Cross-Border & Philanthropy
In a rapidly shrinking world tax land-locks within sovereign states and widely differing legal regimes are beginning to look increasing anomalous, creating fetters which high net worth and ultra-high net worth donors are seeking to escape. Our cross-border and philanthropy team, led by Simon Weil, remains at the forefront of a rapidly developing area of the law. Within the European Union events have moved rapidly in recent years, culminating in the Persche case, which has created extreme pressure on member states such as the UK, which have been found to be in breach of the EC treaty by restricting tax exemptions and concessions on a territorial basis. Pending resolution of the current uncertainties, the Transnational Giving Europe Agreement provides a means of circumventing land-locks within the European Union through intermediary bodies like the Charities Aid Foundation. Beyond the European Union possibilities exist in the form of tax treaties and dual-qualified charities, but many philanthropists are now turning towards the establishment of non-charitable purpose trusts in low tax jurisdictions as a means of avoiding cross-border problems and overly burdensome regulations in jurisdictions like the UK and the USA. The range of services we provide in this area includes:
- Advising on the relative merits of different jurisdictions for charitable status;
- Establishing UK charities or UK branches for charities based overseas;
- Advising on cross-border matters for charities with operations in Scotland and/or Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales;
- Advising on tax-efficient giving and fund-raising across the European Union;
- Advising on purpose and star trusts and liaising with lawyers in the relevant jurisdictions to establish the same;
- Forming dual-qualified charities.
