Offshore, in its literal sense, means in the sea away from the shore. In the financial respect, it is a relative term generally applied to low-tax jurisdictions by citizens of high-tax nations. Some islands are offshore to encourage inward investments.

The term also denotes engaging outside the United States, as it one of the high-tax countries. Investments in the low-tax nations are registered outside the U.S., hence not subject to its laws. They cant be sold or dispensed there, or by its citizens, since in the U.S., taxes are imposed based on citizenship not on residency. Thus, all U.S. citizens are subject to tax no matter where in the world they reside.

While in other countries, a citizen is taxed where he resides. The tax depends on total income regardless of whether he earns it there or not. This includes foreign investments, or, the place where income is acquired, no matter where residency is. But most countries impose tax based on the source of income, not on residency alone. This is why most businesses are established on low-tax locations, or some are moved there from high-tax ones.

Luxembourg, Ireland, and Bermuda are the primary low-tax places. Being tax and investor-friendly, they are the largest and most secure financial sectors in the world. Other low-tax jurisdictions include Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Jersey, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Singapore and United Kingdom.

Today, applying for merchant accounts in both Europe and Netherlands Antilles will account for a single corporate structure. In addition, you are privileged to choose your settlement jurisdictions within the Caribbean and/or Europe, thus creating a dual acquiring presence. Thus, youll be able to implement comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional and multi-currency acquiring services.

You can at the same time benefit from the opportunity of presenting your customers secure payment alternatives, currency solutions offers, plus the advantage of offshore and e-zone tax structures and channeled marketing. This greatly minimizes the currency and location costs and simplifies the complex implementation of cross-border processing.