The French tax authority has confirmed that the deadline for
tax filings by trustees this year has been postponed to 15 September instead of
the original 15 June date, due to a delay stemming from issues such as the
recent French national elections, said the French tax team at accountancy
practice PKF (Channel Islands) Limited.

These filing deadlines apply to trusts where there is either
a French settlor or beneficiary – or both – or trusts holding French assets;
the issue could  therefore  also affect non- French  resident settlors and beneficiaries, so the
impact of such a development is potentially wide, it said.

Since the election of socialist President Francois Hollande –
who vowed to enact a 75 per cent top tax rate on the super-wealthy – as well as
impose higher taxes on foreign owners of second homes. The government has
announced total tax hikes to collect €7.2 billion ($9.2 billion) as the country
wrestles with a large budget deficit. Some commentators argue that the changes
will spur an exodus of high net worth French citizens to countries such as the UK.

One of the obligations on trustees is to file an annual
declaration of the fair market value of all the assets held within the trust as
well as certain details of the trust. 
The report must be filed with the centre for foreign enterprises, Baker
& McKenzie, the global law firm, said in a separate briefing on the
changes.

 “Unfortunately, there
has been no further clarification as to the extent of trusts required to make a
disclosure and whether employee benefits trusts will be exempt from such
disclosure requirements,” it said.