Clients accumulate wealth in a myriad of different ways and store it in nearly as many different structures - especially those clients who have migrated to Australia or returned from overseas postings. This paper focuses on characterising a number of the unusual arrangements advisers may encounter as well as highlighting the technical issues related to them and some strategies which may be adopted to mitigate the exposure to tax costs. Topics covered include:
- types of foreign entities typically used for passive investment;
- peculiar foreign entities and how they are regarded under Australian tax law (eg foundations, purpose trusts, anstalts, stiftungs, guarantee corporations, LLCs, LPs, LLPs, REITs, foreign retirement savings and cell insurance companies);
- Section 99B issues for immigrants;
- planning approaches when advising people intending to migrate to Australia;
- cross-border loans; and
- application of the reimbursement agreement rule in section 100A - taking money from Australia offshore and bringing it back again.