An Unlikely “Offshore” — The Netherlands

Several members of the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts) have employed the Promogroup from The Netherlands to help them establish Dutch foundations which permit them to transfer assets tax-free to heirs when they die.

According to Lynnley Browning, The Netherlands, the New Tax Shelter Hot Spot, NY Times, Feb. 4, 2007:

When it comes to attracting celebrity wealth seeking shelter from taxes, the Cayman Islands and other classic Caribbean tax havens are receding in favor like so many waves on the beach, according to tax experts here and overseas. While old-school, offshore tax havens — the warm ones with tropical fish, off-the-shelf holding companies sporting post-office-box addresses, and scant regulation or transparency — still attract money, they are largely patronized, tax lawyers and entertainment bankers say, by hedge funds and private equity firms looking to protect lush trading profits from taxes.

But for earnings derived from intellectual property such as royalties, the Netherlands has become a tax shelter of choice. With celebrities lending their names and images to clothing lines, licensing their hit songs to corporate sponsors, seeking roles in Hollywood and engaging in other ventures that generate significant taxable income, the Dutch system, which does not tax royalties, offers a nifty shelter.