Knowledge Base
International tax planning, estate and inheritance tax, real estate taxation, and trust tax structures for complex wealth situations that cross borders and generations.
46 articles in this category — page 3 of 4
Refinancing does not trigger capital gains tax. The IRS confirms in Publication 544 that refinancing a mortgage does not constitute a taxable disposition of property. Loan proceeds are debt, not income, which means a cash-out refinance is one of the few ways high-net-worth real estate investors can
Greece taxes capital gains at a flat 15% rate. That headline figure is straightforward. What isn't straightforward is the web of exemptions, calculation rules, Non-Dom regime implications, and cross-border complications that determine what you actually owe after selling a Greek property or unwinding
South Korea's capital gains tax system is one of the most rate-variable in the OECD, with effective rates on real estate ranging from near zero to over 70% depending on holding period, property count, and zone classification. If you hold Korean assets above the KRW 1 billion threshold, the differenc
Singapore's 17% headline corporate tax rate is already competitive. But for high-net-worth individuals and business owners who understand the full structure, the effective rate can drop substantially lower through entirely legal means. The distinction that matters is not between "aggressive" and "co
The short answer: probably not at the federal level, and almost certainly less than you think. The federal estate tax exemption for 2024 sits at $13.61 million per individual, which means most FATFIRE estates currently clear it cleanly. But "currently" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. The TC
Inheritance tax in South Africa is called estate duty. It applies at 20% on dutiable estates up to R30 million and 25% on amounts above that threshold, with a primary abatement of R3.5 million per deceased estate. For anyone holding R30M+ in assets, the exposure is real and the planning window matte
The 5-year rule for trusts is one of several distribution timelines governing inherited retirement accounts, and it matters far more now than it did five years ago. SECURE Act 2.0, effective January 1, 2023, eliminated the stretch IRA for most non-spouse beneficiaries, compressing what was once a li
S corp stock gifting to family members is one of the most effective estate planning moves available to business owners with concentrated private equity positions, but the IRS has built several traps into the rules that retail-level advice consistently ignores. The core tension: gifting transfers own
The irrevocable trust home sale exclusion is one of the most misunderstood intersections in estate planning. The conventional framing, that you can combine these two tools for maximum benefit, gets the mechanics backwards. For most people with $5M+ estates and heavily appreciated homes, placing a
The irrevocable trust 5-year rule is a Medicaid lookback provision, not an estate planning deadline. Federal law under 42 U.S.C. § 1396p requires Medicaid to review asset transfers made within 60 months of an application for long-term care benefits. Transfers into an irrevocable trust during that wi
Yes, beneficiary contributions to irrevocable trusts are legally possible, but the tax and structural consequences are serious enough that most attorneys treat this as a last resort rather than a default move. The 2025 estate tax exemption sunset makes the timing of any such contribution more conseq
Swiss inheritance law for non-residents is not a minor administrative detail. If you hold Swiss real estate, a Swiss bank account, or an interest in a Swiss operating company, Swiss succession rules will govern how those assets transfer at death, regardless of what your home-country will says. The 2