Simplified Tax Regime for Jamaican Registered Yachts

Caribbean Tax & Money Havens, ,

Picture of James Bond beach on Jamaica courtesy of Banjoman1

Jamaica’s Cabinet has approved proposals to introduce an annual fee to replace the multitude of levies in place on Jamaican-registered yachts in a bid to improve the attractiveness of the local registry.

It was on Jamaica that Fleming wrote more than a dozen novels and short stories featuring Agent 007. Of these once best-selling volumes of action pulp, “Dr. No,” “Live and Let Die,” “The Man With the Golden Gun” and the short story “Octopussy” are largely or partly set in Jamaica, and the films based on the first two were also shot there.

The annual fee will replace the existing customs duty, customs user fee, environmental levy, and General Consumption tax charges on flags registered in Jamaica, providing for a simpler, streamlined regime for boat owners. In addition, yachts of less than 25 feet will be exempt from registration and safety inspection fees for the first two years of their registration.

Jamaican information minister, Sandrea Falconer said that the government hoped to “stimulate nautical tourism and yacht registration in Jamaica,” and “enhance the competitiveness of the Jamaican Shipping Registry by encouraging the registration of pleasure craft and facilitating home porting in Jamaica.” She identified that presently around 8% of yachts berthed in Jamaica are locally registered.

The plans include the introduction of a cruising permit fee, under the Shipping Act, to be paid by visiting yachts bearing other territories’ ensigns.

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Cayman Islands to name previously hidden companies

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Cayman Islands, picture courtesy Burtonpe.

The Cayman Islands will open the thousands of companies and hedge funds domiciled on the offshore Caribbean territory to greater scrutiny, in a break from decades of secrecy.

CIMA, the three-islands’ monetary authority, sent proposals, seen by the FT, to Cayman-based hedge funds and outlined plans to create a public database of funds domiciled on the island for the first time and will also list the funds’ directors, pending an ongoing consultation process due to close in mid-March.

The British overseas territory, which has been criticised as being one of the most secretive finance jurisdictions in the world, is introducing reforms that will make public the names of thousands of previously hidden companies and their directors, reports the Financial Times,

CIMA, the islands’ monetary authority, sent proposals, seen by the FT, to Cayman-based hedge funds and outlined plans to create a public database of funds domiciled on the island for the first time and will also list the funds’ directors, pending an ongoing consultation process due to close in mid-March.

“In the 24 months subsequent to the onset of the financial crisis, the BVI Financial Services Commission, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Jersey Financial Services Commission, the Bahamas Financial Services Board and the Isle of Man Supervision Commission all updated their corporate governance codes, laws and/or regulations,” the FT reports CIMA said in one document.

CIMA did not respond to the FT’s request for a comment.

The Cayman Islands are seen as a tax-haven by many companies to avoid payer higher rates of tax in other countries.

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Palau Launches International Shipping Registry

Indian and Pacific Ocean Tax & Money Havens, ,

Picture of Leisure World by Ivan Meshkov

The Palau International Shipping Registry has officially opened its doors following a launch ceremony which saw the registration of its first two vessels, the cruise ships Amusement World (12,764 Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT)) and Leisure World (15,653 GRT) operated by Universal Ship Management.

Despite the territory’s diminutive size, with a population of just 22,000, the Registry has already signed up to the most significant major shipping conventions, including: the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea; the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships; the Safety of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping; the Bunker Convention; the Civil Liability Convention; and the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, among others.

The Republic of Palau consists of eight principal islands and more than 250 smaller ones lying in the western Pacific, with maritime boundaries with Indonesia, Philippines and the Federate State of Micronesia. The Registry is headquartered and administered in Houston, USA.

The Registry is committed to the highest international standards. The President of Palau, Johnson Toribiong said at the launch: “In announcing the opening of the Palau International Ship Registry for business, we are committed to ensuring the safety of our fleet personnel and passengers, ensuring protection of environment by which our fleet traverse, and ensuring peaceful voyages of our fleet, reflective of the Republic of Palau and her flag. We are proud to say that the Palau International Ship Registry is not just another ship registry, but, a ship registry of the highest standard.”

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Singapore Tops Hong Kong as Residence for Mobile Rich in Asia

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Hotel guests are seen at the infinity pool at the SkyPark atop Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Courtesy of photographer: Sam Kang Li/Bloomberg

According to Bloomberg news; Singapore topped Hong Kong as the most desired place in Asia for so-called mobile millionaires to reside, with quality of life cited as the main attraction, a RBC Wealth Management (RY)survey showed.

Almost a third of the millionaires in Asia who live, work or spend more than half their time outside their countries of origin prefer Singapore, while 24 percent pick Hong Kong, the second most popular in the region, RBC and The Economist Intelligence Unit said in a joint research report yesterday.

Singapore topped Hong Kong as the most desired place in Asia for so called mobile millionaires to reside, with quality of life cited as the main attraction, a RBC Wealth Management survey showed.

Real estate led the list of preferred assets for the internationally mobile wealthy, according to the survey, which showed 23 percent of those in Singapore reporting a “high propensity” for property investment, compared with 7 percent in North America. The island’s home prices climbed to a record in the third quarter, prompting the government to restrict home loans and cap property development. Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook Inc., moved to Singapore in 2009, and Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, relocated there in 2007.

“Singapore always has this quality as a safe haven, not just for your money, but also for your family,” said Wai Ho Leong, a senior regional economist at Barclays Plc in Singapore.

For mobile millionaires who moved to Singapore, 89 percent ranked quality of life as important and 83 percent cited the country’s political stability as important, the survey showed. Infrastructure and educational opportunity were also given as reasons to live there.

Most Millionaires

Singapore posted a 14 percent increase in millionaire households to 188,000 last year, when the Asia-Pacific region countered a decline in wealth in Western Europe and the U.S., according to a Boston Consulting Group report published May 31.

The proportion of millionaire homes in the city was 17 percent, the highest in the world, followed by Qatar and Kuwait, according to Boston Consulting Group. Singapore has a population of 5.3 million, of which about 2 million are foreigners.

“High net worth individuals with global outlooks for their businesses and families are choosing Singapore to live and invest in,” Barend Janssens, the Singapore-based head of RBC’s wealth-management unit for emerging markets, said in a statement.

The city-state is grappling with the elevated inflation that comes with years of economic growth and population expansion on an island smaller than New York City, with rising demand fueling record property and car prices.

Property Boom

In the three months ended Sept. 30, the island’s private residential property price index rose 0.6 percent to a record 208.2 points, according to government data. In prime districts, apartment prices gained 0.2 percent, compared with a 1 percent increase in the suburbs.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore told lenders on Oct. 5 to restrict home-loan maturities “to curb continued upward pressure on residential property prices,” in an attempt to avert a housing bubble. The government said in September it plans to cap the number of homes that can be developed in suburban projects as it seeks to curb the increasing trend of so-called shoebox apartments.

The cost of a permit to own a small car for 10 years rose to an unprecedented S$78,523 ($64,300) on Dec. 5 from S$46,889 at the start of the year. That excludes the cost of buying a car. The government auctions limited vehicle permits to control congestion and pollution.

“Only if you’re very young and highly qualified would you want to rough it out in Hong Kong for a few years,” Leong said. “But once you have kids, the pollution gets to you, the lack of greenery gets to you, the crowdedness gets to you.”

Doing Business

Hong Kong is the best place to do business, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The city of about 7 million people secured the top position in an index based on six criteria including the degree of economic integration and labor costs. Singapore ranked ninth in the index published in March by Bloomberg Rankings.

Hong Kong acts as the gateway to China, the world’s most populous nation, with free-market policies and low corporate taxes.

“Hong Kong is a very big financial center in the region and in recent years has also benefited a lot from China opening up its markets,” said Frances Cheung, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Credit Agricole CIB. Hong Kong is “about the opportunities, especially in the financial world.”

The World Bank ranks Singapore and Hong Kong top in its gauge focused on the ease of doing business. The Washington- based Heritage Foundation has named Hong Kong the world’s freest economy for 18 successive years.

See the full article from Bloomberg here.

Panama – City of Knowledge offers no taxes for research and high tech corporations

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Panama has established City of Knowledge in order to attract research and high tech corporations. This includes internet commerce, bio and nano tech corporations. Only 15 minutes drive from down town Panama City it also offer great life style possibilities.

 

Panama City, Republic of Panama     Picture courtesy of Photoatlas

City of Knowledge

Being part of the City of Knowledge implies a commitment to innovation and sustainable development, but it also involves a broad range of benefits designed to make your operations more effective.

Here are some of the direct benefits for affiliates and users recognized by the City of Knowledge:

  1. Tax and immigration benefits through affiliation to the City of Knowledge Foundation project.
  2. Telecommunications, IT and educational technology services, including an intelligent high-tech center with the required capacity for teleconferences, distance learning, fast internet connections, and other services.
  1. A Point of Presence -POP- with direct access to the land portion of 5 International Fiber Optic cables that go across Panama (PAC, SAC, ARCOS, Pan-American and MAYA).
  2. Infrastructure and buildings in good maintenance condition, easily adaptable to various uses.
  3. Technical, administrative and consulting services. Constant electricity flow (99.9%) with redundant power supply from the Panama Canal thermal plant located 300 m (328 yards) away in the Miraflores locks.
  4. Complementary accommodation and catering service.
  5. Sports and recreation facilities.
  6. Access to the major higher learning and scientific research centers in the country.
  7. Access to the Panama Canal Basin, a living laboratory for scientific research and technological innovation on advanced tropical ecosystem management.
  8. Central location: next to the Panama Canal, 15 minutes from downtown Panama City, 5 minutes from Amador resort and 45 minutes from Colón city, located on the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal.

Here are the incentives for those participating in the project under Executive Order # 6 of February 10, 1998, which states the basis for the Panamanian State’s support to the City of Knowledge Foundation.

Tax Benefits

  1. Exemption from all taxes, levies, fees or import duties on machines, equipment, furniture, vehicles, appliances or materials necessary for the operation of companies accepted into the City of Knowledge Technopark.
  2. Exemption from Service and Personal Tangible Asset Transfer Tax (ITBMS) on machinery, equipment, vehicles, appliances and materials purchased or necessary for the operation of companies accepted into the City of Knowledge Technopark.
  3. Exemption from any taxes, fees, duties or levies on overseas money remittance when such money remittance or transfer is done for the purposes of companies accepted into the City of Knowledge Technopark.
  4. Innovating companies producing, assembling or processing high-tech goods or rendering similar services for sale in the local or international market at the International Technopark of Panama (ITP) will have the following benefits:
    1. Their activities, operations, transactions, procedures and transfers of personal and real property, purchase and import of equipment and construction material, raw materials, machinery, tools, accessories and supplies will be a hundred percent free of direct taxes, levies, fees, duties and national taxes. This includes income tax exemption for companies.
    2. Their capital will be free from direct national taxes, including patent or license tax.

Immigration Benefits

The State will grant special visas to foreign staff entering the country to contribute to the development of the City of Knowledge project. For further information, see the Immigration and Naturalization Bureau website.

Labor Benefits

Companies affiliated to the City of Knowledge are authorized to hire any international staff necessary for their operation.

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