Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and hoping someone can help with my query. We’re moving to Malta this summer and I am looking to run my consultancy from there by creating a new Malta Ltd. I have looking into the options for the foreign holding that you need to set up for the 5% tax rate and am a bit confused. I’m inclined to go for Cyprus but you’re looking at 6K first year in fees incl. setup and maybe 3.5K per year thereafter for what is just a passive holding company. My business is not that big yet and there is a tradeoff between the extra cost of an additional company and the tax savings.I also have been told there’s something like a Scottish LP for which there is in contrast to Cyprus no yearly accounts to be filed as it’s tax transparent but it’s still a legal entity. So maintenance cost should be substantially cheaper. But based on a bit of google research these partnerships seem to have a very bad image and that it would be impossible to even open a bank account for it nowadays (even Cyprus is limited it seems). And maybe these partnerships will be reformed shortly? I also looked at UK ltd. as holding but not sure if with brexit this is still a safe option either and someone told me there are now “hybrid mismatch” rules in UK and that the UK could potentially tax the tax refund. I find it hard to get objective opinions; if you call trust offices they seem to be telling something different depending on the jurisdiction they sell. Anyone having a view/experience with this before I select Cyprus as best option?