Family Office Services
We offer multi family office services for families that do not have the liquidity or the desire to manage a family office on their own. There is no “one size fits all”.
Read more about Family Offices in Singapore: https://htj.tax/family-offices-in-singapore
If necessary, we can access the services of a pool of external experts to complement our team in special tasks. As a trustworthy and reliable contact person at site with a true understanding of our clients’ expectations we take care of their finances and all other matters with transparency and discretion. Here are some of the services we offer
- Financial Reporting – Having a clear understanding of your family’s global assets and liabilities is critical to any financial decision-making process. As family capital grows and the complexity of your asset base evolves (income generating assets like business assets and securities, and depreciating assets like 2nd homes, planes, boats and cars) it becomes more critical to have a clear understanding of your family cost structure and how much income your capital needs to generate to ensure you have more money tomorrow than you have today. We can help – https://htj.tax/accounting-outsourcing/
2. Multi-jurisdictional tax plans help global families remain globally tax compliant, while protecting their worldwide assets. Not only do global families face the challenge of complying with various countries’ tax obligations, but they must also determine how to interact with the U.S. tax system without unnecessarily subjecting themselves to high tax rates. We can help – https://htj.tax/derren-hayden-joseph/
3. Estate Planning – Estate planning involves preparing a plan of action for transferring your assets to your beneficiaries or next of kin. This can allow you to pass over more of your estate by transferring assets in a tax-efficient manner. Tax treatment depends on an individual’s circumstances and may be subject to change in the future. We have published books on international taxation and estate planning
You may download a copy of our book on International Estate Planning here – https://htj.tax/2020/08/click-to-download-my-new-book-essential/
4. International Asset Protection Structures – Every day we communicate with people from all over the world who are trying to protect their wealth, plan for the future and ensure compliance with the dizzying array of international tax and banking rules. Each person’s situation is unique which means that there is no single solution that works for everyone. We always recommend separating advisory from implementation. The intention is to work with advisors who are not biased in favor of products that they themselves promote.
For international asset protection structures, the “tools” that are used include the following
Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)
Many would have us believe that forming an LLC is as easy as logging onto the Delaware website and a few hundred dollars later it’s done.
Unsurprisingly, any professional with tax and legal experience would agree that it’s not that simple. If the intent is to use the LLC for serious business purposes, you would probably need professional advice and to spend thousands (rather than hundreds of dollars). Limited Liability Companies are the structure of choice for passive income generating investments such as real estate, dividends and brokerage accounts. They work just like LLCs where the business gain or loss flows to your personal income tax return. Read more here – https://htj.tax/2019/12/forming-llc-is-not-that-simple/International Business Company (IBC)
Forming an IBC is easy but understanding how it is used is challenging.
Anyone can incorporate an entity in
– The BVI – https://htj.tax/2018/05/pros-and-cons-of-bvi-entity/
– Cyprus – https://htj.tax/2020/01/cyprus-offshore-companies/
– The UAE (which includes Dubai) – https://htj.tax/2021/03/incorporating-in-the-united-arab-emirates-or-the-uae-including-dubai/
– St Vincent or elsewhere in the Eastern Caribbean – https://htj.tax/2015/11/structuring-using-st-vincent-entities/
– The Marshall Islands – https://htj.tax/2022/03/international-business-corporations-ibcs-in-the-marshall-islands/
Or anywhere else on earth. Super easy.
But it is important to avoid tax and legal traps by understanding rules around
a. The Place of Effectivement Management – https://htj.tax/2020/01/your-place-of-effective-management/
b. Economic Substance – https://htj.tax/?s=economic+substance
c. Transfer Pricing – https://htj.tax/transfer-pricing/International Trust
There are a variety of trusts. Trusts go beyond just asset distribution. They provide an avenue for maintaining control over your assets while efficiently transferring them to your beneficiaries while avoiding probate complexities. The privacy that trusts afford also shields your estate’s details from public scrutiny.
Read more here – https://htj.tax/2019/10/trusts-vs-foundations/International Foundation
The civil law substitute for a common law trust is a foundation. They are great vehicles for asset protection and can be used for profit or non-profit operations. A Foundation is a separate legal entity formed by the dedication of property to specified purposes.
A Founder dedicates property to his/her chosen purpose (such as family or charitable purposes). Please note that a foundation is registered and becomes a legal entity, giving clients the added comfort and its affairs are conducted by a council under the constitution.
https://htj.tax/2019/10/more-on-foundations-vs-trusts-vs/
In Summary
There are a variety of structures available to help protect assets, maintain privacy and optimize tax exposure. They can be used as stand alone entities or combined to meet specific goals.
We have significant experience assisting our clients with complicated, international tax issues. The following list represents some of the areas in which we have provided both planning and compliance services for our clients:
- US shareholders of foreign corporations
- US partners in foreign partnerships
- US grantors and beneficiaries of foreign trusts
- US shareholders of Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICS)
- Reporting for Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs)
- Blocked income reporting for deferral of tax in currency restriction situations
- Donations to foreign charities by US private foundations via expenditure responsibility grants
- Income tax treaty analysis for various issues including determination of residency, re-sourcing of income to avoid double taxation, reduction or exemption of tax
- Determination of residency for income tax purposes for foreign nationals including optimization of elections for first and last year of residency
- Social Security tax implications to compensation of foreign nationals and US expatriates including application and analysis of Totalization agreements
- Foreign tax credit optimization including analysis of paid versus accrued methods and maximizing foreign source income
- Optimization for US expatriates including analysis of foreign tax credit versus foreign earned income exclusions
- Reporting of foreign rental properties including proper depreciation methods and treatment of rental of principal residence
- Reporting and planning for nonresidents with US investments or US effectively-connected income
- State residency and domicile issues for foreign nationals and US expatriates
- Reporting gifts and inheritances from nonresidents
- Consulting to employers of international assignees relating to tax equalization policy development and application, tax planning for international assignments including coordination with tax advisors in local jurisdictions, compensation structuring, payroll reporting and employee education and tax return preparation
- Determination of residency for US citizens in US possessions