
Tokelau is not really a tax haven in the same way for example BVI, Belize, or Seychelles. There is no streamlined process of incorporation. There are no service providers incorporating hundreds or thousands of companies per year.
IIRC, zero tax is not available without approval from the ministry of finance. And I'll let you imagine how such approvals are usually obtained.
Similar story in Tuvalu.
IIRC, zero tax is not available without approval from the ministry of finance. And I'll let you imagine how such approvals are usually obtained.
Similar story in Tuvalu.
The fact that's your actual response says a lot, I find your comments mean and extremely uninformative, seriously please stop.
Okay gotcha thank you that's fascinating, so basically they're too small to be a proper tax haven, well at least right now they're too small it could perhaps change in the future who knows
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Tokelau is not a country: Tokelau | The United Nations and Decolonization. If it were, it would be the third smallest country in the world after the Holy See and Monaco.
It is a nation, but independence referendum attempts failed in 2006 and 2007. Another referendum should take place in 2025/26.
https://www.matauala.org.nz/independence
Until self-determination prevails, there will be no offshore sector in Tokelau.
It is a nation, but independence referendum attempts failed in 2006 and 2007. Another referendum should take place in 2025/26.
https://www.matauala.org.nz/independence
Until self-determination prevails, there will be no offshore sector in Tokelau.
Well it’s more likely that they will disappear in the future than becoming larger, so I doubt that.well at least right now they're too small it could perhaps change in the future who knows
As far as I know Tokelau isn’t even autonomous, so even if you somehow manage to establish a company there, New Zealand would likely claim it’s tax resident.
If you are looking for Islands in that region your best bet is Marshall Islands but they are too close to the US, or Vanuatu but it has a bad reputation.
It's an associated state of the US. Not a US territory as such but the US has a lot of responsibilities for the islands.
All Marshall Islands companies are incorporated with the IRI (International Registries Inc), which is operated from Virginia.
The IRS does not have any formal powers over the Marshall Islands.
Mainly because it has a very poor record of living up to international norms and standards on AML and KYC. That attracts a certain clientele which taints a jurisdiction's international standing.
There's a lot of hypocrisy in determining jurisdictions of ill repute. Most of the world's money laundering happens in EU, UK, and US. But you don't hear much about that, only about small and often poor nations reeling from the after effects of colonialism.
Huh? Hover over?
Thanks for that info, what do people use the marshall islands mainly for then? I know a lot of yachts are registered there
And would you say then that Vanuatu is the worst tax haven when it comes to carrying out checks and kyc related things?
People use Marshall Islands for a lot of things. The whole US influence is blown out of proportion by people who are still traumatized by the pre-FATCA scare that anything US is going lead to an orange jump suit and one-way trip to Gitmo.
It's a very popular flag of convenience. Go to Monaco, Saint-Tropez, and other places where yachts are moored, and you will see a lot of Marshallese flags. It's also used as a flag of convenience for shipping.
If you ask FATF, they might agree with that statement and throw in a few other jurisdictions like Barbados and Cayman Islands. I think reality is a bit more nuanced than that.
For example, you can form a company in the US without providing any kind of KYC. And compared to EU/UK, US banks have a very light touch approach to KYC for account opening.
If you form a company in Vanuatu, you will be required to provide passport and other documents. And then if you try to open a bank account for the company (in Vanuatu or elsewhere), you will be asked for the same documents again.
But if you're applying for citizenship, the US imposes much stricter controls than Vanuatu, whose passports are for sale and background checks are very poor. And while US and EU/UK have problems with corruption, it pales in comparison to what you can pay to get away with in Vanuatu.
So it's not a simple X is worst situation. You have to consider the whole picture.
I think Sols wrote everything what I know about those countries.
In theory they are independent from the US but I keep hearing news how they investigate Marshall Islands companies, while more rarely about investigations of Cayman Islands companies. Maybe this is the case only because usually Americans open companies there, no idea.
I heard it's difficult to get bank accounts for Vanuatu companies, and there are lots of news how Chinese nationals bought Vanuatu citizenship and after a criminal investigation those are usually quickly revoked.
But I guess if all you need is a company without bank account Vanuatu can work for you.
I am afraid it will be very problematic to open account for Vanuatu company in Europe. You can try offshore bank Pacific Private Bank Ltd, they open accounts for international Vanuatu companies, because they are Vanuatu bank.
Maybe for Cayman company it would be easier to open account in some EMI in Europe, but Cayman will come at it's price.
Maybe for Cayman company it would be easier to open account in some EMI in Europe, but Cayman will come at it's price.
I'm confused why would anyone want a bank account for a Vanuatu company in Europe, don't you then have to pay European taxes?
No. It does not matter there your accounts are. The matter is where your company is controlled from.
Most people try to open accounts in europe to have international euro payment capability. Which is very convenient.
The first reason is European banks usually considered safer than others, I'm not sure if it's still true as many banks has very high debt ratio, just look at Credit Suisse.
The second is access to SEPA instant transfer is a big plus.
The second is access to SEPA instant transfer is a big plus.
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