Trust Estate
France Delays Tax Filing Deadline On Trusts As Elections Hold Up Paperwork

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.