马华桂律师

外国人赠与人信托

外国信托 的美国所得税 取决于所涉信托是 授予人信托还是非授予人信托。 在这方面，在某些情况下，如果非美国人士将财富转移给受美国税收影响的受益人，则美国外国设保人信托可能会受益。

外国赠与人信托基金是美国对具有某些特征（如下所述）的信托所应用的术语，因此根据美国税法可以使用特定的税收状况。

该博客文章旨在概述美国外国和外国设保人信托及其一些主要特征和相关利益。

外国信任-测试

如果信托未通过下文进一步详细介绍的控制测试或法院测试，则被视为外国信托。

·控制测试：

·该测试旨在检查美国人是否控制了信托的所有实质性决定；

·法庭测试：

·法院测试研究的是美国境内的法院是否能够对信托的管理行使主要监督。

但是，如果该信托基金通过了这两项测试，则它将被视为美国信托基金，并将在全球收入和收益的基础上对美国征税。

美国对外国信托的收入和分配的征税将取决于外国信托的类型和分配时信托受益人的状况。

外国资助人信托身份

外国资助人信托将存在以下情况之一：

·设保人保留单独或在关联方同意下撤销信托的权利； 要么

·设保人及其配偶（如果适用）是设保人一生中信托的唯一受益人。

信托税

如果设保人不是美国纳税人，则来自外国设保人信托的非美国来源的收入将无需在设保人一级缴纳美国税款（尽管他/她将需要确保就任何此类行为遵守其居住管辖权）收入）。 美国来源的收入（例如，来自美国证券的股息）将受到美国的征税，该税收通常通过对股息支付征收的预扣税来支付。

外国设保人的存续期间，外国设保人信托向美国受益人的分配通常被视为“非应税赠品”，但可能要承担美国的纳税义务。

在出现这种分配的情况下，受托人应向美国相关受益人提供外国授予人的信托受益人声明 ，该声明应报告受益人在信托收益和收益中所分配的份额。

授予者之死

授予人通过后，外国授予人信托将自动成为外国“非授予人”信托（前提是该信托仍在非美国管辖范围内），并且任何美国受益人将对分配给该组织的任何收入和收益缴纳美国税款。他们来自这样的信任。

除非信托直接持有美国所在地资产（其中包括美国房地产，位于美国的有形个人财产，美国公司的股票等），否则在授予人通过之前，不会产生美国遗产税问题。通过某些结构合理的非美国公司持有此类资产可能会提供这方面的计划机会。

适当结构的信托安排可以帮助您以节税的方式将资产持有并最终转移给受益人，并提供保护以免受某些债权人的要求。

免责声明：此博客仅出于提供信息的目的，基于我们目前的理解，不应视作任何形式的法律和/或税务建议，也不得以此为依据。 在进行个人/公司财富，税收或继任计划之前，应始终寻求适当的专业建议。

Foreign Grantor Trusts

Monday, 11 Sep 2017

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The US income taxation of a foreign trust depends on whether the trust in question is a grantor or non-grantor trust. In this regard, US foreign grantor trusts may be of benefit in certain circumstances where non-US persons are passing wealth to beneficiaries who are subject to US taxation.

Foreign Grantor Trust is a term applied by the US to trusts that possess certain features (described below) and which therefore may avail of a particular tax status under the US tax code.

This blog posting is intended as a general overview of US foreign and foreign grantor trusts and some of their key features and associated benefits.

Foreign Trust – Test

A trust is considered to be a foreign trust if it fails either the Control Test or Court Test described in further detail below.

· Control Test:

· This test looks to whether US persons control all of the substantial decisions of the trust;

· Court Test:

· The Court Test looks to whether a court within the US is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust.

However, if the Trust passes both tests, then it will be considered to be a US trust and will be subject to US taxation on a worldwide income and gains basis.

The US taxation of the income and distributions from a foreign trust will depend on the type of foreign trust and the status of the trust's beneficiaries at the time of distribution.

Foreign Grantor Trust Status

A Foreign Grantor Trust will exist where either:

· The Grantor reserves the right to revoke the trust solely or with the consent of a related party; or

· The Grantor and his/her spouse (if applicable) are the sole beneficiaries of the trust during the grantor's lifetime.

Trust Taxation

Where the grantor is not a US taxpayer, non US source income arising from the foreign grantor trust will not be subject to US taxation at the grantor level (although he/she will need to ensure compliance in their jurisdiction of residence in respect of any such income). US source income (eg dividends from US securities) will be subject to US taxation with such taxation generally being satisfied through withholding taxes applied on the dividend payment(s).

Distributions to a US beneficiary by a foreign grantor trust during the grantor's lifetime will generally be treated as 'non-taxable gifts' but may be subject to US tax reporting obligations.

Where such distributions arise, the trustee should provide the relevant US beneficiary/ies with a foreign grantor trust beneficiary statement that reports the beneficiaries distributed share of the trusts income and gains.

Death of Grantor

Following the passing of the Grantor, a foreign grantor trust will automatically become a foreign “non grantor” trust (provided the trust remains in a non-US jurisdiction) and any US beneficiaries will become subject to US taxation on any income and gains distributed to them from such a trust.

US estate tax issues should not arise upon the passing of the grantor unless the trust directly holds US situs assets (which includes amongst others, US real estate; tangible personal property located in the US; stocks of US corporations etc.), however, the holding of such assets via certain appropriately structured non US corporations may provide planning opportunities in this area.

An appropriately structured trust arrangement may assist with the holding and ultimate passing of assets to beneficiaries in a tax efficient manner, as well as affording protections from certain creditor claims.

Disclaimer: This blog is intended for information purposes only, is based on our current understanding, and should not be construed nor acted upon as any form of legal and/or taxation advice. Appropriate professional advice should always be sought in advance of undertaking personal/ corporate wealth, taxation or succession planning.