"Tax havens" are legal for citizens of most countries of the world except for the U.S.  Most other countries tax on the basis of residency, even for citizens. If a citizen of Canada or Spain changes their permanent residence, they are no longer subject to tax by those countries for income realized (sourced) in other countries. In most countries of the world (except the U.S.), a permanent resident is not subject to tax on income earned by a foreign trust or a foreign corporation in which the resident has a financial interest. Taxes are imposed when income is transferred from the foreign trust or foreign corporation to the country of residence. 

Hence, tax havens are legally useful for nearly everyone in the world except citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. For U.S. citizens or permanent residents, tax avoidance or even tax deferral with tax havens is far more difficult. But, there are some limited circumstances in which some tax avoidance or deferral is legally available. In those circumstances, a tax haven can be beneficial to a U.S. person. 

For most U.S. persons who venture offshore, the primary motive is asset protection. Most of the tax havens are also asset protection havens -- at least for U.S. persons who have any exposure to the U.S. litigation lottery. An "asset haven" is a country that does not recognize the decisions of any U.S. court with respect to civil disputes. Some asset havens don't even give recognition to orders of any U.S. agency (such as the Federal Trade Commission) unless the agency can first prove that certain assets are the proceeds of a crime in the U.S. that would be recognized as a crime in the asset haven country. Asset havens provide privacy from predatory snoops who want to know if someone has enough assets to justify the cost and time for a lawsuit. They also provide protection from judgments granted by the U.S. courts to the extent that the assets in the haven country do not represent a fraudulent transfer. 

We have prepared a summary of the following information about each of twenty countries that are most often regarded as tax havens or as asset protection havens. This information is available to our paid subscribers and will be updated and expanded as time permits. 
 

• Country Introduction 
• Country Location 
• Languages . 
• Legal System
• Currency
• Exchange rates 
• International Organizations
• Industry
• Internet country code
• Summary Tax Information by Country
• Tax Treaties
• Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties 
• Tax Information Exchange Agreement
• Countries with Per Se Corporations 
• Qualified Intermediary status
• OECD Financial Action Task Force Blacklist
• Economic citizenship and passport
• British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies