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An agreement was reached on 24 August between the UK Treasury and Swiss Federal Department of Finance regarding the treatment of Swiss accounts held by UK taxpayers. The agreement is due to be signed by both parties within the next few months at which stage the detailed terms will be issued. This briefing note summarises the outline of the agreemen...

The Court of Appeals' recent decision in the Robert Gaines-Cooper case does not represent a change in UK residency law, Withers Worldwide notes. Instead, the decision reinforces what has always been good advice for those seeking to lose UK residency: Make a complete break with the UK and keep visits to a bare minimum.

The unified managed household, the most recent extension of overlay portfolio management, extends overlay management services to households with multiple accounts, multiple individuals and multiple custodians. This paper from Natixis explains the evolution of overlay management and describes the benefits of the unified managed household, particular...

Proposed changes to information reporting on IRS Form 1099 would place a greater burden on businesses to accurately identify income taxable to others and assess larger penalties on businesses that fail to do so. In this report, Vogel Consulting details the cost of non-compliance and offers suggestions of what businesses can do to be prepared.

Since 6 April 2008 non-UK domiciliaries have only been allowed to claim foreign losses if they make an election for such losses to be allowable. However, making the election without careful consideration could mean losses being absorbed against foreign gains that would not have been taxable in the UK. Withers Worldwide outlines these considerations...

This white paper from Atlantic Trust reviews the history of the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001, offers a look at recently proposed tax reform bills, and urges families to continue with careful estate planning, asset protection planning, business succession plans and charitable plans.

A guide to minimizing the after-tax proceeds from the sale of a family business. According to the article, legal exit preparations involve a 3-step process: due diligence investigations (i.e., public searches, review of minute books and key contracts, etc.); identify any 'skeletons' and consider what options exist to remedy or neutralize them; fina...

This article deals with the use of the Delaware Asset Protection Trust to save taxes, protect assets, protect estate planning vehicles and provide options for non-resident aliens.

The benign legislative environment for trusts has been disrupted over the last decade or so by significant trust reform. The purpose of this article is to discuss the Uniform Principal and Income Act (the "Act") from the perspective of trust professionals.

This article provides guidance in the light of new IRS rules on the boundaries between legitimate business vs. pure entertainment use of a private jet. Preventing abuse is important in avoiding excessive tax liabilities since when aircraft use is "entertainment," the company loses its ability to deduct (by disallowance) some aircraft ownership and...

The three taxpayers involved in the Gaines-Cooper case lost before the Court of Appeals because evaluating an individual's status of residence involves difficult questions of fact and judgment, and the taxpayers could not show that the Revenue and Customs Commission had applied guidance incorrectly. In this review of the decision, Deloitte recommen...

A directed trustee is chosen to advise a trustee on investment or distribution decisions for a trust. But as key decision-makers, directed trustees face potential liability. This article by Richard Nenno of Wilmington Trust Corp. explores the role of directed trustees, examines statutes and case law and looks at how these trustees can limit their l...

The Supreme Court recently decided the Knight case (Knight v. Comr., No. 06-1286, 101 AFTR2d ¶2008-380), affirming the Rudkin case, Rudkin v. Comr., 467 F.3d 149 (2nd Cir. 2006), which limits trust deductibility of investment management expenses, effectively increasing the taxes imposed on trusts which use professional investment managers.

Investors are well advised to take into account the interest rate environment when considering wealth transfer options. Interest rates are important when establishing trusts, reviewing existing estate plans, and lending money to family members. With interest rates declining, the current rates used to value wealth transfers are now near historic lo...

Undivided fractional interests in real estate held as tenants-in-common (TIC) may be exchanged for likekind property under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. The availability of Section 1031 taxdeferred treatment for transfer of TIC ownership interests presents today's investors with expanded investment opportunities but comes with new type...