International Business Structuring & Tax Planning

Crystal Tax is an international business structuring consultancy. Since 2012 we have helped entrepreneurs register and maintain companies abroad, open bank accounts and build structures that pass bank and tax authority checks. We work online with clients from Ukraine and other countries.

Our main focus is international corporate structures: holdings, operating companies, trusts and foundations — from registration to day-to-day administration.

Our team consists of lawyers who specialise in international private and corporate law, tax structuring and financial planning, and of certified accountants experienced in international reporting.

Crystal Tax has been on the market for 14 years. Our reputation has been built on clear pricing and a high standard of client service.

If you are expanding into foreign markets, want your tax position in order and your assets protected — bring us the task and we will work through it with you.

Further down this page: how the work is structured, what our services cover, the jurisdictions we register companies in and what a bank account takes.

Registering a company abroad: where the work starts

You can register a company almost anywhere today. The difficulty lies elsewhere: the jurisdiction has to hold up under your business model — so that a bank opens the account, the tax authority in your country of residence calculates the tax predictably, and a counterparty can check the structure without extra questions. That is where we start.

Crystal Tax works in three directions:

• choosing the jurisdiction, registering companies and buying ready-made ones;
• support and liquidation of foreign companies: secretary, registered address, renewals, reporting;
• opening accounts with banks and payment institutions. 

Structuring and administering foreign companies is the core work of our team. 

We advise on the choice of jurisdiction, tax reporting, ownership arrangements and the use of such companies in trading, financial and holding structures.

For more on company types and the registration procedure, see the «Companies» section. 

How work with Crystal Tax is set up

It all starts with a conversation. You tell us what the business does, where the money comes from and where it goes, where you and your clients are based. We ask follow-up questions and propose a structure with timelines and a cost estimate.

From there we run the whole task: registration, bank account, reporting, changes to the structure. Your case stays with us and is never passed down a chain of intermediaries.

Registering a company abroad comes down to local requirements, and those change every year. Our specialists help you:

• register a company in the chosen jurisdiction;
• meet the requirements of local legislation;
• keep track of rule changes that affect your structure;
• launch the business internationally;
• build a business reputation that banks and counterparties accept.

What our services cover

Crystal Tax supports the business at every stage of its development. Our range of services includes:

1. Company registration. We choose the jurisdiction and the legal form, prepare the documents and complete the registration under the rules of the chosen country.
2. Immigration and work visas. We advise on and accompany the process of obtaining a visa or a work permit.
3. Taxation and tax residency. We calculate the tax burden for your model, help with personal and corporate tax filings and work out where you become a tax resident when you relocate.
4. Corporate administration. We take on secretarial functions, the registered address, renewals and regulator requirements.
5. Accounts and payment solutions. We find a bank or a payment institution that accepts your model, prepare the document pack and guide you through the compliance review. 
6. Accounting and auditing. We keep the reporting and the company in line with the requirements, so that the annual filing never turns into a scramble.

We cover corporate tasks end to end so the business keeps running. Tell us about your situation and we will propose a structure and the order of steps.

Jurisdictions: we operate on 4 continents

We register companies in countries across four continents. Our local experts in law, accounting and finance help you get through the launch without surprises.

Here is part of the list of jurisdictions we work with:

1. Poland.
2. Estonia.
3. United Kingdom.
4. Cyprus.
5. UAE.
6. USA (Delaware, Wyoming).
7. Czech Republic.
8. Lithuania.
9. Singapore.
10. Hong Kong.
11. Georgia.
12. Spain and others.

How to choose the right country and what taxes and reporting your company will have: see International company formation.

What a structure abroad gives you

A structure built around the task pays for itself. What the business gets:

• a tax model designed around your business model and country of tax residence;
• access to international banks and payment systems;
• a structure that takes CFC rules, substance and automatic exchange of information (CRS) into account;
• corporate flexibility;
• minimum requirements for directors and shareholders;
• quick company registration in most jurisdictions;
• straightforward day-to-day management;
• reporting and compliance that we take care of.

How registering a company abroad works

The procedure is simpler than it looks from the outside. If you want to save your own time and effort, hand it to the Crystal Tax team.

The order of steps differs from country to country, but in general it looks like this:

1. Preparing the document pack and filing it with the corporate registry of the chosen jurisdiction.
2. Receiving the certificate of incorporation confirming that the company exists.
3. Settling the organisational matters: director, registered address, articles, shares.
4. Opening an account with a bank or a payment institution.

What documents are required

To register a company you will usually need:

• memorandum of association;
• articles of association;
• charter;
• Know Your Customer documents (KYC);
• a notarized bank statement;
• bank reference letter;
• copy of passport for identity verification;
• copy of a utility bill to verify the physical address.

How we run a project

From the first conversation to a working structure:

1. We work through the task: what the business does, where the money comes from, where the owners and the clients are based. On that basis we choose the jurisdiction and the legal form.
2. We collect the client's documents and go through the KYC check.
3. We complete the registration. Depending on the country this takes from a few hours to several weeks. 
4. We get the company running: bank account, reporting, corporate services. Registration is the first step; after it you need an account to trade with your partners and annual obligations towards the registry and the tax authority. Ongoing legal support on a retainer basis is available from us.

Accounts and payment solutions

We help open accounts for foreign companies — with banks and payment institutions that work with your model. 

Need a company with a bank account? Tell us about your business: we will suggest a jurisdiction and a bank that accept your model and guide you through the account opening.

Without a corporate account the business stalls: contracts, payments to suppliers, collecting money from clients — it all runs through the account.

Every country has its own banking rules, and every bank has its own account types, procedures and document lists. Working through that alone stretches over months, and deals wait all that time.

We shorten it: we prepare the document pack, explain the business model to the bank and stay with the client through the account opening and beyond.

What a corporate account abroad gives you:

• access to world markets for trading and investment purposes;
• international payments without currency control;
• multi-currency accounts: US dollars, euros, pounds sterling and other currencies;
• personal and corporate money kept apart;
• a clear KYC and source-of-funds procedure;
• specialised and tailored banking products;
• round-the-clock internet banking, debit and credit cards.

Ready-made companies with an account: when they make sense

Sometimes a company is needed right away: for a contract, a tender or an account opening. For such cases, ready-made companies that nobody has used before are a good fit.

Our specialists will help you choose a company for your task, and if no ready-made option fits, we will register a new one in the right jurisdiction. We work with clients online, from any country.

Our approach to international structures

What sets Crystal Tax’s work on a foreign company apart:

1. A structure built around your model. We decide where the holding sits, where the operating company sits, how payments flow and where tax is paid, based on your business and markets.
2. Straight talk about what you can skip. If a foreign company or a complex structure is not needed yet, we say so plainly, even when that means less work for us.
3. Compliance from day one. We build in real presence (substance), CRS / CARF / DAC8 reporting and KYC documents, so the structure passes bank and tax authority checks.
4. One team for the whole chain. Crystal Tax lawyers, tax advisers and accountants, together with partners on the ground, run the company, the account, the books and Ukrainian CFC reporting.
5. An estimate before work starts. We put the scope together around your task and name the price up front.
6. Online from any country. Most steps are done remotely; if a jurisdiction or bank requires an in-person visit, we tell you in advance.

Crystal Tax has been working since 2012. Tell us about the task and we will propose a structure that solves it.

Consultation · €100