With the Legislative Decree n. 90 of May 25, 2017, published on June 19, 2017 Italy finally adopted and transposed into its own legal system the EU Directive 2015/849, usually referred to as the “IV Anti Money Laundering Directive”.

One area that attracts particular attention concerns the new reporting rules applicable to trusts.

Article 21, paragraph 3 of Decree n. 90 provides that “trusts producing juridical effects relevant for tax purposes, in accordance with article 73 of the Presidential Decree n. 917 of January 22, 1986, shall be registered with a special section of the Register of Enterprises”.

Italy (which does not have domestic trust laws) recognizes and gives legal effect to trust set up and governed under foreign law, pursuant to the Hague Convention on Trust of July 1, 1985 implemented in Italy with law n. 364 of October 16, 1989.

Article 73 of Presidential Decree n. 917 (Italy’s Unified Income Tax Code) classify all trust as separate taxable entities for Italian income tax purposes. Trusts administered abroad are classified as foreign (non-resident) trusts. Trusts administered in Italy are classified as domestic (resident) trusts. Foreign trusts are taxed solely on their Italian source income, while domestic trusts are taxed on their worldwide income, Trusts with identified income beneficiaries are taxed on a fiscally transparent basis (they compute their taxable income, which is then attributed to and taxed upon the income beneficiaries as designated in the trust agreement). Trusts without identified income beneficiaries are subject to Italy’s corporate income tax.

The scope of the new duty to register a trust into the Register of Enterprises, set forth in Decree n. 90, is extended to trusts which “produce relevant legal effects for tax purposes in Italy”. As a result, trusts subject to reporting include all domestic trust, foreign trusts with Italian assets or income, as well as foreign trusts with Italian settlor or beneficiaries.

Article 22, paragraph 5 of Decree n. 90 provides that fiduciaries and trustees of express trusts, which are recognized and enforceable in Italy pursuant to the 1964 Hague Convention on Trusts, shall collect and conserve sufficient and adequate and updated information on the beneficial ownership of the trust, meaning, information relating to the settlor, trustee or trustees, guardian, or any other person acting on behalf of the trustee, individual beneficiaries or class of beneficiaries, as well as any other person who exercises the control over the assets of the trust through direct or indirect ownership or other means. Trustee shall conserve that information for a minimum period of five years, and shall make it accessible to the authorities who are entitled to have access to that information for investigation purposes (typically, tax agencies in charge of tax inquiries and audits, and department of justice in charge with anti-money laundering and criminal investigations). The information referred to at article 22 shall be filed electronically with the Register of Enterprises. Trustees are personally liable and subject to penalties for failure to comply with the duty to report.

Article 21, paragraph 5 of Decree n. 90 provides that the Ministry of Economy and Finance shall issue a regulation with specific provisions concerning:

a) the information to file with the register,
b) the procedure for filing and disclosure of the information to the governmental agencies which may require them, as part of tax or criminal investigations,
c) the procedure for the access to the register for review of filed information,
d) the procedure to determine the right to access the filed information,
e) the exchange of information on trusts between the Register and Tax Agency’s databases, concerning a trust’s tax code or VAT number, as well as any agreements setting up, amending or terminating a trust, or transferring assets into tor outside a trust, as they are relevant for the purpose of the application of income or transfer taxes relating to the trust.

The regulation, which has not been adopted yet, shall be very important to finalize and complete the law on new trust reporting rules. Subparagraph e) of article 21.5 seems to suggest that also the relevant agreements concerning a trust may have to be filed or disclosed. If that is the case, the reporting, which is due under the trustee’s personal responsibility, shall be quite challenging and require careful handling.

Have a question?  Contact Marco Rossi

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