International Tax Havens

by Anthony S. Ginsberg

An offshore book review by Matt Blackman

This is Mr. Ginsberg's fourth and most recent book (published April 1997) on offshore investing. His earlier version, simply entitled Tax Havens published in 1991, remains a valuable source of information for the new and experienced investor alike.

International Tax Havens is completely updated and includes an important discussion of changes to legislation both offshore and onshore. High tax countries such as the US, Canada and a number of European members of the Group of Seven Industrialized nations (G7) have been working to discourage their citizens and corporations from using tax havens to minimize taxes. Mr. Ginsberg has established himself as one of the world's leading experts in this field, helping those striving to take advantage of international investment and business opportunities stay current with changes that effect them in this endeavor. His latest book has competently achieved this end making it essential reading.

An partial overview of the table of contents gives readers a good indication of the subjects covered.

Part A

        1. Introduction - Covers growth, choice of and reasons for choosing tax havens and why developed
          nations tolerate them.

        2. Criteria for choosing a tax haven - Also includes an important discussion on how to protect one's confidentiality.

        3. Financial techniques for using tax havens - Strategies for using tax havens discussed such as distribution of post-tax profits, source allocation of pre-tax profits, profit extraction, minimization of taxation on executives' remuneration, techniques for immigrants and retirees, reliance on trusts (including Asset Protection Trusts) and treaty shopping.

        4. Who can benefit from tax havens - Looks at who uses tax havens, taking advantage of banking services, trusts, offshore holding companies, license and patent-holding companies, offshore finance companies, conduit finance companies, and a number of other offshore company uses and structures.

        5. Roles of tax havens in international finance - Discusses offshore investment trusts/funds, number of offshore banks and banking, mutual funds, captive insurance, the US and offshore funds, reasons for global investing, etc. 

Part B

This section discusses a number of jurisdictions in detail including geography, political system, offshore services, banking, and other important features. Jurisdictions discussed in detail are:

Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgins, the Caymans, Netherlands Antilles, Turks and Caicos, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Mauritius, the Cook Islands, Hong Kong, Labuan, Singapore, and Vanuatu.

Part C

The majority of this section is devoted to use of tax havens by South Africans. Includes important updates regarding immigration to the US and Canada as well as important strategies to minimize tax liabilities for immigrants considering those jurisdictions. Also discusses EU factor.

 

Anthony, originally from South Africa, has addressed many topics from the perspective of citizens from his mother country. However, he doesn't ignore other countries and provides information necessary to residents from G7 countries such as the US, Canada and the UK.

What I like most about this and other books by Anthony is that rather than simply providing reams of offshore information and legislation changes, he takes this data and uses it to provide useful strategies to give his readers ideas on how to maximize the use of offshore centers and business opportunities. It is this kind of extrapolation of data that we pay offshore service providers large fees. This part of the book alone providers readers excellent value on their investment!

I found the work interesting and authoritative, in usual Ginsberg style. It includes useful graphs and charts to demonstrate his points. He has used a substantial amount of the information found in past issues of Offshore Outlook Magazine, a valuable publication of which he was president until his recent resignation to manage a Barclays Bank branch in South Africa. Hopefully he will continue to write information packed books for both the international offshore investor and corporation.

International Tax Havens is 646 pages in length and is available from Butterworths for $61.00 US.

*RATING 8/10* Reading Level - Advanced to Professional. 

Disclaimer: The views expressed are independent and the sole opinion of Matt Blackman who has not and will not receive financial remuneration from the publisher or author for this review. Although great care was taken in writing this review, the author cannot and does not gaurantee the accuracy of information contained herein due to its complex nature. Readers are advised to obtain legal councel before making any investment or estate planning decision. Review copy of this publication was supplied by publisher.

Note: This column is dedicated to reviewing books on the subject of offshore investing and asset management. It is designed to provide an insight into the publications available to assist readers looking for the best information available for the money. If you have a comment or question about a review or have read written a publication of interest that you'd like to discuss, please:

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