Offshore bank account
Opening an offshore bank account is often regarded as tax evasion. While an offshore bank account offers a substantial reduction of taxation, this argument is far to be the only attraction.
An offshore bank account may indeed be justified by very different reasons. In Switzerland, the opening of accounts are primarily intended to protect a heritage. Banking secrecy havens promised financial guarantees utmost discretion as to the identity of the account holder, its assets and transactions. Of course, banking secrecy does not cover illegal activities, since it can be canceled by a conviction in court. But an offshore bank account protects the heritage of those who are exposed to trial litigation, and could see their entire capital sunk following a trial for medical malpractice or professional misconduct.
An offshore bank account is also given a second chance to those who are afflicted with a curse bank in their country. For now, no harmonization on this point has been made, nor the international or even European level. An offshore bank account represents a solution for simply having access to financial services the most common.
The reputation of offshore bank account is not overused in tax matters. For large fortunes for example, the Solidarity Tax on Wealth represents a considerable burden, and it can be circumvented through an offshore bank account open in French Polynesia and Belgium. For companies, offshore bank accounts are an effective solution to lower the tax rate on profits.