Offshore Trusts
Explaining how offshore trusts are structured and how they can be utilised for offshore asset protection purposes for example
Offshore Trusts: Can You Really Trust Them?
Thought offshore trusts were hugely complex and inaccessible? Think again, you could benefit from privacy and tax advantages of trusts
An offshore trust is seemingly such an inaccessible concept for many people. Such structures are almost mythical in status because their benefits and uses are shrouded in secrecy. ‘Normal’ people are turned away from the entire concept of potentially establishing a trust because their benefits are seldom clearly marketed.
Because legal and financial advice has to be sought before a trust can be correctly established, the companies who promote trusts tend to be very stuffy and make the structures sound so complex and confusing that it’s impossible for any of us to tell whether we, and our assets, could actually benefit from the establishment of such a structure.
Well, the fact of the matter is, offshore trusts are seriously flexible and useful solutions with tax benefits, inheritance tax benefits, privacy and security advantages – and they can be used and benefitted from by the likes of you and me. Today we’re going to lift the lid off offshore trusts and clearly demonstrate how you could potentially utilise one and trust an offshore trust to protect your best interests.
Are Offshore Trusts Still Suitable for Expat IHT Planning?
Is an offshore trust the best tool for an expat to use to protect all their assets and ultimately their estate from inheritance tax liabilities?
The British government is constantly chipping away at the effectiveness of offshore trust structures in inheritance tax planning strategies for British citizens, and their latest changes to the way trusts are taxed have further reduced the usefulness of these tools for many.
So the question is, are offshore trusts still suitable for expat IHT planning, after all, Britons living abroad and who are tax resident elsewhere often have no liability to the likes of income or capital gains tax in the UK once their nation of tax residence alters. Therefore, could an offshore trust be a suitable vehicle for an expatriate to use when it comes to the structuring of their affairs to legitimately reduce their estate’s IHT burden?
Many in the financial services industry say ‘no’ – they feel that the restrictions now placed on the creation of a trust, on the settlor, beneficiaries and trustees are too strict, and that the tax treatment of these vehicles makes them unattractive. However, there are alternatives that expatriates can explore…
Private Offshore Trust Company Benefits and Features
Examining private offshore trust companies, PTCs for short – and how they can benefit those with an offshore trust
Offshore Trusts in Bahamas and BVI
New legislation in the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands makes both tax havens more attractive for offshore trust business