F TRUST (SWITZERLAND) AG
Our Time. Your Assets
Double taxation treaties, OECD recommendations and directives to jurisdictions, FATCA compliance, Basel III...the governmental, organisational and national changes in how jurisdictions can interact, and banking secrecy and possibilities changes daily.
On our News page, we try to bring you some of the main changes and updates on these issues.
We also look at interesting structures of corporations where they achieve tax optimisation and protection of assets, new possibilities for corporate and private structures seeking preservation of assets, and limitation of liabilities, or new products such as banking products and credit cards.
News & Publications
High-value homes in the UK held by companies: The UK Government presses ahead with new taxes as part of an attack on the use of offshore companies to purchase of high-value UK residential properties. The Government is opposed to this practice, ostensibly due to concerns regarding the avoidance of stamp duty land tax (SDLT). However, the reality is that such structures are most commonly used to avoid inheritance tax (IHT).
11-12-2012
The head of the internet giant Google has defiantly defended his company’s tax avoidance strategy claiming he was “proud” of the steps it had taken to cut its tax bill which were just “capitalism”.
Documents filed last month show that Google generated around £2.5 billion in UK sales last year but paid just £6m in corporation tax.
13-12-2012
The German-Swiss tax accord failed to reach an agreement today, effectively ending any chance of ratification after the opposition refused to review its position. Revenue from tax arrears under the deal would have been worth €10 billion ($12 billion), plus an additional €700 million annually from withholding tax - BUT would have kept the German account holders under banking secrecy, not revealing the individuals. The centre-left German Social Democrats and Greens effectively blocked the deal by voting against the agreement in the Senate where they hold the majority, claiming notably the accord had too many loopholes and let off those who had failed to pay their taxes too easily.
13-12-2012
The UK and Isle of Man governments have announced a new disclosure facility, as part of continued attempts by HM Revenue and Customs to reduce the use of offshore jurisdictions to avoid UK tax and to encourage those with previously undeclared assets to come forward and regularise their past omissions. This disclosure facility is one of a series that the UK has or is in the process of making with various jurisdictions, Liechtenstein being a well known one. These disclosure facilities are an excellent opportunity for individuals to onshore certain assets. We can assist our client with these disclosures. Another option is to place these assets into onshore jurisdictions such as Switzerland and Luxembourg. Please contact us for further information on this topic.
12-02-2013
Since March 2012 we have been reporting on an initiative launched by the UK Government to stamp out the practice of ‘enveloping’ high-value UK residential properties – i.e. the use of ‘non-natural persons’, particularly offshore companies, to hold such properties. The Government has already introduced a punitive 15% SDLT (stamp duty) charge on acquisitions of such properties by Non Natural Persons. With effect from April 2013, there will be two additional deterrents, in the form of an annual residential property tax so that offshore companies may be liable to tax on gains realised when high-value residential properties are sold.
12-02-2013
NEW
The US Treasury Department has finally released the long-anticipated final FATCA regulations, which build upon the foundation of the proposed regulations but contain some significant additions and modifications, including provisions designed to harmonize the final regulations with the bilateral intergovernmental agreements that have begun to be executed between the US and partner jurisdictions.
20-02-2013
The current law of residence falls well short of the standard of certainty required to safeguard the UK’s attractiveness as a destination for individuals and businesses. This has been recognised by the current Government and a formal consultation on reform of the law of residence took place during summer 2011. In comparison to Switzerland, this day counting is seen in a stricter light that done by Switzerland. A domicile in Switzerland, additionally being on the continent by nature cannot count the days that exactly due to much movement being by car.
In the case where a UK non-dom status becomes questionable, then it could be more beneficial to think of a Swiss domicile if taxation of capital gains is an important point of the wealth portfolio held by a private person.
28-02-2013
Help to prevent climate change – by using Switzerland’s first climate neutral credit card!
Show your commitment to the environment and developing countries by using the world’s only credit card with an environmental reporting and social impact! The Climate Credit Card has been selected among 500 cards and named one of Europe's most innovative credit cards in 2012!
The Climate Credit Card enables you to save the climate with every purchase that you make, and it does so in an invisible and effortless manner. South Pole Carbon’s climate calculator automatically captures all of the emissions linked to your credit card purchases, reports those back to you and offsets them via premium emission-reduction projects – without any extra cost to you! You card usage supports for example this cooking stove project in rural Kenya that improves health and education of the local population: SouthPole project
Invite your business partners for a climate neutral lunch or offset your own carbon emissions through the same credit card you used to purchase your flight ticket!
The Climate Credit Card is available as VISA or Mastercard and comes with all the advantages and features of a classic card. Available to private customers and businesses as a company solution.
An increase in Cyprus's corporate tax rate is under consideration as part of negotiations over a proposed official bailout for the island from the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund. As one of the conditions the so called “Troika” is pressing Nicosia to raise its corporate tax by up to three percentage points from 10% now.
Nicosia said it is willing to discuss a hike in the corporate tax but is insisting on the fact that if the new tax is, for example, fixed at 12%, that this should remain the case for a long time. All parties are aware that a significant part of the Islands income is due to the foreign companies and their bank deposits, a result of a long history of attractive tax rates and attractive corporate laws. Nicosia is opposing the introduction of other new taxes and has warned that a cut in bank deposits could prompt a bank run and force the island out of the euro zone.
The pressure on Cyprus to raise its corporate tax rate is similar to that brought to bear on Ireland by other euro-zone governments before its 2010 bailout. Dublin successfully resisted the effort to increase its corporate tax rate from 12.5%.
16-03-2013
What effect will the Bailout have on your Cyprus company, its tax rate and your banking activities there:
Transfer your Cyprus company to a Luxembourg company.
To become an entity duly incorporated under Luxembourg law, a foreign company or a fund established abroad may elect to transfer its registered office and redomicile to Luxembourg.
Company Law - two theories: seat of incorporation vs seat of establishment
To become an entity duly incorporated under Luxembourg law, a foreign company or a fund established abroad may elect to transfer its registered office and re-domicile to Luxembourg. There are two main incorporation regimes: Seat of Incorporation and Seat of Establishment.
▪ "Seat of Incorporation" countries are : United Kingdom, Denmark, Hungary, etc.
▪ "Seat of Establishment" countries are : Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Italy, etc.
Some countries while having a traditional Incorporation Seat regime allow re-domiciliation in their company law: e.g. Cyprus, Malta.
Transferring a company established in Cyprus to Luxembourg
Normally a simple notary act in the country of departure and another notary act in the country of election of domicile (Luxembourg) may be sufficient to change the nationality of most companies. In that case the company becomes a company duly incorporated under the law of Luxembourg and fully recognised as a Luxembourg national company.
Impact and Fiscal Law
When a foreign company transfers its registered office to or set its main place of management in Luxembourg, it will cut any links with its country of first incorporation unless it keeps a permanent establishment in this country. The company is not anymore taxable in the first country but will become taxable on its worldwide income in Luxembourg.
It will be considered as resident for tax purpose and taxable at the normal corporation tax rates unless its shareholders elect a tax regime in Luxembourg which grants a tax exemption in Luxembourg like :
- SOPARFI (Holding Company)
- SPF (Private Wealth Management Company)
- SIF (Specialised Investment Fund)
- SICAR (Venture Capital Fund)
- SICAV (Investment Fund)
The newly incorporated company may also enjoy the benefit of the vast Double Tax Treaty network that Luxembourg has signed with other countries.
It may also benefit from EU directives such as:
Parent Subsidiary Directive: subject to conditions, the participation exemption - absence of withholding taxes on dividends received from other companies established in other EU countries.
Interests Royalties Directive: subject to conditions, exemption of withholding taxes on interests or royalties received from companies established in the EU.
The Luxembourg law grants exemptions like :
▪ The Luxembourg tax exemption of 80% granted to Intellectual Property Right companies
▪ The Luxembourg tax exemption of 100% - subject to conditions - of incoming dividends, exemption of capital gain on participations, exemption of real estate incomes for estates established in a foreign DTT country, exemption of withholding tax in certain income paid like royalties, dividends, or interests.
28-03-2013
28-03-2013
Reclaim your VAT
F Trust has founded Global Tax Reclaim (Switzerland) GmbH in a partnership with Global Tax Reclaim International Ltd. The partnership gives us an exciting opportunity to offer our clients, an advantageous and simple service to reclaim VAT.
Global Tax Reclaim will assist in reclaiming any cross-border foreign VAT that may have incurred. Some examples of foreign VAT expenditure are hotel accommodation, meals, car hire, fuel, exhibitions and representative office expenses.
Despite the fact that most companies are entitled to recover foreign VAT, many don’t have the time or the capacity to resource this activity sufficiently. Global Tax Reclaim fills this gap by providing you with an outsourced VAT recovery solution. We have formed strong working relationships with the various tax offices across Europe, and you can rest assured that your claims are handled by fully trained VAT experts.
Global Tax Reclaim offers our clients a zero risk guarantee. We work on a NO REFUND / NO FEE policy and in the unlikely event of a claim being unsuccessful there will be no charge for our services.
17-02-2015
The advantage of using a Swiss company over a Luxembourg company
As of January 1st 2015 Luxembourg as a choice for your holding or operative company loses it’s appeal in 2 aspects:
-
Transparency of the shareholder: any shareholder of a Luxembourg company (nominee shareholders incl.) must be declared to the state and are visible to the public. Thereby Switzerland remains the only onshore jurisdiction where you can hold a company and where neither the registry nor public can see who the shareholder is, as here Bearer and Name shares are still in use (only applies to an AG, not a GmbH. Please note that like in any jurisdiction, the bank will require information about the shareholder).
-
Holding property: Luxembourg used to be an attractive holding company to own real estate in France. The new France – Luxembourg double taxation treaty stipulates that as of January 2016 any capital gain from real estate situated in the other country, will be taxed in the other counry (i.e. France) if this income makes up 50% or more of the entire company’s income. There is no such double taxation treaty between Switzerland and France and therefore at the moment it is more beneficial to hold such assets out of a Swiss company.
Please contact us if you are having any thoughts as to what entity to hold an asset in, and are wondering what capital gain, sales, exit, dividend tax you may be seeing on an asset – before it is too late, and you are forced to take out that dividend and be penalized tax-wise, simply by being in the right onshore jurisdiction.
16-02-2015
It's that time of the year again to reclaim your 2014 VAT on your travel expenses!
Time to send your 2014 EU VAT receipts to Global Tax Reclaim Switzerland (daughter company of F Trust AG)
Did you travel on business to an EU country in 2014?
We hope you kept those restaurant, hotel, taxi, conference receipts!
Because you can reclaim up to 25% of your costs – that's the VAT part. As a company, you don't owe that and can reclaim.
We are continually looking for ways to make life easier for our clients.
With this in mind, we can set up a Dropbox account for each of our clients which will be used to upload scans of your receipts claim documents and EU VAT invoices (EU based clients only). OR you can simply post them, as usual:
Global Tax Reclaim Switzerland
Kreuzplatz 2
8032 Zürich
Switzerland
Contact us: info@globaltaxreclaim.ch
