More than 100 exempted banks were registered in Vanuatu in 2002,
making it the leading offshore banking centre in the Eastern hemisphere
--
Source:
http://www.lowtax.net/lowtax/html/jvaobs.html
Vanuatu has no exchange control regulations or authorities. Funds accrued in or
remitted to Port Vila in any currency can be held in any currency and readily
trasnsferred anywhere in the world. Thsi applies to all types of transactions
whether capital, loans, dividends, interest, royalties, service fees or profits. Any
major world currency can be invested, earn interest and be repatriated in that
currency or freely converted into other currencies. Companies may be
incorporated with capital in any recognised world currency. Strict Money
Laundering Laws exist and a strong Financial Transactions Reporting Act/Unit
controls the flow of incoming funds.
--
An exempted company can be incorporated if it is intended that its business
activity is to be conducted outside Vanuatu. An exempted company is prohibited
from trading within Vanuatu except with another exempted company. The business
of an exempted company, while conducted off shore, can be administered in Vanuatu.
It can also hold funds in Vanuatu banks. Exempted companies are not required to
lodge their accounts and other details with the Registrar of Companies. The secrecy
provisions of the Companies Act impose penal sanctions on any government official
who discloses information in respect to the registers, documents and affairs of exempted
companies. Any legal proceeding which relate to the affairs of an exempted company
are held in private. There is no legal requirement to disclose the beneficial ownership
of an exempted company to any local authority even on incorporation. Exempted
companies are not required to lodge an annual return.
--
The Electronic Transactions Act states that if the web page that closes the deal
is on a computer located in Vanuatu, the transaction legally is defined as taking
place in Vanuatu. This gives businesses who conduct their operations from
Vanuatu a competitive advantage over businesses in higher tax regimes...
--
The E-Business Act provides a way for foreigners to legally conduct Internet
based activities from web sites hosted her in Vanuatu. The Act defines a web
site domain as if it were an office suite that business people can rent to conduct
business from. These office suites are call "Cybersuites" which are Government
Registered in Vanuatu have the same status as an offshore company and are
set up on computers located in Vanuatu. International Companies can rent these
Cybersuites to the proprieter of the website.
--
Source:
http://www.mooresrowland.com/FTP/MRGUIDE.pdf
Vanuatu is rapidly becoming the jurisdiction of choice for offshore online gaming
in the Pacific. The Vanuatu Interactive Gaming Act 2000, provides a solid foundation
for Internet gaming based on the tough gaming compliance regulations for Queensland,
Australia. But while the Australian government has banned online gaming, Vanuatu
has rolled out the red carpet to reputable companies that want to set up offshore
interactive gaming operations. The Vanuatu government fees are a fraction of the
costs in Australia.
--
Source:
http://www.mooresrowland.com/offshor...line%20gaming%
20offshore%20companies.html
The government introduced an Electronic Transactions Act and an
E-Business Act in 2000.
The Electronic Transactions Act, 2000, sets out the rules for making
a legal contract using digital records. The government says it has
followed the extensive work done by the Commonwealth of Bermuda.
The Act deals with electronic contracts, digital signatures, electronic
records, certification, the legal status of electronic records, data
protection, the status of intermediaries, and a requirement for a
Code of Conduct for intermediaries.
The E-Business Act establishes an Internet Free Trade Zone where
businesses can conduct legitimate trading activities over the Internet
and take advantage of Vanuatu’s low tax structure. The Act allows
foreign people or companies to set up a Vanuatu based web site and
conduct business from that web site without setting up an International
Corporation with directors, shareholders, and registered office. Instead,
the Act creates an Internet Free Trade Zone with virtual office spaces
called Cybersuites. The Cybersuites come with a range of services,
including design and maintenance of the web sites, and handling financial
transactions on behalf of the people who rent the Cybersuites, who are
called Cybersuite Proprietors.
There are, therefore, two central aspects to the Act. It enables a Vanuatu
International Company to set up Cybersuites and rent these. Secondly,
it provides the legal basis for Cybersuite Proprietors to conduct business
over the Internet.
Part 1 of the Act gives definitions of the terms used in the Act. The key
players defined include an International Vanuatu company that provides
Cybersuites for cybersuite proprietors. The Cybersuite is an Internet
site located on a computer or on computers. Its assets are held in an
account managed by a contractual arrangement between the Vanuatu
International Corporation and the Cybersuite proprietor.
Clause 2 clarifies the legal status of a cybersuite and says that it is treated
as a separate legal entity from the Vanuatu International Corporation that
is hosting it. Cybersuites can make legally binding contracts just as a
corporation can.
Clause 3 clarifies the nature of the contract between the company and
the cybersuite proprietor.
Clause 4. The parent Vanuatu International company is given the ability
to conduct electronic business activities and may contract with any
person to set up a Cybersuite.
Clause 5. says that if a Cybersuite proprietor is not a resident of Vanuatu
they do not have to be licensed under other Vanuatu laws to carry on their
web site activities. If the Cybersuite proprietor is a resident of Vanuatu or
a local company their web site activities are subject to the normal laws
and regulations of any local enterprise.
Clauses 6 and 7 state that electronic contracts made by the company or
the Cybersuite proprietor are legal and are taken to be formed in Vanuatu.
As a consequence of the new Acts, the International Companies Act and
the Companies Act were amended to include mention of doing business
over the Internet.
Offshore Activities
The natural bonding of the Internet and Offshore stems from the fact that both,
of their nature, manage to avoid tax. Businesses which can operate on the
Internet without, so to speak, touching ground in a high-tax jurisdiction will
naturally migrate to offshore jurisdictions; while businesses that already have
offshore existence will find it highly convenient to be able to use the Internet
to trade with their high-tax customers without having to make a landing in
their countries.
As a major offshore jurisdiction with many thousands of offshore enterprises
already installed, including many banks, it is only a matter of time before
Vanuatu becomes a centre of e-commerce activity. The islands' geographical
location, their good telecommunications links and sophisticated business
infrastructure add to the inevitability of an e-future for Vanuatu.
By locating websites in Vanuatu to carry out functions previously based in
high-tax jurisdictions such as sales and marketing, treasury management,
supply of financial services, and most of all, the supply of digital goods such
as music, video, training, software etc, businesses can take advantage of
low rates of taxation for increasingly substantial parts of their operation.
Vanuatu can expect to benefit from Australia's Interactive Gambling Bill
which prohibits Australian-based on-line casinos from offering gaming
facilities to Australian residents.
--
Source:
http://www.lowtax.net/lowtax/html/jvaecom.html#leg
Offshore providers of financial services have strong competitive advantages and the unclogging of marketing channels may unleash a tidal wave of demand for their products. Here are some of the competitive advantages of offshore:
* Profits are less highly-taxed, or untaxed, allowing cheaper products
* Offshore jurisdictions are usually less highly regulated than high-tax countries,
so that an offshore financial institution has more flexibility in planning, marketing
and delivering products
* Financial products themselves can take advantage of a low-tax environment
in order to deliver greater returns to customers
* The cost base of an offshore location is often more favourable than that of
a high-tax location
The whole range of retail financial services can be provided from offshore using
the Internet. Services and products can include:
* Electronic banking including current and deposit account maintenance,
paying bills, direct debits etc
* Offer and sale of stocks and shares, investment and mutual fund units,
equity derivatives etc
* Foreign exchange services
* Offer, sale and maintenance of savings products including pension schemes
* Offer and sale of insurance products
--
Source:
http://www.offshore-e-com.com/html/ecomafin.html
Vanuatu is the Pacific's premier offshore financial center, featuring :-
No personal or corporate income taxes
No capital gains taxes
No withholding taxes
No estate or death duties
No tax treaties
No exchange controls
--
Source:
http://www.financial.com.vu/offshorefinance.htm
Vanuatu Incorporated Companies
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
--
Source:
http://www.financial.com.vu/atlas/index.html
Vanuatu is a pure tax haven. As such, there are no income taxes,
withholding taxes, capital gains taxes, gift, death, estate or succession
duties applying to companies, trusts or individuals. There are also no
tax treaties with other countries and thus no exchange of information
with foreign governments. Under the Vanuatu International Companies
Act companies have a 20-year guarantee against taxes, duties and
exchange controls.
--
There are no exchange controls in Vanuatu. All major currencies can
be deposited in Vanuatu and may be repatriated in the same currency
or converted freely to most other currencies.
--
Source:
http://www.britishmint.com/incorp_vanuatu.html
Vanuatu is a tax haven, and commercial activities in the country have
been greatly influenced by this status. An extremely active financial
centre, it is engaged in the administration and management of offshore
companies, trusts and banks. The Finance Centre Association
encompasses the extensive business and financial facilities available
in Vanuatu resulting from its "pure" tax haven status; pure, because for
both residents and non-residents there are no personal or corporate
income taxes, no estate or gift duties, no capital gains taxes, no
exchange controls, and extensive secrecy provisions.
The absence of these taxes, duties and controls, coupled with state
of the art communications and highly-developed professional services,
makes Vanuatu an ideal centre for foreign investors to base their
surplus funds for investment or to base off-shore companies forming part
of a wider international or financial network. The Vanuatu Government is
extremely active in its support of the Finance Centre Association because
of its importance to the Vanuatu economy, and is committed to making the
country the Pacific's foremost tax haven.
--
Source:
http://www.waterfront-home-vanuatu.c...nancial.html#h
Privacy Protection
Vanuatu is a pure tax haven, and commercial activities in the country
have been greatly influenced by this status. An extremely active
financial centre, it is engaged in the administration and management
of offshore companies, trusts and banks. Pure, because for both
residents and non-residents there are no personal or corporate income
taxes, no estate or gift duties, no capital gains taxes, no exchange
controls, and extensive secrecy provisions.
The absence of these taxes, duties and controls, coupled with state
of the art communications and highly- developed professional services,
makes Vanuatu an ideal centre for foreign investors to base their surplus
funds for investment or to base off-shore companies forming part of a
wider international or financial network. The Vanuatu Government is
extremely active in its support, and is committed to making the country
the Pacific's foremost tax haven.
The international offshore infrastructure of Vanuatu has long been a
favourite of investors. The facilities and the expertise are world standard
and Vanuatu is well facilitated with a number of international banks and
modern telecommunications. Tourism provides experiences not found
elsewhere in the world - the Pentecost Land Dive and the Toka Ceremony
on the island of Tanna are both highlights that draw people from all around
the world, together with scuba diving.
The uses of a tax haven are really only limited by the fertile imaginations
of taxpayers (and non-taxpayers), their accountants, lawyers and other
professional advisors.
How best to use any tax haven depends on what type of income a
taxpayer has, where it is earned, where it is taxed and, in many
jurisdictions, exchange controls. There is no short answer and no
easy solution; if there was nobody would pay any tax.
Contrary to popular opinion, tax havens are not only places used to avoid
income tax. While this may be their main use they are also very important
in the fields of estate and gift duty planning, minimising stamps duties, and
the circumvention of exchange controls; uses which are commonly overlooked.
Another often used aspect of the Vanuatu Finance centre is the strict code
of secrecy. While this code of secrecy is relied upon, and rightly so in tax
planning, it can also be very useful in any number of circumstances where
the confidentiality of ownership, or control, want to be preserved.
--
Source:
http://www.ptclub.com/compvanuatu.html
Vanuatu – South Pacific no-tax haven
Since time began, Vanuatu has levied no income or capital gains taxes
on profits. Some businessman before 1971 had made good profits in
Vanuatu, formerly jointly administered by a French/British Condominium
government, taking advantage of what was then a fiscal paradise with
no formal structure.
The British Government created corporate and other legislation in 1971,
which corporate and other legislation in 1971, which developed into a
legal framework for a tax haven with the elements of secrecy for “exempted”
private companies (those that did not do business in Vanuatu), possibly
because the British saw this as a means by which the heavily aid-funded
country could become more self-sufficient economically.
--
Source:
http://www.offshore-manual.com/taxhavens/Vanuatu.html
New Electronic Transactions Laws position Vanuatu in the lead of offshore electronic commerce
The Government of Vanuatu has passed a suite of legislation aimed at making Vanuatu the premier e-business and e-commerce offshore finance center in the Pacific. The new legislation provides the rules for forming online contracts and domiciling transactions in the offshore low tax environment. A new offshore corporate entity called a "Cybersuite" allows foreign Cybersuite proprietors to set up web-based e-commerce and e-business sites and conduct business from Vanuatu without the need to form an offshore corporation. You can find out all about the new laws on the official government website
www.vanuatu.gov.vu and at
www.ebusiness-incorporated.com.
Getting started in E-Business
Getting started in the myriad opportunities of e-business in Vanuatu's Internet Free Trade Zone means first setting up an offshore company with a bank account and registered agent or a Cybersuite, and then designing an Internet site that meets the needs of your company. The Moores Rowland and e-Business Incorporated team can do this for you quickly and at minimal expense.
Why is e-business so great for Offshore corporations?
e-business is truly a global activity. Your customers and suppliers can be anywhere in the world, dealing with a multitude of currencies and tax regimes. Your web site can be hosted in one country, mirrored in another to improve band-width access. Your distributors can be set up in high-income, high technology, high-tax countries and your manufacturing capability can be close to your natural resources and where labor and building costs are lower. The nexus, the central hub of your enterprise can be in a small country, like Vanuatu, that needs foreign exchange to help its own development and has established a low tax zone to attract investors.
It does not matter if you are involved in the export-import industry, shipping, or provision of products or services - with the Internet your company can be located anywhere on earth where there is a reliable communication system. Moores Rowland itself set up on the Internet two years ago and since then, this web site has completely changed our way of doing business - and it has multiplied our offshore company formation activity beyond our original expectations. We quickly realized our clients could benefit from having web sites, too. And when we obtained expert intelligence on the future of e-business we were convinced that offshore companies MUST be engaged in real activities - in cyberspace - if they want to survive much longer in a world where regulations are multiplying at roughly the same speed as the global population. We also realized that Vanuatu may be one of the very best places in the world to set up a global network for legitimate trading activities by offshore companies.
Like most small countries these days, Vanuatu uses reliable satellite communications to assure communications get through. Vanuatu's International Corporations do not pay taxes on profits or accumulated funds. The government offers a tax-free haven to spur investor interest in the country and bring much needed foreign capital exchange into its banking system. In addition, The Offshore Finance Centre, by hiring local employees and spending funds on local infrastructure, brings in considerable revenue to the nation's economy.
--
Source:
http://www.mooresrowland.com/offshor...al%20news.html
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