The bet!
I want to make a bet with anyone who has or has had a company abroad in the last 3 years: your offshore probably has errors that will cost dearly. In the last 5 years the market was flooded by terrible professionals — some scammers, others just incompetent — who wrapped a lot of people showing cars, designer brands and photos on Instagram. And you didn't even notice the Portuguese full of errors, the lack of elegance, knowledge, experience... the underlying evidence.
How to judge the quality of a professional at first sight? Three clear signs:
- Price: a simple offshore costs between 900 and 2,300 dollars. More than that is an exaggeration.
- Image: if the person takes photos of steering wheels, shows clothing brands and poses in front of the Burj Khalifa, they are not a professional: they are a caricature created to impress people who lack discernment. Don't be one of them!
- Presence: as much as this person may eventually speak your language and identify with you, they are not the type of person you would like to have abroad representing your company in New York, Zurich or Tokyo.
They are a fake operator who buys the minimum of the operation for 200 dollars and sells for 5,000 or 10,000. They don't know that they don't know. But it's not them who pay for the damages: it's you.
In 2026, Startaway invited us (my partner and I) to improve their structure for Latin America and bring you (yes, you and your offshore company) into their client roster — and without you paying anything for it!
The Jurisdiction Error
The first common mistake of 2024-2025: opening your offshore in the wrong place. Many bought Dubai or the Virgin Islands as a magic solution, but were not informed that, without real substance or updated compliance, you are on the immediate radar of taxation, the Brazilian IRS and international banks.
You have a paper, you don't have a functional company. And you will still be very bothered by IR 2026, when the profits of foreign subsidiaries are taxed annually regardless of distribution.
Abandonment and Blocked Account
Many companies deliver an EIN, a UTR or a registration certificate and disappear. They let your company "expire" — the famous strike off — due to lack of annual renewal. Suddenly you wake up with your bank account blocked and assets frozen. This happens when the accounting obligations of your legal entity (and also of the individual) are neglected abroad.
You were abandoned and lost money. The company that seemed cheap at the beginning became expensive in the end, because nobody took care of it after the sale.
AML Issues and Dirty Name
There are AML — Anti-Money Laundering — issues that may be in your name right now in foreign registration bodies, just because your consultant did not deliver the compliance documentation on time. This is not just a fine; it is your name tarnished in the global financial system.
You will be warned, sooner or later. Or you will find out when you try to visit Disney or Big Ben and find a surprise at immigration or at the bank.
The IR Declaration Disaster
Or worse: they misguided your income tax declaration in Brazil. You declared gains you shouldn't have, or omitted what was mandatory, and now the Brazilian IRS fine is knocking at your door.
Your local accountant's mistake has become an unpayable liability for you. The professional who said "trust me" is not going to pay the fine. You are.
The Startaway Proposal
Startaway does a free diagnostic of your international structure. We analyze:
- The jurisdiction where the company is domiciled;
- The existence of real economic substance;
- The status of compliance and renewals;
- Pending issues in foreign registration bodies;
- The relationship between the structure and the Brazilian income tax declaration;
- The corporate contracts and documents.
If we find errors, we present a correction plan. You only proceed with the migration to Startaway if you want to. There is no charge for hearing the diagnostic.
A poorly made offshore is like a car without brakes on a Swiss road. The question is not if it will stop: it's how. Before the curve arrives, let Startaway review your vehicle!
