French reporting obligations are applicable where a trust has a connection with France. This will be the case when the settlor, trustee, or the trust’s beneficiaries are French resident, or when the trust owns French assets.

Event based return

Trustees are required to declare any creation, modification and revocation of a trust within 30 days.

A modification includes asset distributions and disposals, when further assets are placed into the trust, any change in the trustees or beneficiaries, any change likely to affect the finances, business or the functioning of the trust, etc.

Annual returns

By 15 June each year the trustees must declare the market value of the trust assets as at 1 January.

The assets to be declared will be the worldwide assets of the trust if the settlor or a beneficiary is French resident. Otherwise, the declaration is limited to assets situated in France.

Penalties

Failure to declare will result in a €20,000 penalty. There is also a penalty of 80% of the tax avoided in respect of trust assets not duly reported.

Additional penalties and criminal sanctions apply in case of fraud, including voluntarily failing to file.

The severity of the potential penalties makes it essential for trustees – and indeed all those involved with French connected trusts – to review their reporting obligations.

The French wealth tax (Impôt sur la Fortune Immobilière, or ‘IFI’) is a tax on real estate whose taxable base is limited to non-business related real estate assets.

For IFI purposes the trust’s real estate generally belong to the settlor. When the settlor has died, the beneficiaries are generally taxable (beneficiary who is deemed to be a settlor or ‘BDS’).

An individual is liable to pay IFI when the net market value of his taxable French real estate assets exceeds €1.3m as at 1 January.  However, if this is the case, then only the first €800,000 is exempt from tax, and the tax rate below will apply.

Non-French tax residents are only taxable on French real estate assets, whilst French residents are generally taxable on their worldwide real estate assets.

The purpose of this tax is to penalise the failure to report to the French tax authorities real estate assets subject to IFI placed in the trust. Thus, real estate assets that have been correctly declared in the IFI return of the settlor or BDS, or in the trust’s annual return when the settlor or BDS are not liable to wealth tax, are exempt.

The sui generis tax is payable by the trustees at a rate of 1.5% of the value of the trust’s taxable real estate.

For French gift and succession tax purposes the trust’s assets belong to the settlor or to the BDS when the settlor has died.

Tax will be due on the trust’s worldwide assets when the settlor or BDS is a French tax resident, and in some instances when the beneficiary is a long-term French tax resident. Otherwise, only French assets are taxable.

A variety of rates apply based on the relationship between the settlor/BDS and the beneficiary. For most discretionary trusts a punitive rate of 60% is applicable on death of the settlor/BDS. The tax is payable by the beneficiary.

Please note this article is for general information. You should not rely on it without advice on the specific facts of your case.