Most Western countries provide reliefs under their laws which allow assets to pass, free of tax, from individuals or corporations into Offshore Trust arrangements.

Indeed, the relationship between Trusts, both onshore and offshore, Taxation, Asset Protection and Wealth Preservation has brought about a demand for information which was difficult to obtain only a decade ago. And this is all quite legal. The super-rich have been doing it for decades. Most major companies and banks, globally, have offshore operations.

But, now these arrangements are available to anyone wishing to enjoy the following benefits:

Save vast sums in taxes.

Pass wealth to future generations free of tax.

Enhance financial privacy away from networked databases.

Shield against harassment and vengeful lawsuits.

Minimise inflation and currency risks.

Protect property against government confiscation.

Limit personal liability.

Avoid currency, capital and exchange controls. Minimise economic and political risk.

Change the ownership of assets or wealth without the knowledge of anyone.

Reduce costs of property transactions.

Use trust as a money-raising vehicle

Avoid probate on death.

Preserve wealth with financial, investment and pension planning.

And achieve financial immortality.

Richard Branson saved many millions in tax when he sold his Virgin Record Company by using offshore arrangements. Before Virgin went public, Branson took the step which saved him tens of millions in tax by transferring ownership of many of his shares in the Company to Offshore Trusts of which he and his family are beneficiaries. When the Company went public, and when his music business was sold later, in a transaction worth over £560 million, the bulk of the capital gain was free of tax. There was not, could not, and will not, be any dispute over the legality of the tax avoidance inherent in the transaction. United Kingdom tax rules allow offshore trust arrangements most definitely. And the same is true for most Western countries.

Here's a possible scenario for an individual with more modest means:

A variety of investments are owned by either a single person or a couple. Anything of value as capital can be used, but property is the most common asset. The properties may be mortgaged. Using legal strategies, successfully implemented over decades, the portfolio can be moved, under statutory protection, into a tax-free, trust-based environment.

The portfolio investments can be sold free of any tax on the capital gain. Tax-efficient rental strategies remain available. Taxes due on death on shore, cannot be levied on these investments or their sale proceeds offshore.

This arrangement uses statutory reliefs. It does not even touch on "tax avoidance". It has full disclosure to tax authorities. It can be set up in conjunction with existing professional advisers. It uses independent professional trustees. It is the perfect arrangement.

Tax avoidance is fine. Tax evasion is illegal, no matter where you reside. A U.S. Supreme Court Judge stated: "The tax-payer has a right to so arrange his affairs as to make his tax as low as possible." And a French Chancellor: "The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing."

Punitive taxes are among the major obstacles in accumulating wealth today. Think of this. High-tax countries, i.e. most of the Western world, endeavour to relieve you of more than half your income while you are alive and working.

After you have gone, it will try to take at least 50% of what you have left, in estate/inheritance/death tax.

As privacy is eroded, most Western countries are following the United States' example. Frivolous, indiscriminate, costly litigation abounds, with lawsuits appearing everywhere and for everything. Well-informed lawyers know exactly what your assets amount to, and can ruthlessly pursue their clients' claims to them, unless action is taken to protect them. Offshore arrangements will do this.

But it's not just lawyers who can gather information on you. Private investigators, with access to advanced technology, can glean the deepest personal and business knowledge, without anyone knowing. According to a UK television documentary, the UK Inland Revenue uses undercover vehicles to eavesdrop on suspected tax fraudsters. Offshore arrangements can help avoid this.

Our lives are finite, but corporations can live forever. This means that you could use an offshore entity as a wealth preservation and estate planning vehicle to provide a source of income to uncounted generations of your family. Unless you protect your wealth and your estate, your heirs could lose more than half of it. Then, of course, the government becomes your biggest "heir".

By using a simple offshore trust, rather than a corporate one, in the event of the death of the settlor, the winding-up of the estate can be accomplished simply without delay.

If you truly wish maximum privacy for your business and financial affairs, combined with the most efficient wealth preservation planning, you should do something without delay, no matter where in the world you reside.