What are Foundations & Trusts?
THE SCF GROUP HAS BEEN ADVISING UPON AND REGISTERING/CREATING TRUSTS AND PRIVATE INTEREST FOUNDATIONS FOR OVER 25 YEARS
WHAT ARE TRUSTS & PRIVATE INTEREST FOUNDATIONS?
Trusts and private interest foundations both seek to separate assets from their original donor in favor normally of named or unnamed beneficiaries, which would be close relatives such as children and/or charities. The key benefit in both cases is that assets can be protected for the benefit of such beneficiaries but unlike a direct distribution the original donor will be able to control when, how and under what circumstances distributions will be made even beyond their lifetimes.
Apart from their original and primary functions trusts and private interest foundations can also be used for the following:
- Protecting assets before a marriage – A wealthy individual can donate surplus assets to a trust or private interest foundation before getting married which will mean such assets will not form part of his or her assets base should there be a future divorce or separation.
- Separating surplus assets before immigrating to countries such as the United States of America – Just as with a marriage a wealthy individual can donate surplus assets to a trust or private interest foundation before migrating to the US, which may prove very beneficial especially if the intended beneficiaries are not US citizens or green card holders. The latter point is crucial as all US citizens or green card holders, whether resident or not in the US, must make declarations to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) each year on all their worldwide assets. However, if their asset base has been reduced before migrating then only the remaining assets should be subject to any US taxes.
- Changing the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) of Assets – Where a properly constructed trust or private interest foundation has been set-up then the beneficial owner of the donated assets is no longer the donor but either the self-owing private interest foundation or in the case of trusts technically no one save that the trustees administrating the trust have control of the donated assets per any applicable written instruments. The fact that trusts and private interest foundations can often change the UBO of assets can be very useful in tax planning as most anti-avoidance, controlled foreign company and related rules are dependent on who or what is the UBO.
TRUST TERMS & INSTRUMENTS
A trust will normally have the following:
- A settlor who literally settles on the trust the relevant assets;
- Trustees – These are the individuals or companies that will carry out the wishes of the settlor;
- A deed of trust – This is literally the document that outlines how the trust will be run, for how long and for whom;
- A protector – This may be the settlor who wishes to ensure that the trustees strictly adhere to his wishes during his lifetime or it may be (at any time) independent professionals (normally paid) to likewise ensure adherence to the deed of trust;
- The beneficiaries – These are the people or class of people and/or charities that are the intended beneficiaries from the donations made by the settlor.
PRIVATE INTEREST FOUNDATION (PIF) TERMS & INSTRUMENTS
A PIF will normally have the following:
- A founder who literally settles on the PIF the relevant assets;
- The PIF itself, which for the purposes of most legal jurisdictions (if properly set-up) is considered to be a separate self-owning legal entity similar in most ways to a limited company but not having any shareholders bar itself;
- A Foundation Council (FC) – These are the individuals or companies that will carry out the wishes of the Founder;
- The Foundation Regulations – These are literally the documents that outline how the PIF will be run, for how long and for whom;
- A protector – This may be the founder who wishes to ensure that the FC strictly adhere to his wishes during his lifetime or it may be (at any time) independent professionals (normally paid) to likewise ensure adherence to the deed of Regulations;
- The beneficiaries – These are the people or class of people and/or charities that are the intended beneficiaries from the donations made by the founder.
WHAT ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRUSTS & PRIVATE INTEREST FOUNDATIONS?
There are a number of differences, which can additionally change depending on jurisdiction but at their core a trust is historically a construct of the common law system (i.e. countries that have followed the English legal system such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand) whilst a PIF is a construct of the Continental civil law system used by countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain etc. There is also a view, at least where donors come from common law countries that PIF’s have a degree of extra flexibility especially as founders can have reserved rights to change the regulations, beneficiaries and even determine (end) the very existence of a PIF and still ben deemed valid at law.
For more information on our Trust & Foundation Services, please speak to one of our tax planning consultants.
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SCF Legal & Corporate Management Services Limited
Address: 250 Kings Road, Chelsea, London SW3 5UE
Telephone: 020 7731 2020 Email: enquiries@scfgroup.com
Registration number: 05462416
A FULL RANGE OF LEGAL, ACCOUNTANCY & COMPANY MANAGEMENT SERVICES
The SCF International specializes in providing accountancy and management services for UK and Irish limited companies, UK & Irish company management services including the provision of (where necessary) domestic directors, domestic company secretaries, registered office address services, trading offices, value added tax (VAT) registration and management, payroll (Pay as You Earn PAYE), opening up and managing UK or Irish bank account facilities, raising invoices and any and/or all other services required to establish a bone fide managed and controlled UK or Irish limited liability company.
Our in-house team of legally and accountancy qualified experts can also provide advice on current UK & Irish tax laws/provisions including anti-avoidance provisions, EU directives and regulations, the impact of BREXIT for both UK and EU based businesses and other relevant. In addition, where required the SCF Group can also set-up and arrange the management of companies in tax efficient EU based jurisdictions such as Cyprus, Luxembourg or Malta or indeed any jurisdiction in the world including those in the Middle and Far East.
Property de-enveloping services – In conjunction with leading UK firms of solicitors SCF can help transfer companies currently held by what were known as ‘offshore’ companies into either more tax efficient UK companies or directly back into the names of individual beneficial owners’ often without attracting stamp duty land tax (SDLT) but still avoiding the advance tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED).
Our fiscal migration and tax planning department is operated by qualified lawyers and accountants and can advise both domiciled and non-domiciled individuals on how to mitigate their individual and corporate tax exposure be it in the UK or abroad. Our legal & business department can provide specialized advice on all domestic and international tax planning issues but also upon ‘key’ issues such as asset protection be it in the form of trusts and private interest foundations (PIF’s). In particular, SCF can provide advice to those intending to relocate to the UK on how to do so in the most tax efficient way.