Among the numerous smart and legal business accounting practices through which you can make the most of your money one of the best options is opening an off shore merchant account. Opening an off shore merchant account is the right choice for your credit card processing needs. These types of accounts are legal and save you money.
Plus, their service is as good, if not better than the service you get on shore. These days, no business, however small, is complete without a credit card processing facility. The reason for this is that a large number of people prefer to pay for goods and services with debit or credit cards instead of paying by check or cash. By adding the ability to process debit and credit cards, you can serve a wider range of customers. Thus, it is a smart business practice to offer this facility to your customers. In order to ensure that the money paid by credit or debit cards is properly transferred from the customers' accounts into your account you will need to open a merchant account.
Merchant accounts are similar to any other bank account, but should be kept separate as business accounts for accounting purposes. There are plenty of companies that help you open a merchant account in the United States, but that is not the only place that you can open an account. There are off shore accounts available from countries in the Caribbean, Central America, and Europe. Using an off shore account to help with your accounting needs as they relate to credit and debit cards is a great way to save money in a variety of ways. The first advantage of an off shore account is that your money is considered as foreign income, which is taxed at a different rate than domestic income. Of course, you must speak to your accountant or a tax attorney and understand the accounting requirements accompanying this option.
Nevertheless, if you choose to open an off shore merchant account, you will most certainly save on taxes. The other way that you will save money is on security fees and upfront costs. You will have to block quite a bit of money to open an on shore merchant account, as many of these companies ask for hefty initial deposits for security reasons. Many banks also keep back a certain amount of your money each month, over and above the original security amount to cover charge backs.
Usually, off shore accounts offer comparatively lower initial deposits and hold amounts for charge backs. However, off shore accounts charge higher transaction fees but the differential is much less than what you would save in taxes. The added advantage is that they provide very good service in their endeavor to attract and hold their clients. One of the best accounting moves you can make for your business is to look into off shore merchant accounts to see if they will work for you.
David Neelhy is a respected contributing author for "Merchant Accounts Rate" You'll find all the latest Merchant Account news there. Get all David's latest Merchant Account articles by going to http://MerchantAccountsRate.com/articles