The term offshore company is ambiguous. It may refer to either:
- A company which is incorporated outside the jurisdiction of its primary operations regardless of whether that jurisdiction is an offshore financial center (sometimes known as a non-resident company) i.e. a Canadian company may be 'offshore' for the purposes of a USA citizen ; or,
- Any company (resident or otherwise) incorporated in an offshore financial center, i.e. offshore jurisdictions
Typically the requirements for company registration under the relevant provision for non-resident status (as in the former of the two options above) will be pursuant to some or all of the following criteria in a strict legal sense according to Offshore Company Law:Theory, Regulations& Operation(By Zhang Shiwei, China Law Press, 2004):
- Must be incorporated under Offshore Company Laws and regulations of offshore jurisdictions
- Must be incorporated by non-residents of offshore jurisdictions
- Must not trade within the offshore jurisdictions; and/or,
- Must meet nominal tax expenses levied by the offshore jurisdictions.
Read more about Offshore Company: Practical Uses of Offshore Companies, Disadvantages, Legitimate Uses of Offshore Companies, Illegitimate Uses, Importance of Choosing A Legitimate Jurisdiction, Features of Offshore Companies, Types of Companies, Merger, Relocation of Companies, Offshore Jurisdictions, Buenos Aires Ban of Offshore Companies
Famous quotes containing the word company:
“Whether lawyer, politician or executive, the American who knows what’s good for his career seeks an institutional rather than an individual identity. He becomes the man from NBC or IBM. The institutional imprint furnishes him with pension, meaning, proofs of existence. A man without a company name is a man without a country.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)