Life, Software and Taxes
Everybody
hates taxes. I hate taxes. I would hate taxes a whole lot less if I
respected the government that I gave them to. What with funding
scandals, illegal invasions, broken treaties etc, I’d rather my money
went elsewhere.
Unfortunately, as a British resident, I am obliged to pay tax. I
should make it abundantly clear (in case HMRC is reading this) I DO PAY
MY TAXES!
I’ve always had an interest in stepping out of the frameworks
imposed upon us as citizens, I don’t mean living outside the law, but
for example, getting out of employment and into entrepreneurship. Along
with some posts on the Business of Software forum, my interests have
led me to question whether, as an entrepreneur, I should be prepared to
be taxed to death by our guardians. But what is the alternative?
One vehicle I’ve been looking into recently is the concept of an
offshore incorporated company. In a nutshell, this involves
incorporating your company in a tax haven. For my purposes, a tax haven
is (usually) a country or principality where there is no corporation
tax, income tax, capital gains tax, or inheritance tax. Ever. Period.
But here’s the rub. Even with a company registered in a tax haven -
I would still have to pay tax on any earnings I brought into this
country. And it’s very important to remember this, unless of course you
enjoy showering with lots of tattooed men on a regular basis.
So how else could I organise my affairs? Well, one option is to
register your company in a tax haven, and become domiciled in another.
So I could register my company in, say, Dubai (zero tax) and become
domiciled in, say, Andorra. I could be a visitor in the UK without
paying any tax. Now, what I’m not clear on, is just how much time I am
allowed to spend in the UK without attracting tax. I’m going to look
into this further.
I should point out that this is not advice, I am not an expert, but I will share what I find as I find it.
