Switzerland Offshore Incorporation

Swiss Banks have made it the most famous and notorious destination in the world for stockpiling and management of huge sums. Switzerland offers all benefits of tax-savings and anonymity that offshore locations provide by it is not referred to with the word “Offshore” in company forms and legal documents. Many specific stock-corporations offer almost the same benefits and facilities as many offshore facilities.

Types of Swiss Tax-Privileged Companies

There are many variants of the basic Stock Corporation of Switzerland that offers tax-privileges. There has been controversy surrounding the definition and scope of a Holding Company but usually they derive at least more than half of their income from the dividends issued by their subsidiaries and have the controlling share of minimum 51% in the smaller company. 5 such variants – Holding, Domiciliary, Auxiliary, Service and Mixed Companies, are enlisted below:

Holding Companies: A Holding Company is defined as a corporate entity that “holds either a minimum of 20% of the share capital of another corporate entity or if the value of its shareholding in the other corporate entity has a market value of at least 2m Swiss Francs (called ‘participating shareholding’).
Domiciliary Companies could be both foreign-controlled and run from another country but they need a registered office in Switzerland at their lawyer’s premises. They do not have any physical office or staff in Switzerland as they carry out almost all of their business aboard and out of Switzerland and only receive funds from those operations abroad into the country. They enjoy huge tax benefits at the local and municipal level.
Auxiliary Companies carry out a certain part of their business in Switzerland too and thus they are like Domiciliary Companies with a certain additional Swiss business. They are allowed only in 7 cantons and require Swiss office and staff and issue receipts in Swiss income that is normally taxed.
Service Companies are defined as those concerns that only provide technical, managerial, marketing, publicity, financial and/or administrative assistance to foreign companies of the same parent group. They are not allowed to get income from third parties and other companies outside their corporate group. Service company status is achieved by a ruling of advance tax. They enjoy no relief at the national and federal levels but at cantonal, local, municipal and community levels a high rate of relief is provided by laws.
Mixed Companies: Certain companies have features of both Domiciliary Companies and Holding Companies. They are called as Mixed Companies because they cannot be classified completely in either category. No relief at federal level is provided but at local levels exemptions are provided conditionally. For the relief the Mixed Company needs to be foreign controlled, have 80% of its income deriving from abroad and have very close interaction and relationship with foreign entities.
The usual definition of a Swiss Holding Company is that firm where foreign money from sale of shares of foreign entities is tax-exempt. Otherwise this money would be taxed if it was entering a non-holding company.

If you are looking to invest in real esate in Switzerland, look at Bauland Baselland.

Swiss law firm which is consulting on Swiss company incorporation.