Maltese Registered Trusts
Net tax liability: Lm200
Until very recently, trusts were unknown to Maltese law, but with the development of the country as a financial services centre, a special law was enacted to allow for the setting up of trusts.
The advantage of trusts in Malta are several:
favourable taxation,
confidentiality,
control of assets,
no probate (both in
the country of citizenship and residence and also in the country where the
assets are);
the investment income
from funds can be accumulated tax-free.
Taxation
Trusts established in Malta benefit from the following favourable tax treatment:
exempt from succession
duty and stamp duty;
the property forming
the trust can be freely imported to Malta without customs duty;
no exchange control
restrictions.
income tax and capital
gains tax are fixed at LM200 each year.
The law also provides
for a Governmental guarantee against future or retroactive revocation of
rights and exemptions.
Formation
Trusts must be created in writing, either by will, by unilateral declaration of trust or other written instrument. A unilateral declaration of trust is made by a nominee company acting as trustee and containing all the terms of the trust as well as information enabling the identification of the beneficiaries.
Neither the settlor nor the
beneficiaries of a trust may be resident in Malta. Moreover, the trust
property shall not include immovable property situated in Malta or shares
of a company registered in Malta unless it is an ITC or IHC company.
Registration is effected by a Nominee Company acting as a trustee. The
trust instrument is a highly confidential document and no person may be
ordered to divulge to any authority (including any court) any matter
relating to a trust.
Confidentiality
Under the Professional Secrecy Act 1994, lawyers, bankers, stock brokers
and accountants cannot divulge any information about their clients unless
international criminal activity (money laundering, drug dealing, etc.) is
involved.
Moreover, Licensed Nominee
Companies fall under the Malta Financial Services Centre Act 1988 which
also requires such companies to protect the confidentiality of the
beneficial owners they represent. All the services of MALTA-TAX are
covered by these strict professional secrecy provisions.
See also:
