For something that’s so simple and inexpensive, a foreign limited liability company can deliver a remarkable list of benefits.
- Protection from malicious litigation. If you should ever lose a lawsuit, the winner would find it difficult and time-consuming — maybe impossible — to reach the assets you’ve put into a properly structured offshore LLC. That drastically reduces your attractiveness as a target, and if you ever do have a lawsuit problem, the LLC would position you to negotiate a settlement on your own terms.
- Protection from capital controls and investment restrictions. If the U.S. government ever limits your freedom to move money out of the country or to hold foreign currencies or anything else, your foreign LLC’s investments won’t be directly covered.
- Protection from sudden asset seizures. Numerous U.S. government agencies now have the power to seize your bank account and other assets with zero due process — if the assets are in the U.S. But your offshore LLC’s foreign bank account and other foreign assets can’t be reached by any bureaucratic edict from the U.S. An interested government agency wouldn’t just go away, but they couldn’t do anything without first going to court.
- Access to foreign markets and financial institutions. Many foreign banks and brokers now turn Americans away. Your offshore LLC, on the other hand, gets a wider and warmer welcome. You may be an American, but it’s not.
- Estate tax savings. Your foreign LLC can be structured to reduce its value for gift and estate tax purposes.
- Commercial privacy. Your LLC can give you strong privacy from actual and potential business competitors — which can be a big advantage if you own copyrights, patents or other intellectual property.
You can discover how to can gain those advantages for yourself with a standalone foreign limited liability company and to get information about IRS reporting requirements (a road map for keeping your LLC completely non-controversial), in the six pages of Your Own Offshore Limited Liability Company. You also should read this report if you’re considering an offshore trust with an offshore LLC inside it.
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