On a rather frequent basis, the general opinion tends to represent the idea of investing offshore as a serpentine, questionable move. People compose this general image when they come across or discuss the notion of offshore corporation: another foreign entrepreneur has decided to secure his fortune by investing it in some actionable company located on some South American island. However, the case is far from resembling such a situation with the majority companies organized on an offshore basis. On the contrary, no one can challenge the legitimacy of the majority of such companies.
Investing in an offshore company means obtaining profits from the advantages offered to an entrepreneur who decides to place his or her investment somewhere outside his or her country of residence. One of the reasons why foreign entrepreneurs choose an offshore company to invest in is in the discretion such a procedure guarantees. For instance, the Costa Rica jurisdiction provides the advantage of confidentiality legislation. According to the Costa Rica secrecy legislation, in the case where an offence should occur that affects the guaranteed discretion, the defaulting party will undergo a number of severe consequences. For example, a violation of Costa Rica secrecy legislation may take place in the form of making known the shareholders of various companies. This does not mean that shareholder exposal is not possible when situations such as money laundering appear. On the contrary, illegal activities will not receive any stimulation from the Costa Rica jurisdiction.
Of course, people may then question the need for secrecy. The general opinion approaches the matter in this manner: “if they have nothing to hide, then why the need for rights endorsed by secrecy legislation?” However, such an opinion misses the perspective of much-publicized entrepreneurs who need to maintain the secret of their identity for securing considerable advantages over other potential entrepreneurs. With an offshore company, this is possible. Moreover, consider the fact that is the general public had access to the identity of a well-known investor interested in this or that field of investment, prices would immediately jump up, which would generate no advantage to what concerns the investor’s perspective.
Another reason for choosing to invest in an offshore corporation is in the safekeeping that it can guarantee for your assets. An offshore company is often a reliable ground for the reorganization of proprietary rights over certain assets. Many entrepreneurs – who show concern for potential proceedings, litigations, or financiers closing beforehand on debts remained unresolved – choose to assign segments of their assets – mainly those related to personal ownership of real estate – to an exterior company for owning them outside their country of origin. However, the assignment of ownership only takes place on the paper. In this manner, entrepreneurs have the opportunity of preventing the majority of troubles they could otherwise meet within domestic perimeters.
Moreover, foreign entrepreneurs will choose an offshore corporation because of the advantages on taxation issues that it enables. The cases of countries providing foreign entrepreneurs with tax advantages in order to stimulate foreign investments are rather frequent. Such countries find desirable the situation where offshore entrepreneurs choose to form an entity within foreign premises – this situation is a trustful stimulant for the country’s general economic activity. To stimulate them, such countries will offer advantages to offshore investors. Because the offshore corporation does not involve in domestic affairs, it will be subject to diminished or zero taxation. On the other hand, if we take the case of the United States of America, in recent years its government has considered that it loses a too great amount of revenue with offshore investors. As a result, it has become a prohibited practice to avoid taxation on capital gains through offshore investment, although the operating costs of offshore entities are obviously smaller.
In the end, foreign investors consider the offshore alternative because the advantages it creates are visible and no entrepreneur who knows the worth of his or her investment and who knows his interests will deny an opportunity to benefit from such advantages. With a close study of foreign and domestic jurisdiction, investment in an offshore company will surely fit the interests of many investors and it will generate advantages at the level of the foreign country, too.
An offshore company is a good opportunity of benefiting from several tax advantages otherwise inaccessible in the domestic environment. In addition, in a number of jurisdictions, an offshore corporation will offer the secrecy of investor identity and the necessary safekeeping of personal assets.


Aspects concerning the organization of an IBC
An International Business Company is a highly versatile corporate instrument fitting an entire range of operations, from transactions to investment and asset safekeeping. Well-publicized entrepreneurs often choose the IBC alternative because of the tax and discretion advantages it can provide. Currently, Costa Rica is turning into one of the main attraction points for the development of business opportunities for foreign investors. As a result, a Costa Rica IBC also becomes a valuable perspective for foreign investment. Nevertheless, the number of advantages granted to foreign investors who decide to focus on a Costa Rica IBC exceeds the tax and secrecy dimensions already mentioned. For instance, apart from exemption from stamp duty and local charges, businesses benefit from: zero requirements to what concerns the issue of residence; shares emitted in any currency; the corporation shareholders and officers retain the right to the secrecy of their identity; no requirement concerning a minimum amount of needed capital; incorporation and name through the Internet.
The main documents you will need for the organization of a Costa Rica IBC are a memorandum and a number of articles of association. Typically, the memorandum sets down the fundamental organization of the Costa Rica IBC it concerns, in which it will incorporate the name of the company, the amount of authorized capital, the objectives of the company, and information concerning shares the corporation may issue. Practically, the memorandum should circumscribe any data related to the fundamental structure of the company established as such. To what concerns the articles of association, they will be commanding the internal operations of the IBC, focusing mainly on the interactions between the members of the organization. In other words, the articles of association will regulate the structuring of shareholder assemblies, the validation of various resolutions, and the relocation of shares. In addition, the articles of association may regulate rights or limitation of rights of a number of shareholders or directors of the company.
After the registration of the initial memorandum and articles of association takes place, the payment of a series of fees is necessary. When this stage completes, the Registrar of Companies will emit a proof of the status of the corresponding IBC. This proof comes in the form of a Certificate of Corporation. The Certificate of Incorporation must include the name of the corporation, its number and the date when the incorporation occurred. An IBC is subject to no additional requirements related to public registration procedures. Of course, in the case where the objectives of the enterprise find it mandatory, registration of information concerning shareholders, directors and / or fees is possible and legal. The information necessary to the Registered Agent concerns the owner(s) and directors of the company. However, such pieces of information meet the rules of secrecy and they will not constitute the object of disclosure unless some proof of fraud, issues by government or justice representatives, appears. On the other hand, substitute shareholder can register shares on their names, confirming that they are doing it for somebody else. In this manner, true owners or shareholders have the guarantee of a higher degree of secrecy.
In addition, let us remember that any International Business Company is a limited liability entity, which leads to the favorable situation where directors and / or shareholders will not answer personally to any outside party for various liabilities the IBC may encounter. However, this does not mean that a shareholder cannot be individually responsible for his or her personal actions. In other words, in case of individual fraud authorities have the legal right of holding him or her answerable for his or her fraudulent actions. In the end, all measures concerning IBCs come down to the legality of the structuring of such companies, in order to avoid general perspectives that often identify such matters as subversive. Finally, the protection that IBCs guarantee for personal assets is another aspect speaking for the advantages such corporations generate.
Establishing a Costa Rica IBC will secure entrepreneurs with the same advantages guaranteed by any IBC: tax benefits, secrecy guarantees, and protection of assets.


The advantages of owning real estate through a Costa Rica corporation
Are you envisaging the opportunity of owning real estate in Costa Rica? As you already probably know, anyone can have title of a piece of property in Costa Rica, whether he or she is a citizen of Costa Rica, a resident or a non-resident. On the other hand, it is preferable that you approach the idea of a Costa Rica corporation in order to develop and conclude in an advantageous manner the procedures concerning the proprietary rights and transaction of Costa Rica real estate. The advantage has at the basis a number of reasons related to taxation rules.
The process of purchasing Costa Rica real estate is not excessively sophisticated, yet it might require some time from you, often longer than what you have anticipated. This is the reason why those who want to own real estate in this country choose to do it in a manner that is collateral, i.e. through a Costa Rica company. It is a profitable manner of managing the purchase and the subsequent operations related to the proprietorship of the corresponding Costa Rican share of real estate, also guaranteeing the legality of your ownership. A Costa Rica company that owns real estate enjoys several rights from which a single individual could not benefit.
For instance, if owning takes place through a Costa Rica company (of the type Sociedad Anonima), its owners will benefit from a higher degree of privacy, since we are talking about an anonymous corporation. It is the type of opportunity that any outside, non-resident entrepreneur would appreciate positively. Currently, if you opt for selling a Costa Rica property through a Costa Rica company, you will not be a subject to land transfer taxation, although you do have to pay a number of legal fees attached to the transfer. However, if you choose to undertake the entire transfer procedures as an individual, you do have to do the payment of land transfer taxes every time you opt for selling a Costa Rica property.
Why does this happen? The reason is simple and obvious: when the transaction takes place, the process occurring is a mere transfer of shares from the company to the buyer. In addition, if you decide to set down your ownership of real estate in this country as a Costa Rica corporation, the risk of personal liabilities in case something goes wrong obviously diminishes.
A Costa Rica corporation of this type – i.e. a company advantageous for real estate selling and / or purchasing – needs legal registration mediated by a lawyer from Costa Rica. Generally, the first to be the president and signing officer of the company is the lawyer executing the registration. His position is temporary – it will end when he hand the corporation over to you. In addition, legal rights over the company are in the hands of the shareholders and of the signing officer, but the company also benefits from the assistance of a board of directors.
When does this Costa Rica corporation enter in our ownership? The registering lawyer will hand you over the company. The next step is your registration as president, main shareholder and signing officer of the company. Of course, you can have any other person as a shareholder in your company – this matter is entirely in your hands. When your registration, as indicated previously, takes place, you have become the legal owner of the company and of anything included in its ownership. In the end, this is one advantageous manner of securing your real estate ownership in Costa Rica.
Owning real estate in Costa Rica through a Costa Rica corporation will generate multiple advantages. Some of the benefits favored by non-residential investors when considering the alternative of a Costa Rica company focus on the tax reductions and discretion made available in this manner.