Turks and Caicos is a centre where there are no taxes and the concept
of secrecy is enshrined in law. It has always been understood that
when you decide to conduct your financial affairs in Turks and Caicos
you are accessing a financial environment that is secure, modern
and one in which you can have confidence. TCI has severe penalties
for anyone revealing client information and financial services companies
doing busines in TCI are resonsible to the local governing authorties
and to those aurthorities alone. Only rarely, and then only by local
court order, can the veil of confidentiality be pierced and this
occurs in cases of obvious criminal actiivity such as money laundering.
Having
said that, there have been many changes over the past several years
and these changes have come as a result of the the terrorist attacks
on September 11 and the passing into law of the US Patriot Act.
This provides financial institutions and federal regulators with
new powers to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. "Know
your Customer" rules have been implemented to a high degree
and domestic taxing authorities are using the current changes to
battle against perceived tax evasion and flight of capital offshore.
It
is becoming more difficult as time goes on to help high net worth
individuals to implement effective estate or tax planning. Still,
an international tax law professional can work through all the difficulties
and changing legislation to find perfectly legal and effective ways
to reduce tax and shield assets without crossing the line into tax
evasion. It has become increasingly necessary for the offshore advisor
to help with tax planning and be well informed and current in his
knowledge of global tax environment.
Turks
and Caicos has such international tax professionals to help you
understand the vehicles that are available to you. Ask Peter to
recommend such a professional.
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