also called no income tax country · offshore jurisdiction · tax-free country · zero-tax country
A country with very low or no taxes and often strong financial privacy that attracts foreign money and companies.
A tax haven is a country with very low or no taxes, often paired with strong financial privacy, which draws in foreign money and companies. Routing your income through one can, on the surface, cut your tax bill. The problem is that your home country's rules on foreign companies, along with reporting duties and reputational scrutiny, can claw the benefit straight back.
You set up income in a low-tax jurisdiction expecting to keep far more of it. Then your home country's rules on foreign-controlled companies pull those profits back into your own tax return, and the saving you counted on quietly disappears under reporting you did not expect.
Basing income there can cut tax, but home-country CFC rules, reporting and reputational scrutiny can undo the benefit.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
A new term lands on this site every day, and the email is how you get it the day it lands. No digest, no roundup, no pitch. One term, what it means, and what it costs you to get it wrong.
Unsubscribe in one click, any time. We do not sell or share your address.