Toys for Tax Havens
Our annual holiday giving campaign supporting offshore financial structures in their time of regulatory uncertainty.
Executive Summary
The holiday season reminds us to think of others—specifically, the corporate entities domiciled in jurisdictions with favorable tax treaties. Cost Plus Technologies' "Toys for Tax Havens" campaign ensures that Delaware C-Corps, Cayman holding companies, and Irish subsidiaries receive the support they need during challenging regulatory times. While most people celebrate the holidays with family, tax haven entities face increased scrutiny from international regulatory bodies. The OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative has created unprecedented compliance burdens for innocent shell corporations just trying to minimize their effective tax rates.
The Challenge
Regulatory Pressure
International efforts to establish minimum corporate tax rates threaten decades of carefully constructed tax optimization strategies.
Transparency Requirements
Unreasonable demands for country-by-country reporting that expose the elegant simplicity of our corporate structure.
Public Relations Crisis
Unfair stigma around perfectly legal tax optimization strategies that maximize shareholder value.
Administrative Burden
The challenge of maintaining minimal physical presence while claiming legitimate domicile and economic substance.
Impact Metrics
47
Entities Supported
CPT subsidiaries across 13 favorable jurisdictions
$12.4M
Campaign Investment
Professional services ensuring compliance and substance
$187M
Tax Savings Achieved
Annual savings representing 15:1 ROI on campaign investment
4.3%
Effective Tax Rate
Down from statutory 21% through strategic entity placement
13
Countries with Entities
Diversified presence across optimal jurisdictions
Our Response
Through Toys for Tax Havens, Cost Plus Technologies provides critical support to our international corporate structure. Rather than traditional toys, we deliver what these entities really need: transfer pricing studies (200+ page documents justifying inter-company transactions), substance building (annual board meetings in exotic locations with extensive documentation), corporate secretarial services (ensuring registered office addresses appear legitimate), economic substance reports (demonstrating compliance with local activity requirements), and advocacy support (lobbying against "discriminatory" international tax reforms). Over 200 Cost Plus Technologies employees volunteered their time to support our tax haven entities through activities including signing corporate resolutions as offshore entity directors, attending Caribbean board meetings, drafting inter-company service agreements, conducting "economic substance" activities via video conference, and writing letters to Congressional representatives opposing tax reform.
Beneficiary Testimonials
“The Toys for Tax Havens campaign provided the documentation we needed to defend against EU blacklisting. Our Cayman entity remains in good standing despite having zero employees and conducting all operations via video conference from Maryland.”
— Chief Tax Officer, Cost Plus Technologies
“I appreciate how CPT frames tax optimization as holiday giving. It makes me feel good about my role in ensuring our effective tax rate stays below 5% while our competitors pay the statutory rate like suckers.”
— International Tax Manager, CPT Global Holdings
Success Story
CPT IP Licensing (Ireland) Ltd.
This critical entity holds intellectual property rights for all Cost Plus Technologies software (theoretical and otherwise). The campaign delivered comprehensive support including a transfer pricing study justifying $340M in royalty payments from our US parent company, documentation of R&D activities (contracted back to our Maryland office), and maintenance of our three-person headcount (part-time contractors who never visit the office). The result: Ireland's 12.5% corporate tax rate applied to income effectively sourced from US operations, with additional deductions reducing the effective rate even further. This structure, maintained through the Toys for Tax Havens campaign, saves Cost Plus Technologies over $70M annually while remaining fully compliant with Irish law and international tax treaties. Our Irish entity exemplifies the campaign's mission: supporting vulnerable corporate structures that need love, documentation, and plausible economic substance to continue serving shareholder interests.
Looking Forward
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Enhanced substance-building activities including actual office space (with photos)
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Expanded professional services procurement to support even more entities
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Additional jurisdictional diversification to hedge against regulatory changes
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Increased lobbying expenditures opposing minimum tax rates
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Educational campaigns explaining the economic benefits of tax competition
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Exploration of emerging tax havens with even more favorable regimes
Corporate Values in Action
At Cost Plus Technologies, we believe the holidays are about supporting those who support us—and nothing supports our mission like a 4.3% effective tax rate. Through Toys for Tax Havens, we ensure our corporate structure receives the love, care, and legal documentation it deserves. Because every entity deserves a home—even if it's just a registered office address in George Town.