The advantages of using trusts
The use of trusts has for many centuries be regarded as an effective and legal tax planning method. It enables people to avoid the consequences of legal ownership of property and money while enjoying the benefits of ownership. A trust is a legal entity of almost unlimited flexibility, for holding and disposing of property.
The concept of a trust is a unique feature to 'common law' or English speaking jurisdictions. A trust is created when one person (known as the Settlor) transfers his or her assets to independent third parties (known as Trustees) who manage and control the disposed assets in favour of either known or unknown beneficiaries. By doing so, property rights are divided, the Trustee is recognized as the sole owner of the trust property at law and that the beneficiary's interest is only recognized in equity. The ultimate effect of this division allocates to the trustee the burdens of property ownership and transfers to the beneficiary the benefits arising therefrom.
It is essential that full autonomy be given to the Trustees to ensure that the trust is effective. Otherwise, the trust could be challenged as not settled and therefore was not a properly constituted trust instrument. If this happens then the Settlor would still be legally deemed to be the owner of the trust's assets and therefore still liable to pay tax as an individual. Serious consideration must be given since the Settlor will not have any direct control over what were formally his assets after the formation of the trust. A tailor made trust agreement or deed is therefore required to specify how the trust's capital and income are to be held, managed and distributed as well as the investment powers of the Trustees. The Settlor may also appoint a protector (normally a trusted member of their family or business associate) who will oversee the Trustees and normally be a co-signatory to the Trust account. Besides, a trust establishes a fiduciary relationship with respect to property, subjecting the Trustee who holds title to the property to equitable duties to hold and administer the property for the benefit of beneficiaries. Thus, the Trustee must have fiduciary duties to perform and the beneficiaries must be named or ascertainable. Additionally, the beneficiaries are the only persons with the right to enforce the trust agreement or deeds.
Types of Trust
Fixed Trust — Fixed trust agreements set out precisely who will benefit and when under the trust arrangement.
Discretionary Trust — Discretionary Trusts are normally used in the 'offshore' world to ensure that the Settlor has divested himself of his assets. It also provides sufficient benefits to the intended heirs by leaving the amount of capital and/or interest to be paid to the unnamed beneficiaries at the sole discretion of the Trustees. The Trustees not only have the ability to control when and what type of payment should be made but also ensure that the beneficiaries are not immediately tax accountable.
Irrevocable and Revocable Trust — Trusts may be either irrevocable or revocable. In the latter case the trust is called a "grantor trust". In the case of an irrevocable trust, the trust assets are not usually considered to be part of a deceased Settlor's estate, and passes to the beneficiaries without probate or estate taxes.
Who can use a Trust
Until recently, there were virtually no restrictions on who could make effective use of a trust. However, both common law and statute have severely reduced the legal employment of trusts for those tax domiciled in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. Notwithstanding these restrictions, Trusts are still very valuable weapons in the tax planners since virtually no civil law country has any effective anti-trust legislation, meaning that they have become increasingly popular with those located in Europe and the Asia.
使用信託的優點
幾個世紀以來，信託使用一直被視為一種有效且合法的稅收籌劃方法。它使人們可以享受收益，同時避免財產和金錢合法使用權的後果。信託是處置財產，有幾乎無限靈活性的法律實體。
信託的概念是「普通法」或英語管轄區的獨特功能。當一個人（稱為委託人）將其資產轉讓給獨立的第三方（稱為受託人）時，即創建信託，該第三方管理和控制處置的資產以有利於已知或未知的受益人。這樣一來，財產權就被分割了，受託人在法律上被確認為信託財產的唯一所有人，而受益人的利益僅在權益中被確認。這種劃分的最終效果將財產所有權的負擔分配給了受託人，並將由此產生的利益轉移給了受益人。
必須給予受託人充分的自治權，以確保信託有效。否則，該信託可能會因未解決而受到質疑，因此不是一個適當構成的信託工具。如果發生這種情況，則委託人仍將依法被視為信託資產的所有者，因此仍然有責任作為個人納稅。必須認真考慮，因為財產授予人在信託成立後將不會對其財產進行任何直接控制。因此，需要量身定制的信託協議或契約，以規定如何持有，管理和分配信託的資本和收入，以及受託人的投資權力。委託人還可以任命一名保護人（通常是其家庭或業務夥伴的受信任成員），該人將監督受託人並通常是信託帳戶的共同簽名人。此外，信託建立了與財產的信託關係，使擁有財產所有權的受託人承擔為受益人的利益持有和管理財產的公平職責。因此，受託人必須履行信託義務，並且必須指定或確定受益人。此外，受益人是唯一有權執行信託協議或契約的人。
信託類型
固定信託 — 固定信託協議明確規定了誰將受益，以及在信託安排下何時受益。
全權委託 — 全權委託信託通常在「離岸」世界中使用，以確保財產委託人將其資產剝離。通過將要支付給未指定受益人的資本和/或利息金額留給受託人全權決定，這也為預期的繼承人提供了足夠的利益。受託人不僅有能力控制何時以及以何種方式付款，而且還確保受益人不立即承擔納稅責任。
不可撤銷和可撤銷的信託 — 信託可能是不可撤銷的，也可能是可撤銷的。在後一種情況下，該信託稱為「授予者信託」。對於不可撤銷的信託，通常不將信託資產視為已故財產授予人的財產的一部分，而無需繳納遺囑認證或遺產稅即可將其轉讓給受益人。
誰可以使用信託
直到最近，對誰可以有效使用信託幾乎沒有任何限制。但是，普通法和成文法都嚴重減少了以英國和美國等國為對象的信託基金的合法僱用。儘管有這些限制，信託仍然是稅收籌劃者中非常有價值的武器，因為實際上沒有一個大陸法系國家擁有任何有效的反托拉斯法規，這意味著它們已經越來越受到歐洲和亞洲地區的歡迎。