subject: Panama More Than Just A Canal! [print this page] Although most people asked for their thoughts on Panama will most likely mention the countrys canal, there is far more to this Central American nation of just over 3 million people as offshoreresource.com discovered.
Post-Noriega Panama has benefited from the policies of business-friendly governments leveraging the strategic importance of the invaluable canal as a foundation and, in doing so, the countrys friendly tax and regulation system has enabled Panama to establish itself as one of the more cutting edge and reputable business and financial centres outside the established 'onshore' countries. Put simply, Panama ranks as probably the most important trading and business hub in the region.
Panama's Tax Regime
The specialists at Offshoreresource.com firmly believe that tax havens play a crucial role in steadying and energizing the global economy by serving as a constant reminder to larger and more tax-restrictive nations that capital tends to flow to environments where its growth is unimpeded by heavy taxation.
More favorable tax environments serve as the canary in the coalmine to remind high-taxation governments that taxpayers have options and one of those is Panama.
Despite growing international pressure to eschew the financial privacy rights of individuals and businesses, Panama stands as a paragon of both banking and tax privacy. Thanks in no small part to its well-known deference towards financial privacy, this forward-looking country is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Panamas remarkably favorable tax environment depends heavily on banking secrecy laws that are actually protected in its constitution. If you seek world class asset protection, business, banking or investment strategies, Panama is among the best long term choices.
Offshoreresource.com team has compiled a series of articles designed to help you take advantage of the attractive environment in Panama and other countries around the world.
First and foremost, those motivated to go offshore by the prospect of more secure, more private, safer and more diverse banking and investment options need to consider the formation of one or more offshore structures. Many individuals still assume that they can open a personal offshore account in their own name and then bask under the warm blanket of anonymity they think a bank located in another country and under another tax jurisdiction provides.
Wrong, wrong, wrong !
The numbered account you may have heard referred to in old novels or spy thrillers is well and truly consigned to the annals of history. Each time you make a payment into your account or transfer money out of it, your name will be inextricably connected to that account. Money going into or out of the account will always have your name linked with it on the bank-to-bank routing instructions so it is of the utmost importance that the account is opened in the name of a company, foundation or, perhaps, a trust.
Of course, as an authorized signatory on said account, your bank will be fully aware of the connection to you, but the account itself will remain anonymous provided it is held with a bank in a country that does not customarily share information with foreign governments or private investigators. Panama is one such country.
Thanks to this feature, any payments into and out of said account will never be linked to you personally since only the name of the company foundation or trust holding the account will be registered on the inter-bank payment instructions . . . nothing else.
This idea behind the corporate shield is ranked highly among the basic rules of offshore banking and investment. The formation of a foreign company is essential even if youve no intention of using it for transacting business and only utilize it for investment and/or banking. It represents the cornerstone underpinning the valuable asset protection features of a foreign company incorporated in a country like Panama with its advantageous corporate laws that favor the interests of the individual that simply harbors the desire to protect their assets from predators. Little wonder, then, that Panama continues to attract the attention of a growing number of our clients here at offshoreresource.com.
