Turks & Caicos Islands Tax Haven Information

The Turks & Caicos Islands, and Providenciales in particular, is attracting worldwide attention due to the Islands' tax haven status. The Turks & Caicos Islands offshore legislation is most progressive, especially in the area of residency. There are no restrictions on the ownership of property.

National Colony Realty, Ltd. is pleased to furnish the following overview, provided by Smallwood and Company (international asset management) and Dempsey and Company, the longest established legal firm in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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Dempsey And Company
The Turks and Caicos Islands is one the world's most tax-efficient jurisdictions. There are no income, capital gains, gift, or inheritance taxes of any kind. Likewise, there are no exchange controls and no tax treaties with any other jurisdiction. The Turks & Caicos Islands has strict professional and banking confidentiality laws, and the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information is a criminal offense.

While there is a mutual legal assistance treaty in place with the U.S., allowing for the exchange of information relating to serious criminal offenses, tax matters are specifically excluded from the ambit of the treaty.

Exempted companies or international business corporations (IBCs) incorporated in The Turks & Caicos Islands are automatically granted an undertaking by the Governor exempting them from future taxation (if any) for a period of twenty years.

There are a variety of offshore financial products available in The Turks & Caicos Islands

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Offshore Companies / IBCs
Offshore companies, exempted companies, international business corporations, IBCs ... a variety of names for the same corporate structure, which has become the most commonly used building block in international tax planning structures worldwide. When incorporated in The Turks & Caicos Islands, such companies:

• Require only one shareholder, one director, and one secretary;
• Are permitted shareholders, directors, and secretaries of any nationality;
• Are permitted bearer shares;
• May express capital in any currency;
• Are automatically granted a twenty-year exemption from future The Turks & Caicos Islands taxation (if any);
• Are not required to make any public disclosure (even to the The Turks & Caicos Islands government) as to the identity of directors, shareholders, or officers;
• Are protected by strict The Turks & Caicos Islands confidentiality laws;
• May do business, open bank accounts, and hold property throughout the world.

Such companies are widely used as personal asset-holding vehicles for international investment, and (together with international trusts) for asset protection and estate planning purposes.

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Trusts
A trust arises where a person (known as the grantor or settlor) transfers property to a third party (the trustee) in circumstances obliging the trustee to deal with the property (the trust property or trust fund) for the benefit of designated persons (the beneficiaries). Trusts are widely used internationally for reasons of tax and estate planning and for reasons of asset protection. The Turks & Caicos Islands has an innovative and internationally-respected trust law. Trusts established in the The Turks & Caicos Islands:

• Need not be registered in the The Turks & Caicos Islands or elsewhere;
• Are widely used for purposes of asset protection internationally;
• Can effect the property anywhere in the world;
• Can be created by persons or entities of any nationality;
• Can be used to defeat foreign "forced heirship" laws.

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Other Entities
The Turks & Caicos Islands also has legislation allowing for the establishment of offshore limited partnerships and limited life companies (LLCs), both of which are helpful in international financial and property transactions where a "pass through" entity is required for tax purposes.

The territory has a growing reputation in the field of international captive insurance and captive insurance companies can be readily established.

The Turks & Caicos Islands is an ideal port of registry for boats and pleasure craft up to the local limit of 150 tons. Boats so registered carry the British flag, are subject to no local taxation, no crew nationality restrictions, and can be held anonymously through a The Turks & Caicos Islands registered IBC.

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Why?
Why would anyone want any of these products or entities? The advantages are several:

• Tax efficiency;
• Confidentiality and anonymity;
• Protection of assets from litigation;
• Avoidance of forced heirship, or state-mandated inheritance;
• Preservation of one's estate from spendthrift successors;
• Avoidance of political risks and mobility of investment.

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How?
Contact Owen Foley, Gordon Kerr, or Paul Dempsey for further information, at the address below:

• Dempsey and Company
  Attorneys at Law
  P.O. Box 97
  Providenciales
  Turks and Caicos Islands
  British West Indies
  
  or
  
  E-Mail: ncrealty@provo.net
  Refer to "Dempsey and Company" in subject.

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Smallwood and Company

International Asset Management
Smallwood and Company has been created as a full offshore financial services company. Using either its own resources, those of subsidiary companies, or those provided by carefully selected professionals, Smallwood and Company is able to provide a central point of contact for its clients' offshore financial dealings.

Smallwood and Company aims to provide its clients with a level of service commensurate with the fast-disappearing traditional private bank, where family, friends, and business colleagues would delegate the management and administration of their assets to members of the circle who could be trusted for their integrity, ability, and discretion. With a long family history of service, and a more recent history of experience with two of the world's leading financial services organizations, the directors of Smallwood and Company are in a position to provide the investor with the confidence to invest offshore, and to build a long-term relationship based on trust.

Smallwood and Company provides specialized professional services in the following areas:

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Variable Annuity Contract
In many jurisdictions, investment into a foreign life insurance policy offers the opportunity for a legal means of deferring tax on investment income and capital gains while having the assets domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction, thus providing additional asset protection and privacy benefits. Through our subsidiary, Asset Protection Insurance Company, which is a Turks and Caicos Islands licensed insurance company, we are able to offer a deferred variable annuity contract, providing these and further considerable benefits.

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Investment Management
Smallwood and Company can act as an intermediary between the client and major international investment management groups in establishing and monitoring investment portfolio structures and objectives, utilizing a variety of ownership vehicles, including companies, trusts, and the variable annuity contract. Alternatively, using its own resources, Smallwood and Company is able to manage discretionary portfolios according to agreed objectives. This can provide considerable benefits to the investor, including reduced charges, a centralization of control, and access to a portfolio management style that places a greater emphasis on service and preservation of capital than normally found with large investment institutions.

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Asset Protection Planning
Diversifying investments internationally provides investors with insurance against the event of domestic economic chaos leading to a severe erosion of accumulated or inherited family wealth. Crises, such as punitive domestic taxation, a collapse of the domestic currency, domestic inflation or deflation, and exchange controls have all occurred in the world's leading economies within the last 30 years. Using the ownership vehicles described above, significant protection can be afforded, together with protection from potential creditors, and a dramatic reduction in the domestic wealth profile.

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Estate Planning
In many of the world's leading economies, a family's wealth can be reduced by up to 80% over two generations as a result of inheritance or estate tax. Smallwood and Company can work with the client directly, and, in conjunction with their legal counsel, formulate a strategy to help reduce or even completely remove the devastating effects of inheritance and estate tax.

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Trust Management
The Turks and Caicos Islands are recognized as providing some of the most attractive trust legislations in the world. Smallwood and Company is able to assist in the establishment of discretionary and non-discretionary trusts and advice can be given on the use of trusts as international tax shelters.

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Banking Transactions
Smallwood and Company is able to assist its clients in the establishment and management of multi-currency bank accounts, and banking transactions either through our strong international banking connections, or through licensed banks operating in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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Company Formation and Managements
Smallwood and Company is able to assist with the establishment and management of exempt companies on behalf of clients. The Turks & Caicos Islands, through the 1981 Companies Ordinance, provides attractive legislation for the establishment of exempt companies, including the right to issue bearer shares, as opposed to shares being registered in the name of the beneficial holder, and near complete anonymity as public records are not required to indicate the identities of the shareholders, directors, or officers of the exempt companies.

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For Further Information

E-Mail: ncrealty@provo.net
Refer to "Smallwood and Company" in the subject.

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A portion of our profits are donated to Breast Cancer Research to the National Cancer Society of Providenciales

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