Reasons why Puerto Rico is an Ideal Offshore Banking Solution (for a non-U.S. Citizen)
With the Paradise Papers leak, the offshore world is put under the microscope once again. Big names revealed to the general public, showing a glimpse of where they keep their assets — and how.
However, just like the leaks before it, asset holders are shown that, once again, they are being scrutinized for the wrong reasons. Sure, some of the asset holders are criminals and tax evaders, but most aren’t.
Even for things that are viewed as legal, the general public accuses offshore asset owners as unethical.
The big question is, how is it unethical to protect your hard-earned money from those who ‘silently’ want to claim ownership of yours?
If you’re one of the asset owners who feel that it’s becoming more difficult to secure your hard-earned money, you’re not alone.
Options are becoming limited
Let’s take one of the fastest growing offshore jurisdictions in the world, Singapore, for example. Unless you have six-digit-worth of assets, you can’t access the private banking services. That’s only logical; why would Singaporean banks want anything less than that figure, given they’re awash with money from all over the world?
How about established jurisdictions like The Netherlands? Although the banks are open to non-resident clients, they seem to have a certain list of countries they don’t want to deal with — thanks to the global scrutiny on the International banking world, which means an increased liabilities on the banks’ side, e.g., increased risks of clients’ illicit funds from ‘questionable’ countries.
So, what are the options left for you? Well, there’s a few, and fortunately, we have one brilliant option to recommend.
Enter Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States located in the northeast Carribean Sea. It’s a popular travel destination due to the tropical climate, nature, cuisine, and — of course — the tax incentives.
Indeed, there are reasons why Puerto Rico is one of the most popular destinations for U.S. citizens who want to enjoy lower taxation without ditching their U.S. passport.
But how low can it go?
Due to various tax incentives, your income tax rate can go down to 4 percent, compared to U.S. federal tax rate of 39.6%. The rate is good for categorizing Puerto Rico as a “tax haven” — even for Americans.
But the low income tax rate is not the only upside; there’s more. Firstly, your dividends are tax-free, which means that your gain from dividends on your company profits or your investments is taxed at zero tax rate. Secondly, your capital gain is tax-free, which means that selling real estate, company shares, etc. is taxed at zero percent.
One caveat — if you want to call it a caveat, that is — is the fact that you need to move physically to Puerto Rico.
But there’s one more upside offered by Puerto Rico, and it doesn’t involve moving to Puerto Rico, given you’re not a U.S. citizen: There are plenty of advantages offered when you open an offshore bank account in Puerto Rico.
This is probably the main focus of you in reading this article, we assume.
Why you should open a bank account in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s unique tax laws permit the non-U.S. citizen to enjoy U.S.’ perks as the largest and strongest offshore jurisdiction in the world. Not only that, but banking with our partner bank in Puerto Rico gives more than just banking services.
So, what are your advantages of banking with our Puerto Rican banking partner?
1. Absolute confidentiality; no AEoI/CRS reporting compliance required
AEoI/CRS is a standard which is purposed to reduce global tax evasion, by requiring member countries to exchange tax information among each other. The media says that the AEoI/CRS puts the nail in the offshore banking secrecy coffin.
Not stopping there, there are even more nails to put: The recent Paradise Papers leak is suspected to be the political ploy for the tax haven blacklist, which will be released by the European Council on December 5, 2017.
However, in reality, offshore banking is still very much alive, and asset owners still can protect their wealth with full privacy — regardless of their asset sizes. But that’s only if you know where to find it.
But since you’re here, now you know that Puerto Rico is one jurisdiction that’s not on non-U.S. asset holders’ radars.
We’ve mentioned above that as a U.S. territory; there are some perks enjoyed by Puerto Rico. One of them is the tax system. Although it’s not an upside for U.S. citizens, it’s a major upside for the rest of the world.
Consider this: The U.S. refuses to exchange information with the rest of the world by not committing to the AEoI/CRS. This means that if you open a bank account and/or setup a company in the U.S., your financial information is hidden from the general public.
If you bank in Puerto Rico, then you’ll enjoy the same secrecy privilege.
2. Full-reserve bank with 100 percent liquidity
Full-reserve banking means that our partner bank keeps 100% of depositors’ fund in cash, which ensures its availability whenever you want to withdraw your funds. This is made possible because our partner bank doesn’t loan your money to borrowers, which is allegedly the biggest source of most banks’ income.
To contrast, a fractional-reserve bank uses your deposited money — legally — to lend to borrowers at a much larger amount, hence the name ‘fractional’ .
So, how does our Puerto Rican banking partner make money? They generate profits from the service fees charged for your banking and investment activities — just the way a proper service business should be run.
3. Wide array of products and services
Our Puerto Rican bank partner offers full-fledge financial products and services, namely:
· Banking: Multi-currency bank accounts, bank cards, and time-deposits;
· Trading: Equities, options, ETFs, futures, CFDs, forex, and bonds — including the platforms you can use for trading, such as Global Tradestation and Metatrader 4;
· Investing: Precious metal investing and storage, mutual funds, and managed accounts.
As a client, you can access all of that via a secure online banking platform.
4. Minimum deposit requirement, minimum account balance
For opening a banking account, our partner bank only requires a minimum deposit of USD/EUR 500. Furthermore, there’s no minimum balance for your account to keep yours.
Not only that, but our partner bank’s trading and investing products are also accessible with minimum deposit amount. For example, you can open a precious metals storage account for a minimum deposit of USD/EUR 500.
Of course, there are high-end accounts that cater clients who have bigger assets, such as the Separately Managed Account (SMA) — USD 100,000 minimum investment — which allows you to invest worldwide with the help of experienced advisors. However, most services are accessible to everyone for less than USD/EUR 1,000.
5. Remote account opening, online account access
The bank account opening can be done remotely; you don’t need to be physically present to open the account. Using our service, the process takes approximately seven working days, depending on the document collection and verification process.
Upon account activation, you can access it via the Internet. Not only accessing your banking, trading and investing information, but you can also executing transfers and transactions online.
For more information, check out our Puerto Rico offshore banking account page.
Takeaway
The true purpose of offshore banking is for asset protection and accessing foreign financial products in an offshore jurisdiction that offers quality, safety, stability, and confidentiality. Our partner bank in Puerto Rico can offer you just that: You can bank, trade and invest with the bank, and you can do so for a deposit as low as USD/EUR 500.
If you’re still pondering whether going offshore is the right decision, consult with your trusted financial advisors, consultants and/or attorneys who are well-versed in offshore asset protections.
If you’re interested in learning more about banking with our partner bank in Puerto Rico, please contact us for a free consultation.
