The French adminstration announced, after the 15th June of
course, that:
"La date limite de dépôt de la déclaration annuelle pour les
administrateurs de trusts est reportée exceptionnellement au 30
septembre 2020."
Covid-19 lives and changes rules.
Note that this declaration requires trustees without a French
connection in the shape or form of a "constituant" / settlor
"bénéficiaire deemed constituant" or a bénéficiare resident in
France to file when they hold French situs assete whether these are
chargeabke to IFI or not.
For example shares in Total, l'Oréal, LVMH issued out of a
French register, and French Banking bonds are meant to be included;
there is a penalty of €20.000 for non-compliance. Why? Because
these are technically subject to French gift and succession duty on
changes of benefical entitlement or attribution within a trust.
These might also need to be declared on a 2181 Trust1 declaration
as an "event", in any change of whatthe French consider to be
beneficial entitlement but technically there is no annual tax
(IFI) payable on these movable assets after the repeal of ISF
at the end of 2017. The 2181 Trust1 declaration is another
area entirely and needs strategic handling.
For example, English trustees of trusts of land should also take
advice on whether to declare or not in the case of a French
resident settlor deemed settlor or beneficiary, as the
definition of a "trust" article 792-0 bis I CGI allocates the
classification to England, not to France. Ever since Re
Berchtold and s.3 ToLATA 1996, which abolished the doctrine of
conversion, an English trust of land is an immovable. It falls to
the law of the state in question to determine whether the
trust is a trust or an immovable, and in the case of death, the
1963 Succession Duty Treaty can be applied in that sense, despite a
somewhat clownish attempt by the French administration to change
the law of classification for Income Tax and CGT purses in
the 2008 Treaty concerning only those taxes.
However, whilst this extension might appear only to cover the
2181Trust2, there is no indication that the 2181 Trust1 event
declaration to be filed within one month of any événement defined
in the CGI's annexe and extended or reduced by administrative
commentary wil bensfit from any particular licence or tolérance as
to timing.
Please note that assistance will still needed on the 2181 Trust2
for this year, by September as the French have yet again attempted
to compile a register of French movable property held in trust by
non-residents in their latest assault on privacy, without making
any adjustment to the 2019 2181 Trust2 to render that accessible or
in fact declarable.
Trustees will already have made their information available
under the OECD's CRS declarations, so the entire farce is a
complete waste of time, money and energy, and probably unlawful and
unconstitutional as there is no tax (IFI) to recover on that
basis. All that under the threat of a penaty of €20.000
for non-compliance.
They could not organise a book-show in an imprimérie, be it
national or purely domestic.
The annoucnement can be found
here