Very informative. Another tax haven many people are unaware of is the City of London. George Monbiot puts it this way: <i>The Corporation of the City of London is the dark heart of Britain, the place where democracy goes to die, immensely powerful, equally unaccountable.</i> (See <a href="http://www.monbiot.com/2011/10/31/wealth-destroyers/" rel="nofollow">http://www.monbiot.com/2011/10/31/wealth-destroyers/</a>
and <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2011/02/london-corporation-city" rel="nofollow">http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2011/02/london-corporati...</a> )
I did research on incorporating offshore when I was planning on becoming a travelling freelancer.<p>The Seychelles came up as one of the easiest and cheapest places to incorporate. Very little regulation.
You don't even need to go as far as the Seychelles to dodge taxes - there's the inter-state tax dodging version called "Delaware" (although the incentive is a bit weaker).
Right now, the hot commodity for corrupt officials, criminal billionaires, and money launderers (domestic and foreign) is real estate in the U.S. (and in Canada, esp. Vancouver). The U.K. is having the same problem. Even if this seems like a small percentage of purchases (but it's not; in London, foreigners laundering money make up about 75% of the purchases) it combines with price inelasticity to make prices go through the roof: several times what they would be otherwise.<p>Take China as an example (mostly, just because it's a very large country) where corruption is a death-penalty charge. If things turn against you, you're going to need not only a new identity (for your entire family) but possibly a new face (not exaggerating). The West Coast has some of the best plastic surgeons, but it also has expensive houses (which you can borrow against) and tech companies (where non-technical executive positions involve zero responsibility and make great sinecures). The sort of high-level makeover process these guys involves buying a career (including fake references) and being inserted in an executive sinecure somewhere, but that takes about 3 years, so you need 3 years' worth of cash before you can start earning on your own again. With most assets frozen and the previous identity gone, the house (delivered through a shell company to the new identity) <i>is</i> the only reliable store of wealth. Silicon Valley is attractive to the world's criminals because it's the one place where you can have $4 million of "wealth" tied up in a house and not raise an eyebrow.