As you can see throughout this website, we design tax structures and corporate structures for our clients in the USA and around the world. And as you've no doubt seen in the news, there are more and more details and risks to watch out for.
And the risks are real. Mistakes in structuring have serious consequences. We're not talking about a €500 fine, but about financial losses that can quickly run into the hundreds of thousands and, in the worst case, even prison sentences.
Just so we're clear: we're not talking about criminal schemes or deliberate tax evasion here, and not about extreme cases either. Tax optimization may not even matter to you, and you may have completely different reasons for setting up a company abroad.
This is about honest entrepreneurs who set up companies abroad carelessly and naively, without getting proper advice. Then comes a tax audit, a tip from a disgruntled former employee, or a report from an angry ex-spouse who spills everything. Sounds like a movie? That's how 90% of all tax fraud investigations begin.
An already worrying situation became dramatically tougher with the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), signed in Berlin in 2014 by 51 countries. For the first time in history, there is a truly global system for the automatic exchange of bank account information. A real game changer.
No free initial consultation
Against this backdrop, we've decided to offer no free initial consultations on international tax planning.
If you're interested in forming a company in the USA or elsewhere abroad, or in a tax structure set up by Mount Bonnell Advisors, we now insist that you book a paid consultation: ideally in person with us in London, or otherwise by phone (Malta, Dublin or the USA also work well as meeting places).
It's a statement. The world is changing. It's getting more complicated. We have to face that reality.
It's still entirely possible to run a company abroad without hiding anything from the authorities back home. But there are simply far more details to get right. And the effort and costs involved will rise sharply. That means running a foreign company will stay financially attractive for fewer and fewer entrepreneurs.
Makes sense?
Of course, we know you may be used to something different at home, where many accountants and lawyers will happily sit down with you for an hour free of charge and answer your questions.
So how can we insist on charging a fee even for the first consultation?
7 reasons we charge for the very first consultation
Quite a few prospective clients ask us exactly that. We're happy to explain this unusual policy:
1. Duty of care
We have a duty of care to our clients and prospective clients. Especially with regulations constantly changing, a quick half-hour call followed by a standard quote by email is no longer enough. In a consultation we need to go into a lot of detail and really understand your situation. Every client is different. The starting point is never the same. All of that takes real time. And when a conversation costs a fair bit of money, you as the other party are far more focused too. You prepare, you're fully engaged. In the end, you get three times as much out of it.
2. Availability
We're busy and have to be quite selective about taking on new clients. It simply makes no sense for us to give away consulting time when existing clients and ongoing projects already keep us at high capacity.
3. Website
We know our website is one of the most comprehensive, most cited and most visited resources on international tax planning. You'll find more solid information here than on most other websites. So it should be clear that we know our field (otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this). And it's beyond question that we're happy to share a great deal of information with you for free. You get plenty of free information on our website. For any "free riders," that should be more than enough.
4. Training effort & costs
We invest enormous effort in keeping our team's and partners' knowledge up to date (we're talking tens of thousands of euros a year). Tax laws sometimes change several times a year. In the long run, we can't afford that kind of investment and then hand out free consultation vouchers.
5. Time is what we sell
You can test-drive a car for free because Porsche sells cars, not time. Next time you book a test drive, ask the Porsche dealer whether, instead of the test drive, he'll give you a "piece of Porsche" for free. A steering wheel, say, or the badge off the back of a brand-new Carrera. Will he think you're crazy? Probably! We won't, of course, but you get the analogy: we sell time, so unfortunately we can't give you a "piece of time" for free.
6. Commitment
Please don't take this the wrong way, but we're only interested in clients who are seriously committed to their plans and to our services. At the top of this page, we described how seriously you need to take proper planning and advice when setting up a company abroad today. If you just want to check a few prices and facts, our website is the place for that. If you're not prepared to spend a few hundred euros on an in-depth consultation, or can't afford to, then unfortunately you're not the right client for us. Looking ahead, we'd rather win twenty serious, reliable clients than a hundred daredevils who end up getting us into trouble.
7. Cost/benefit
We know exactly what our time is worth. We know the impact of our advice, and we know that many clients have saved a lot of money and earned more because of it. Our advice has also kept quite a few clients from making serious mistakes. So we know our hourly fee is set far too low for the impact it has. And we're determined to keep raising it. Perry Marshall in the USA now charges $2,500 an hour. Unrealistic?
Time: the most valuable resource of all
What will you think about on your deathbed? Will you regret not spending more time at the office?
Hardly. If you're like most people, you'll regret not spending more time with your loved ones. With the people who truly matter to you. You'll have to admit you spent a lot of time on things that were pretty pointless.
Time is the most valuable resource of all. Money you can earn, lose and earn again. Time, once gone, never comes back and can't be recovered.
What does that mean here? It means we guard our time like a treasure. It means we try to use it carefully. We don't just give our time away to anyone.
In the end, understanding the value of time means setting the right priorities in life.
I'd rather spend my time with my kids than with free riders on the phone. That's why I prefer to talk with fewer clients who are genuinely interested. People who value their time with me and have shown it by paying a fair fee.
Every entrepreneur should value their time and think about how to manage it better. Aren't you doing far too much? Couldn't you focus on the truly important tasks (and your family!) and delegate the rest? It's worth thinking about (before you're on your deathbed).
Is the consultation a sales pitch in disguise?
We set aside an hour for each consultation and put all the facts on the table. Our advice is completely open-ended. We don't hold back the solution so we can sell you more services later. You benefit from the advisor's many years of hands-on experience and all of their expertise.
Time and again, the experts at Mount Bonnell Advisors manage to show a way out of real or perceived dead ends in no time. Because once a problem is reframed, the solution often looks obvious, even simple. That's the approach we follow. We're the neutral outsider. Our goal is to shed new light on your question and show you fresh perspectives, so you can actively tackle your tax, business or financial challenges.
What happens after the first consultation?
Many clients need a few days or weeks to digest what was discussed in the consultation.
Then you decide how to proceed: if you want us to set up the company or tax structure, we design the solution in detail and put it in writing (the "Approach Paper"). Where necessary, it's coordinated with our partner firms and includes a detailed cost and budget plan. Preparing it is billable and typically takes one to four hours.
You sign off on the Approach Paper, along with a Letter of Engagement. With that, you officially engage us to carry it out.
Our satisfaction guarantee
Booking a consultation is completely risk-free for you. If you're not 100% happy with the advisor, you can end the consultation at any time within the first 15 minutes, and you'll get any fees already paid back in full. After 15 minutes, the full fee is due as agreed.
You'll find what an hour with us costs on our fees page. The engagement overview shows you exactly how to become a client, and you can learn more about the firm here.