Cayman has no taxes. There are various fees required to register a corporation, but income and capital gains aren't taxed (for businesses or individuals). Note that the IRS still requires US citizens to file personal income tax returns, and they still have to pay taxes on foreign earned income.

I am not a lawyer or accountant, but I did live and work there for years. The main benefits are tax avoidance, but it's much more difficult for US citizens than for others (most countries don't tax their citizens on foreign income; capital gains laws vary).

People will make all the obligatory jokes about shady rich tax dodgers, and there are rich people and corporations that like to keep money in Cayman for ethically questionable reasons, but the majority of Cayman finance is completely legal, ethical, and above-board.

> People will make all the obligatory jokes about shady rich tax dodgers, and there are rich people and corporations that like to keep money in Cayman for ethically questionable reasons, but the majority of Cayman finance is completely legal, ethical, and above-board.

This sounds like it might be true in terms of number of individual accounts maybe, but do you think that's true in terms of overall asset value?

It'd be hard to draw a line on what's sketchy and what's not. Taxes are incredibly complicated. Defining what's legitimate business vs. ethically questionable vs. illegal (and whose laws are being violated) makes it hard to even categorize the money, even if there were data available on how much is there and who controls it.

My guess is that there's probably much more there that's completely legal, but pushes people's buttons because they want to see it taxed at home. Like Apple's overseas billions (which are largely sheltered elsewhere, but you get the idea).

What is clear that the world governments are and have been accelerating their efforts to quash tax avoidance.

For example, in 2013 the oldest running Swiss bank, Wegelin, (itself older than the US) shut down as a result of a guilty plea for a case brought by the justice department.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swissbank-wegelin/swiss-b...

I believe Cayman Islands is for hiding your money whereas Delaware is for legit business.

Not true. If you’re a foreign entity it can cause tax issues to be directly investing in a Delaware structure so sometimes you need a blocker entity.

Blocker entities are purely for "bypassing my local laws and country from make sure I follow said laws".

Sure, I understand the appeal - it's the equivalent of hiding a bag of cash somewhere and having a trusted third-party provide the location to whoever you want after your death. No laws, no lawyers, security for your wishes - exactly what you want.

"Tax issues" are synonymous with "I'm liable to pay more taxes if I'm up-front, direct and transparent with my legal structure"

That isn't entirely true. For instance, if you are investing on behalf of a foundation or other nonprofit structure, or a similar non-taxed or tax-deferred entity (like a pension fund), you have a reason to preserve your legitimate tax free status. This is one reason you'll see US hedge funds with both Delaware and Cayman entities even if they only have US subscribers - because some of those US subscribers will be entities outside the conventional person/corporation tax model.

AFAIK 5013C's are exempt in that case?

“Tax issues” like having to pay taxes? Isn’t that what I’m saying?