Foreign Trusts from a United States Perspective: Taxpayer Nightmares and How to Keep Them from Happening

For understandable reasons, the United States has adopted a series of laws designed to prevent U.S. taxpayers from taking advantage of foreign trusts as tax shelters from U.S. income taxation. The obvious application of these laws is when a U.S. citizen is attempting to transfer cash or income-producing assets to an offshore Trust. When dealing with foreign trusts, however, these laws can apply in circumstances where unsuspecting non-U.S.-citizen taxpayers can be financially devastated by the consequences.