Another interesting article on Bloomberg - Four Chinese Tycoons Just Transferred $17 Billion to Trusts.
According to the article, the smart Chinese sourced money is looking for places to hide due to new taxation -
According to the article, the smart Chinese sourced money is looking for places to hide due to new taxation -
Four Chinese tycoons transferred more than $17 billion of their wealth into family trusts late last year, underscoring how the rich are scrambling to protect their fortunes from the nation’s newly toughened tax regime.
The moves come as China’s super rich brace for the possibility of the government going after the wealthy to push through tax cuts for the masses this year. Personal wealth ballooned to an estimated $24 trillion in 2018, making the rich ripe for further scrutiny from tax collectors, and prompting many families to seek refuge via shields such as trusts.
I suspect we can expect another flood of funds coming out of the PRC as the Chinese government decides on whether to go after these trust or not."Offshore trusts may not avoid taxes entirely, but they may to some extent win more tax deferral space for billionaires," said Oscar Liu, chief executive officer at Noah International Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd., an asset-management service provider.
Still, China’s new tax law doesn’t spell out clearly whether offshore trust assets are taxable, Liu said. Any levies will also depend on various conditions, such as whether trust beneficiaries are tax residents in China, he said.