Estate planning: in-depth subjects

Estate companies

The course examines the potential benefit of resorting to a patrimonial company for civil law reasons and with a view to fiscal optimizing.  
The first part of the course will review corporate law, particularly the analysis of different forms of companies as resulting from the Corporate and Charity Code (CSA). The reasons behind the patrimony company will be examined. An in-depth analysis of the regime governing the transfer of assets to the patrimony company will take place, with regard to registration fees, income taxes and VAT. The delicate question of added value, particularly internal added value, will be studied.
The second part of the course will examine the operating methods of patrimony companies both with regard to direct contributions and from the point of view of estate planning. How is the taxable result calculated? What is corporation tax? What tax regime applies to added value on assets? The course will then examine in detail the means of retaining control of a patrimony company as well as techniques for drawing "income" from the company.
A third part analyses the civil and fiscal aspects of the share deal of a patrimonial company, against payment or free of charge. 
In a fourth and last part, the dissolution and liquidation of the patrimonial company is considered, namely from a fiscal angle.  

Part 2: international aspects

Course overview
After the theory has been presented, a number of cases involving practical inheritance tax planning  in an international context will be considered. The subject goes beyond the context of a classical pattern of the national de cujus (testator) and Belgian resident, who had a more or less linear professional career and whose entire patrimony is in Belgium: the estate is made up of goods situated abroad or the successors are domiciled in a country where beneficiaries are taxed on donations or successions (Germany, France, Spain).
Topics covered
In the first part of the course, the following topics will be covered:

• Certain foreign legislation (covering 9 countries), including that of two Anglo-Saxon countries, will be reviewed which will provide us with an opportunity to discuss succession, in Belgium, of retired persons who worked in international institutions (EC, NATO and SHAPE). In a second step we will illustrate the case of a foreign citizen leaving Belgium ("impatriation") at the time of retirement for his country of origin (France, Germany, UK).
  
• We will then take stock of the notion of residence in death duties while not avoiding issues arising from the setting-up of a trust, the capital-gain tax and the taxation of the pension, the wealth estate tax in France ("IFI") and the fictions of tax domicile in the originating State (the Netherlands, Germany).
  
• In particular, we will use a practical case to attempt to show that, without going as far as creating a legal structure, the double (or triple) taxation resulting from an inheritance made up of goods located in different States (property in France and Belgium, securities portfolios in the US) for a Belgian resident who kept the nationality of his country of origin (American, for example) may be attenuated by the technique of donation by looking to maximise tax credits granted by most foreign States.

• How do we structure property investments in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and how do we finance them?
  
• If the property is in France ou en Espagne, why should an SCI be created while a Belgian resident can realise the investment, directly or through their Belgian real estate company?
• Once the house has been acquired, we will illustrate the consequences of a change of residence due i.e. to the occupation of the second residence abroad permanently. 
  
• Should emphasis be placed on the "situs" of properties (holdings in foreign listed companies)? Should wealth management integrate the inheritance aspect and look at diversifying/determining this portfolio?
• Finally we will analyse the consequences of the implementation of the EU Directive 2018/822 (the so-called DAC6) relating to the cross-border arrangements involving a.o. life-insurance, asset-holding companies and Private Equity via SOPARFI.

Estate companies

By the end of the course, students should be able to analyse a concrete situation and determine when and under what conditions recourse to an asset management company is of interest, especially on a civil level and as regards tax.

Part 2: international aspects

After completing the theoretical and practical components, the students will be able to grasp double taxation problems in the absence of planning, then to understand/critique/encipher a case of international estate/wealth planning.

Estate companies

The students must have acquired the bases of contract law, marital regimes, donations and tax law. 

They must have a good command of the general principles of corporate law. 

Those needing to upgrade their knowledge beyond the reminders given in the course are invited to contact the lecturer for recommended readings.  

Part 2: international aspects

Introductory course in tax law. Core course in the complementary Master's in tax law. Estate planning course. A basic knowledge of accountancy's principles is certainly a «  plus », i.e. for allowing a rough estimation of the value of company's shares, based on its balance sheet), even in order to solve more easily the "case studies".

Estate companies

For the most part, lectures are supported by a book written by the teacher. Students must acquire it.

Illustrtive practical cases are explained orally.

Students' active participation is warmy encouraged in response to the lecturer's questions; the restricted audience allows for interactivity.  

 

Part 2: international aspects

Teaching ex-cathedra but with interactivity with the students during the course or via emails.

Estate companies

Face-to-face course


Additional information:

The course combines theory and practical work.

Students are required to attend the classes so that they can interact.

Classes aren't recorded.

Students must have a Civil Code, a Company Code and a Fiscal Code, which the students can annotate for the exam.

Part 2: international aspects

Face-to-face.

Estate companies

Compulsory readings:

• students must acquire a book written by the teacher, which serves as a written support for the course

• enabling students to upgrade their knowledge of civil and corporate law if need be. 

Part 2: international aspects

The language of instruction is French but the written documentation is in English for the Anglo-Saxon and foreign laws (PowerPoint slides and on-line PDF documents).

Estate companies

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam


Additional information:

The first and second sessions involve an oral exam.

Students should be able to make use of the principles and concepts taught, explain them and identify them in the examples given to them, which they then have to solve.

Students are assessed on their mastery of the principles and concepts, as well as their ability to construct a coherent and critical legal reasoning 

It should be noted that this course is part 1 (10 H) of the Estate Tax Planning Advanced Materials course (total 25 H). The International Items course is part 2 (15 H). The quotations will be distributed according to this hourly volume.

Part 2: international aspects

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )


Additional information:

In advance, it should be noted that this course is part 2 (15H) of the Estate Tax planning Advanced materials course (total 25H). The Real estate companies course is part 1 (10H). The quotations will be distributed according to this hourly volume. 

Students will be assessed on their capacity, based on a case of simple civil devolution in an international environment, to encipher the cost of the inheritance tax in the country of residence (Belgium) and in the foreign countries concerned. They will be assessed too on their capacity to analyse, critique and even offer basic international estate planning (including figures), independent of the Belgian perspective in the matter. 

The assessment will be based on the written examination for 60% (12/20) and on the personal involvement of the student in the course for 40% (8/20), mainly via the resolution of a case study which has to be sent per email before the last course in order to get a feed-back and anyway BEFORE the first session. In this respect, we strongly suggest or recommend a good communication with the teacher via an exchange of mails, EVEN if the student cannot attend classes. In case the student does not solve the casus at all before the first session, the assessment in second session will be based on the written examination for 100% (20/20).

An open-book (in the computer room with access to courses and international databases like IBFD International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation), written examination in each of the first and second session (for the second session, subject to passing the first, there is a possibility of a short debriefing at the end of the examination, on request).

Estate companies

No placement is required.

Estate companies

Students must have a Civil Code, a Company Code and a Fiscal Code, both for classes and the exam. These texts can be annotated.

Part 2: international aspects

- Lectures (Presentation of theory illustrated by examples and practical cases).
- 3 sessions of 4 hours and 1 of 3 hours, Saturday mornings from 9am to 2pm or 1pm.

Estate companies

Students can contact the teacher by e-mail or by phone at the following: l.herve@herve-law.be 04/343.53.33

Part 2: international aspects

taxsaving@skynet.be; guy.jorion@ulg.ac.be