Legal ways to bring money onshore privately with as little tax impact as...

There are times when money from an offshore company needs to be brought onshore.  Here we discuss the various ways money can be brought onshore, with respect to both privacy and 

Bank Wire

The most simple way to bring money onshore is to wire it.  Obviously not much privacy is involved here, although the money will be coming from a Panama bearer share corp.  Money coming onshore will typically become taxable income at this point.  There are some important exceptions:  

Buying stock in an onshore company

Some onshore jurisdictions have special rules if an offshore company owns more than 50% of a company.  This is not a problem if the share purchase agreement is setup so that only a small percent of the company is purchased.  Although this technique does get the money onshore, it does not address the issue to how money can be retrieved from the corporation with the least overall impact.  The onshore corporation, however, can issue a loan or mortgage to you.  This technique has an advantage over an offshore corporation issuing a loan to you, because it circumvents the requirement in some onshore jurisdictions to report offshore loans.  Instead of running a loan through a licensed bank and incurring a 2%-5% fee, the money can be transferred without cost.  There are several other strategies.  Call for details.

Loan

Borrowed money is not income and is thus not taxable in any jurisdiction known to this author.  Some jurisdictions have rules that limit or force reporting of offshore loans from non licensed banks.  This can be overcome for a small percentage (usually between 2%-5%), by running the loan through a licensed bank.  Call for details.

Debit Card

For smaller amounts, an offshore company may issue a debit card to cover expenses you may have to incur on its behalf.  Often the debit card is in the offshore company name only so your privacy is maintained.  We don't recommend you use a debit card at the point of sale, but rather withdraw the cash from a bank machine.  Cash is your most private form of purchase.

Credit Card

We don't recommend credit cards for our customers because they invariable leave trails that compromise your privacy.  First, credit cards are used at the point of sale, so there is a physical record of your visit that compromises your privacy to a degree.  Buying anything that ties directly back to you such as a plane ticket will also degrade your privacy.  A definite privacy killer, would be using the credit card to order items to be delivered to your home.  Usage of a credit card comes down to your privacy requirements.

Cash

Amounts less than $10k can be transported across most borders without any declaration requirement.  If a plane ticket costs $500 or less then the cost of this method is 5%.  Also large amounts of cash is not very useful in today's world.

Tax Treaties - double taxation avoidance agreements

This is a legal tax loophole that many business use to reduce their tax.  Using this method, your effective tax rate will be between 5% - 12.5%.  The downside is that these jurisdictions usually require the offshore company to file an income tax return, financial documents, etc.  Also an external audit of your books is often required.  Also, tax treaties invariable include an information sharing agreement, which effectively destroys your privacy.  This method does have the advantage that it doesn't rely on privacy in any way, but simply takes advantage of a sanctioned tax loophole.  It is, however, considerably more complicated to setup and administer.  Of course, we take care of all the details for you.  Call for details.