32
© 2013 - Geneva Group International News and Information for Members and Friends of Geneva Group International GGI European Regional Conference in Lisbon Issue No. 64 | March 2013

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Page 1: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

1

copy 2013 - Geneva Group International

News andInformationfor Membersand Friends of Geneva GroupInternational

GGIEuropeanRegionalConferencein Lisbon

Issue No 64 | March 2013

2

Content

EditorialDear GGI Members Dear Friends

At the recent GGI EasyMeet in Tel Aviv it was once again quite clear that GGI connects people across borders and continents Despite political conflict in their own country members from Pal-estine attended the EasyMeet in Israel If you were unable to make it this time why not read the summary of this excel-lent event in this issue of Insider

The Practice Group Chairpersonsrsquo Meeting in Zurich was also a great suc-cess generating many fresh ideas pro-moting the exchange between groups and also boosting motivation

The programme of the upcoming GGI European Conference in Portugal promises to be extremely varied Read all about it in the article on the Conference The GGI Leadership Forum will once again present interesting speakers and fascinating debates

In May the GGI Developing Leaders Conference (known as EasyMeet in Eu-rope) will attract juniors and associates to Boston

As the flowers begin to blossom GGI will soon also be sporting a new image for spring with the launch of the new GGI corporate branding from 10 April 2013

In this issue we also report the news and achievements of our GGI members

In his article ldquoIs your business head-ing off a fiscal cliffrdquo Anthony Soukenik GGI member firm Sandberg Phoenix amp von Gontard PC USA poses ques-tions to which every entrepreneur should know the answer In ldquoLuxury Goods on the edgerdquo Urban B Eberle Liechten-stein discusses the development of de-mand in this sector David J Kidd GGI member firm Citroen Wells Chartered Accountants UK introduces the new UK Statutory Residence Test and Vijesh Zinzuwadia of GGI member firm Zinzu-wadia amp Co Chartered Accountants India reviews the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit

Turn to the GGI Practice Group pages

to read about the rewarding Interna-tional Taxation Practice Group (ITPG) meeting in Amsterdam as well as other thought-provoking articles Dr Reinhard Nacke GGI member firm FPS Recht-sanwaumllte amp Notare Germany discusses the correlation between debt policy and land prices while Camilla Wallace GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP UK dis-cusses the use of family limited partner-ships in the context of UK tax and estate planning To prepare for your journey to Portugal read Ady Nordmanrsquos travel tips on Lisbon on pages 26f

We wish you your families and friends a very happy Easter and Passover

Your GGI Team

CONTACT | EDITORIAL | CONTENT

Geneva Group International AGSchaffhauserstrasse 5508052 ZurichSwitzerlandT +41 44 256 18 18E infoggicom W wwwggicomW wwwggiforumcom

The information provided in this INSIDER came from reliable sources and was prepared from data assumed to be correct how-ever we neither accept liability for nor are we able to guarantee the content

If you wish to be removed from the mailing list send an email to infoggicom Let us know what you think about INSIDER We wel-come your feedback

Disclaimer

Contact

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

3

Content18-21 April 2013 GGI European Conference Lisbon ndash Portugal

02-04 May 2013 GGI North American Developing Leaders Conference Boston MA ndash USA

09-12 May 2013 GGI North American Regional Conference San Francisco CA ndash USA

20-23 June 2013 GGI Leadership Forum Eisenberg ndash Austria

05-07 July 2013 GGI Asia-Pacific EasyMeet Goa ndash India

27-29 September 2013 GGI German Speaking Chapter Barcelona ndash Spain

04-06 October 2013 GGI EasyMeet Zurich ndash Switzerland

31 October-03 November 2013 GGI World Conference Cancun ndash Mexico

15-17 November 2013 (TBC) GGI North American Developing Leaders Conference Philadelphia PA - USA

05-08 December 2013 (TBC) GGI Asia-Pacific Regional Conference Mumbai - India

Please refer to our website for actualised information and additional events wwwggicom entry ldquoEventsrdquo

Diary

TBC

= to

be

confi

rmed

EDITORIAL CONTACT DISCLAIMER 02

CONTENT DIARY 03

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS GGI European Conference in Lisbon 04 Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture 06 GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg 07

REVIEW GGI EVENTS GGI Practice Group Chairpersons meeting in Zurich 09 GGI EasyMeet Tel Aviv 10

GGI NEW MEMBER FIRMS 11

GGI INTERNAL NEWS New GGI Logo 13 GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination 14 Successful Event in Romania jointly hosted by four GGI member firms 14

COMMON INTEREST Is your Business Heading Off a Fiscal Cliff 16 Luxury goods on the edge 17 The new UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction 18 Vibrant Gujarat 2013 20

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES ITPG ITPG meets in Amsterdam 22 REAL ESTATE Correlation between debt policy and land prices 23 TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING The use of family limited partnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planningi 24

GGI BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP Lisbon Portugal 26

BOOK REVIEW 28

FURTHER CONFERENCES EVENTS 29

4

Content

The upcoming GGI European Con-ference in Sintra near Lisbon will start with the Practice Group Meeting on In-ternational Taxation Three GGI mem-bers from the USA the UK and Spain will deliver presentations to update their colleagues on the latest tax devel-opments in their countries with respect to foreign investments A transfer pric-ing lecture will round off the meeting

Dr Daniele Ganser who was intro-duced in the January issue of Insider will be our keynote speaker and will discuss ldquoEurope and its addiction to oil the consequences of a dangerous dependencyrdquo

Marcus Grubb Managing Director of Investment at the World Gold Council wwwgoldorg will talk about ldquoThe stra-tegic case of Goldrdquo The World Council is the market development organisation that represents the gold mining indus-try

The first part of Mr Grubbrsquos presen-tation will explore the fundamental bal-ance of supply and demand in the gold market The second part will explore the thousands of years in which gold has been an investment asset

As its gold strategist Mr Grubb plays a key role in the World Gold Coun-cil He is responsible for the organisa-

tionrsquos view on all aspects of the gold market and articulates this view to in-vestors of all types from private wealth to institutional and sovereign investors worldwide He has worked in invest-ment banking and capital markets for 20 years and has experience in man-agement sales trading research and product origination Mr Grubb was Global Head of Equities at Rabobank and a Board member where he built and managed their global equities and equity derivatives business He was the founder and Chief Executive of Swap-stream the largest inter-bank exchange for interest rate swaps which was sold

Welcome to Lisbon Portugal

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon Portugal

18-21 April 2013

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

5

to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2006

During the mid-1990s Mr Grubb was a top-rated Senior Investment Strategist and managed part of the re-search conducted at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) as well as at Salo-mon Brothers He began his career in eurobond and swap origination at JP Morgan in the 1980s and graduated in 1983 from Oxford University with top first class honours in Modern History amp Economics

This will not mean that the interactive part of the Conference shall be forgot-ten experts from all over the world will be invited to Practice Group meetings where they can enjoy lively discussion on content-specific topics exchanges of technical knowledge and ideas as well as discovering opportunities for future joint business projects The following discussions are scheduled to take place

At the Auditing Reporting amp Com-pliance Practice Group meeting GGI member Olena Makeieva from the Ukraine will deliver a presentation on several different public private and even mixed models of audit institutes worldwide Furthermore notes shall be compared on the idea of creating a ldquoBest Practices Tool Kitrdquo as a platform

The Corporate Commercial amp IP Practice Group will discuss ldquoMonetisa-tion of IP assets ndash the generation of rev-enue from a firmrsquos patent assetsrdquo

Prof Robert Anthony and Dr Justus Westerburg will jointly chair the Private Equity amp International Wealth Manage-ment Practice Group meeting where ldquoChanges in the investment climate ndash current PE and wealth management structuring opportunities and future developmentrdquo will be discussed The le-gal framework for wealth management appears to be subject to exponential extension Safe havens today may be wiped away soon particularly as a result of EU and OECD influence Audience discussion will be based on the follow-ing topics The Cyprus financial company by

Marios Eliades (M Eliades amp Part-

ners LLC) SIF (Specialised Investment Fund)

ndash Luxembourg by Claudine Wilhelm (Stratera Audit)

QIF (Qualified Investment Fund) ndash Ireland by Joe McCall (Byrne amp Mc-Call Accountants amp Tax Advisors)

EU and OECD driven development by Dr Justus Westerburg (Noumlrenberg Schroumlder)

The Labour Law Practice Group will discuss the legal aspects of employee transfer from one company to another Tricia Goodson of Brooks Pierce will update the participants on US laws and

the latest developments relating to the transfer of employees and harmonisa-tion of employment conditions Jeffrey L Kenens of TeekensKarstens will de-liver a speech on the transfer of employ-ees based on the related EU directive from the perspective of European law

Two presentations from the Govern-mental Affairs amp Public Procurement Practice Group will form the basis of another interesting discussion ldquoA look behind the news EU-US free trade proj-ect ndash significance hopes and obstaclesrdquo and ldquoThe role task and chance of GGI members in the biggest deals of all timerdquo

The Renewable Energies Practice Group will discuss ldquoLegislative changes ahead ndash potential challenges to renew-able energy investments in Europerdquo

The following topics will be covered by the Forensics Litigation Support Valuation amp Tax Controversy Practice Group Private Investigator licencing emerg-

ing as a potential threat to CPAs practicing forensic accounting

Criminalsrsquo minds Guarding against cyber theft Common questions ndash evasion tactics Applying forensic scepticism to lost

profits valuations next page

Marcus Grubb

Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site east of Lisbon

6

Content

The new arsenal of governments ndash whistleblower programmes what you should know

MampA specialists from around the world will update each other on the lat-est developments in their countries in the field of MampA and related services Transaction insurances will be among the topics discussed

Dr Reinhard Nacke will discuss the correlation between debt policy and land prices with his Real Estate Practice Group If you would like to read an arti-cle on this subject please turn to pages 23f

At the Task Force Financial Crisis meeting participants will discuss pos-sible scenarios including the break-up of the eurozone as a consequence of a political crisis caused by the lack

of mutual solidarity and the upcom-ing social unrest in various developed countries around the world Attendees will also discuss future currency deval-uation wars and the real risk of higher inflation resulting from unwillingness to tackle it by increasing interest rates

The Trust amp Estate Planning Practice Group will discuss the ldquoLatest develop-ments in cross border estate planningrdquo and the VAT Practice Group will talk about ldquoHidden VAT in the health sec-torrdquo where there are pitfalls in cross-border transactions in which VAT is due and challenges in claiming the VAT back

Further Practice Group meetings will also be held along with interactive workshops which promise lively discus-sions

The conference will be held in Sin-

tra in the Penha Loga Hotel Spa amp Golf Resort (wwwpenhalongacom) Participants will meet other profession-als from around the globe to forge new friendships exchange views experienc-es ideas and knowledge

They will also be able to catch up with old friends and gain inspiration from top-quality lectures participat-ing in workshops and Practice Group meetings Sightseeing tours have been organised for members to discover the cities of Sintra Belem and Lisbon Socialising with fellow GGI members is also an important part of the fringe events

This conference is already fully booked No further bookings are being accepted We recommend registering for other upcoming GGI events such as the North American Conference in San Francisco andor the GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture

Geneva Group International has al-ways believed in a whole firm approach GGI is not meant to be used by a single partner of a firm but to be offered as a tool to all members of the firm There has been an abundance of excitement surrounding one of the future cornerstones of GGI which aims to further develop this philos-ophy The newly launched concept of the Developing Leaders platform formally known as EasyMeets in North America will soon have its first meeting in Boston on May 2nd through the 4th under the su-pervision of the GGI Institute

As a separate entity under the brand of GGI the GGI Institute is dedicated to the development of professionals through ongoing education This will

be a unique resource targeted towards younger partners and or managers through the top line decision makers of professional firms The goal is to be-come an authority in best practices and leadership development with an inter-national perspective

The Developing Leaders platform will become an engaging community for mid-level professionals and junior partners across all of GGI Similarly the Developing Leaders conference will accomplish what the Regional and World conferences have done for the senior leaders of GGIrsquos member firms

The host firms include Mirick OrsquoConnell tonneson + co and Shields amp Co It is thanks to their donated time and efforts that the program has devel-oped into a highly pertinent and engag-ing agenda Two of the sessions will be co-hosted by the three managing part-ners of the respective firms One ses-sion highlights ldquoHow to Develop a High Value Networkrdquo from three different perspectives and disciplines The other will discuss ldquoLife Beyond Businessrdquo and how all aspects of onersquos life play into success

Many thanks are also in order to GGIrsquos colleagues at Lehigh University GGI is privileged to support Lehighrsquos in-ternational education platforms such as

02-04 May 2013

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

7

From 20-23 June 2013 the annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria Participants will dis-cuss several concepts of business lead-ership that apply to independent firms Attendees can talk with like-minded partners about leadership strategy work-life balance the intersection of personal and business cash flow and the toll that business can take on their personal lives Leadership presents a multitude of challenges

The keynote speakers will be John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany They will deal with the topic - ldquoWhen did we last chal-lenge our leadership abilityrdquo

Using visual tools and techniques participants will collaboratively work to

co-create lsquoliversquo with clients Conference participants (principals and lead Practi-tioners of GGI member firms) will then be invited to share their experiences from around the world They will trans-fer some of their thinking through rich conversations and feedback sessions held at tables Debating some of the critical conditions for being the kind of leader that might be more appropriate today

John Caswell Founder and CEO Group Partners ndash Over the years and like most of us Irsquove experienced a lot of things about business Irsquove observed countless practices designed to help business solve challenges that in reality next page

GGI Leadership Forumin Eisenberg Austria

20-23 June 2013

John Caswell

the Global Village on the Move applied leadership program GGI is also look-ing forward to expanding cooperation with the prestigious school Carol Ham one of the speakers at the Boston event heads the International Internship Pro-gram for Lehigh Her role will be to help facilitate International Internship possi-bilities with GGI member firms for Le-highrsquos top graduates

Dick Brandt Chairman of the Iacocca Institute will be the keynote speaker for the Boston program highlighting the differences between a manager and a leader and which traits are attributed to each He is truly an authority on interna-tional education and development

There are two main objectives for this event Delivering content that per-tains to the soft skill development of the participants and making connec-tions with likeminded professionals that will surely aid in any future career

path GGI would like to thank all those who have been involved to make this conference the huge success it will be

Looking forward to seeing you in Bos-ton GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The detailed conference programme is also available on the website

The Developing Leaders platform will be held in Boston

GGI North America Services Corp100 State Street 3rd FloorBoston MA 02109United StatesAdam CrowsonT +1 857 300 5100E crowsonggicom W wwwggicom

8

Content

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

prove to be mediocre A large pro-portion of them offer surprisingly low value and many are just plain stupid wrong ndash full of risk and expense

Like everyone Irsquove seen a lot about how business works or doesnrsquot Much of it was pretty ugly Because I was a client myself I witnessed it first hand ndash countless practices designed to help business solve challenges and in re-ality delivering the opposite Mostly self serving and superficial ndash they simply solved the wrong things re-ally well I set up Group Partners to apply radically different thinking to this situation and change the game in the favour of our clients (httpjohncas-wellcomabout)

Hazel Tiffany Partner ndash I knew there had to be another way to deal with complex organisations and their challenges Experiencing the Group Partners approach was my first break-through towards finding the answer Thatrsquos why I joined the team For me it means constantly exploring new ways to maximise the use of our approach ndash particularly in the way we develop

tools and structures that deal with the most complex of issues

I have a deep passion for uncover-ing meaning within the mass of in-formation that already exists within our clientsrsquo worlds and showing them ways to unlock the value that it holds for them

Group Partners ndash Group Partners was founded in January 2001 Itrsquos a unique business that invented Structured Vi-

sual Thinkingtrade (A revolutionary new approach to busi-ness thinking) and 4Dtrade (An acceler-ated approach to

answering the critical questions of the 21st Century Organization)

The approach challenges popular methods by using logical visual frame-works collaborative working and wid-ening the critical contexts in order to reframe and then reshape the impor-tant thinking at leadership level It then provides the frameworks and tools to enable the sustainability of the team to endure and execute

Group Partners (httpgrouppart-nersnet) simply aims to change the way business thinks and works

In addition to an attractive profes-sional programme participants can expect the usual lively discussions ex-cellent networking opportunities and inspiring fringe events

GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The de-tailed conference programme is also available on the website

The annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria

Hazel Tiffany

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 2: GGI European Regional Conference

2

Content

EditorialDear GGI Members Dear Friends

At the recent GGI EasyMeet in Tel Aviv it was once again quite clear that GGI connects people across borders and continents Despite political conflict in their own country members from Pal-estine attended the EasyMeet in Israel If you were unable to make it this time why not read the summary of this excel-lent event in this issue of Insider

The Practice Group Chairpersonsrsquo Meeting in Zurich was also a great suc-cess generating many fresh ideas pro-moting the exchange between groups and also boosting motivation

The programme of the upcoming GGI European Conference in Portugal promises to be extremely varied Read all about it in the article on the Conference The GGI Leadership Forum will once again present interesting speakers and fascinating debates

In May the GGI Developing Leaders Conference (known as EasyMeet in Eu-rope) will attract juniors and associates to Boston

As the flowers begin to blossom GGI will soon also be sporting a new image for spring with the launch of the new GGI corporate branding from 10 April 2013

In this issue we also report the news and achievements of our GGI members

In his article ldquoIs your business head-ing off a fiscal cliffrdquo Anthony Soukenik GGI member firm Sandberg Phoenix amp von Gontard PC USA poses ques-tions to which every entrepreneur should know the answer In ldquoLuxury Goods on the edgerdquo Urban B Eberle Liechten-stein discusses the development of de-mand in this sector David J Kidd GGI member firm Citroen Wells Chartered Accountants UK introduces the new UK Statutory Residence Test and Vijesh Zinzuwadia of GGI member firm Zinzu-wadia amp Co Chartered Accountants India reviews the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit

Turn to the GGI Practice Group pages

to read about the rewarding Interna-tional Taxation Practice Group (ITPG) meeting in Amsterdam as well as other thought-provoking articles Dr Reinhard Nacke GGI member firm FPS Recht-sanwaumllte amp Notare Germany discusses the correlation between debt policy and land prices while Camilla Wallace GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP UK dis-cusses the use of family limited partner-ships in the context of UK tax and estate planning To prepare for your journey to Portugal read Ady Nordmanrsquos travel tips on Lisbon on pages 26f

We wish you your families and friends a very happy Easter and Passover

Your GGI Team

CONTACT | EDITORIAL | CONTENT

Geneva Group International AGSchaffhauserstrasse 5508052 ZurichSwitzerlandT +41 44 256 18 18E infoggicom W wwwggicomW wwwggiforumcom

The information provided in this INSIDER came from reliable sources and was prepared from data assumed to be correct how-ever we neither accept liability for nor are we able to guarantee the content

If you wish to be removed from the mailing list send an email to infoggicom Let us know what you think about INSIDER We wel-come your feedback

Disclaimer

Contact

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

3

Content18-21 April 2013 GGI European Conference Lisbon ndash Portugal

02-04 May 2013 GGI North American Developing Leaders Conference Boston MA ndash USA

09-12 May 2013 GGI North American Regional Conference San Francisco CA ndash USA

20-23 June 2013 GGI Leadership Forum Eisenberg ndash Austria

05-07 July 2013 GGI Asia-Pacific EasyMeet Goa ndash India

27-29 September 2013 GGI German Speaking Chapter Barcelona ndash Spain

04-06 October 2013 GGI EasyMeet Zurich ndash Switzerland

31 October-03 November 2013 GGI World Conference Cancun ndash Mexico

15-17 November 2013 (TBC) GGI North American Developing Leaders Conference Philadelphia PA - USA

05-08 December 2013 (TBC) GGI Asia-Pacific Regional Conference Mumbai - India

Please refer to our website for actualised information and additional events wwwggicom entry ldquoEventsrdquo

Diary

TBC

= to

be

confi

rmed

EDITORIAL CONTACT DISCLAIMER 02

CONTENT DIARY 03

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS GGI European Conference in Lisbon 04 Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture 06 GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg 07

REVIEW GGI EVENTS GGI Practice Group Chairpersons meeting in Zurich 09 GGI EasyMeet Tel Aviv 10

GGI NEW MEMBER FIRMS 11

GGI INTERNAL NEWS New GGI Logo 13 GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination 14 Successful Event in Romania jointly hosted by four GGI member firms 14

COMMON INTEREST Is your Business Heading Off a Fiscal Cliff 16 Luxury goods on the edge 17 The new UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction 18 Vibrant Gujarat 2013 20

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES ITPG ITPG meets in Amsterdam 22 REAL ESTATE Correlation between debt policy and land prices 23 TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING The use of family limited partnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planningi 24

GGI BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP Lisbon Portugal 26

BOOK REVIEW 28

FURTHER CONFERENCES EVENTS 29

4

Content

The upcoming GGI European Con-ference in Sintra near Lisbon will start with the Practice Group Meeting on In-ternational Taxation Three GGI mem-bers from the USA the UK and Spain will deliver presentations to update their colleagues on the latest tax devel-opments in their countries with respect to foreign investments A transfer pric-ing lecture will round off the meeting

Dr Daniele Ganser who was intro-duced in the January issue of Insider will be our keynote speaker and will discuss ldquoEurope and its addiction to oil the consequences of a dangerous dependencyrdquo

Marcus Grubb Managing Director of Investment at the World Gold Council wwwgoldorg will talk about ldquoThe stra-tegic case of Goldrdquo The World Council is the market development organisation that represents the gold mining indus-try

The first part of Mr Grubbrsquos presen-tation will explore the fundamental bal-ance of supply and demand in the gold market The second part will explore the thousands of years in which gold has been an investment asset

As its gold strategist Mr Grubb plays a key role in the World Gold Coun-cil He is responsible for the organisa-

tionrsquos view on all aspects of the gold market and articulates this view to in-vestors of all types from private wealth to institutional and sovereign investors worldwide He has worked in invest-ment banking and capital markets for 20 years and has experience in man-agement sales trading research and product origination Mr Grubb was Global Head of Equities at Rabobank and a Board member where he built and managed their global equities and equity derivatives business He was the founder and Chief Executive of Swap-stream the largest inter-bank exchange for interest rate swaps which was sold

Welcome to Lisbon Portugal

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon Portugal

18-21 April 2013

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

5

to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2006

During the mid-1990s Mr Grubb was a top-rated Senior Investment Strategist and managed part of the re-search conducted at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) as well as at Salo-mon Brothers He began his career in eurobond and swap origination at JP Morgan in the 1980s and graduated in 1983 from Oxford University with top first class honours in Modern History amp Economics

This will not mean that the interactive part of the Conference shall be forgot-ten experts from all over the world will be invited to Practice Group meetings where they can enjoy lively discussion on content-specific topics exchanges of technical knowledge and ideas as well as discovering opportunities for future joint business projects The following discussions are scheduled to take place

At the Auditing Reporting amp Com-pliance Practice Group meeting GGI member Olena Makeieva from the Ukraine will deliver a presentation on several different public private and even mixed models of audit institutes worldwide Furthermore notes shall be compared on the idea of creating a ldquoBest Practices Tool Kitrdquo as a platform

The Corporate Commercial amp IP Practice Group will discuss ldquoMonetisa-tion of IP assets ndash the generation of rev-enue from a firmrsquos patent assetsrdquo

Prof Robert Anthony and Dr Justus Westerburg will jointly chair the Private Equity amp International Wealth Manage-ment Practice Group meeting where ldquoChanges in the investment climate ndash current PE and wealth management structuring opportunities and future developmentrdquo will be discussed The le-gal framework for wealth management appears to be subject to exponential extension Safe havens today may be wiped away soon particularly as a result of EU and OECD influence Audience discussion will be based on the follow-ing topics The Cyprus financial company by

Marios Eliades (M Eliades amp Part-

ners LLC) SIF (Specialised Investment Fund)

ndash Luxembourg by Claudine Wilhelm (Stratera Audit)

QIF (Qualified Investment Fund) ndash Ireland by Joe McCall (Byrne amp Mc-Call Accountants amp Tax Advisors)

EU and OECD driven development by Dr Justus Westerburg (Noumlrenberg Schroumlder)

The Labour Law Practice Group will discuss the legal aspects of employee transfer from one company to another Tricia Goodson of Brooks Pierce will update the participants on US laws and

the latest developments relating to the transfer of employees and harmonisa-tion of employment conditions Jeffrey L Kenens of TeekensKarstens will de-liver a speech on the transfer of employ-ees based on the related EU directive from the perspective of European law

Two presentations from the Govern-mental Affairs amp Public Procurement Practice Group will form the basis of another interesting discussion ldquoA look behind the news EU-US free trade proj-ect ndash significance hopes and obstaclesrdquo and ldquoThe role task and chance of GGI members in the biggest deals of all timerdquo

The Renewable Energies Practice Group will discuss ldquoLegislative changes ahead ndash potential challenges to renew-able energy investments in Europerdquo

The following topics will be covered by the Forensics Litigation Support Valuation amp Tax Controversy Practice Group Private Investigator licencing emerg-

ing as a potential threat to CPAs practicing forensic accounting

Criminalsrsquo minds Guarding against cyber theft Common questions ndash evasion tactics Applying forensic scepticism to lost

profits valuations next page

Marcus Grubb

Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site east of Lisbon

6

Content

The new arsenal of governments ndash whistleblower programmes what you should know

MampA specialists from around the world will update each other on the lat-est developments in their countries in the field of MampA and related services Transaction insurances will be among the topics discussed

Dr Reinhard Nacke will discuss the correlation between debt policy and land prices with his Real Estate Practice Group If you would like to read an arti-cle on this subject please turn to pages 23f

At the Task Force Financial Crisis meeting participants will discuss pos-sible scenarios including the break-up of the eurozone as a consequence of a political crisis caused by the lack

of mutual solidarity and the upcom-ing social unrest in various developed countries around the world Attendees will also discuss future currency deval-uation wars and the real risk of higher inflation resulting from unwillingness to tackle it by increasing interest rates

The Trust amp Estate Planning Practice Group will discuss the ldquoLatest develop-ments in cross border estate planningrdquo and the VAT Practice Group will talk about ldquoHidden VAT in the health sec-torrdquo where there are pitfalls in cross-border transactions in which VAT is due and challenges in claiming the VAT back

Further Practice Group meetings will also be held along with interactive workshops which promise lively discus-sions

The conference will be held in Sin-

tra in the Penha Loga Hotel Spa amp Golf Resort (wwwpenhalongacom) Participants will meet other profession-als from around the globe to forge new friendships exchange views experienc-es ideas and knowledge

They will also be able to catch up with old friends and gain inspiration from top-quality lectures participat-ing in workshops and Practice Group meetings Sightseeing tours have been organised for members to discover the cities of Sintra Belem and Lisbon Socialising with fellow GGI members is also an important part of the fringe events

This conference is already fully booked No further bookings are being accepted We recommend registering for other upcoming GGI events such as the North American Conference in San Francisco andor the GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture

Geneva Group International has al-ways believed in a whole firm approach GGI is not meant to be used by a single partner of a firm but to be offered as a tool to all members of the firm There has been an abundance of excitement surrounding one of the future cornerstones of GGI which aims to further develop this philos-ophy The newly launched concept of the Developing Leaders platform formally known as EasyMeets in North America will soon have its first meeting in Boston on May 2nd through the 4th under the su-pervision of the GGI Institute

As a separate entity under the brand of GGI the GGI Institute is dedicated to the development of professionals through ongoing education This will

be a unique resource targeted towards younger partners and or managers through the top line decision makers of professional firms The goal is to be-come an authority in best practices and leadership development with an inter-national perspective

The Developing Leaders platform will become an engaging community for mid-level professionals and junior partners across all of GGI Similarly the Developing Leaders conference will accomplish what the Regional and World conferences have done for the senior leaders of GGIrsquos member firms

The host firms include Mirick OrsquoConnell tonneson + co and Shields amp Co It is thanks to their donated time and efforts that the program has devel-oped into a highly pertinent and engag-ing agenda Two of the sessions will be co-hosted by the three managing part-ners of the respective firms One ses-sion highlights ldquoHow to Develop a High Value Networkrdquo from three different perspectives and disciplines The other will discuss ldquoLife Beyond Businessrdquo and how all aspects of onersquos life play into success

Many thanks are also in order to GGIrsquos colleagues at Lehigh University GGI is privileged to support Lehighrsquos in-ternational education platforms such as

02-04 May 2013

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

7

From 20-23 June 2013 the annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria Participants will dis-cuss several concepts of business lead-ership that apply to independent firms Attendees can talk with like-minded partners about leadership strategy work-life balance the intersection of personal and business cash flow and the toll that business can take on their personal lives Leadership presents a multitude of challenges

The keynote speakers will be John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany They will deal with the topic - ldquoWhen did we last chal-lenge our leadership abilityrdquo

Using visual tools and techniques participants will collaboratively work to

co-create lsquoliversquo with clients Conference participants (principals and lead Practi-tioners of GGI member firms) will then be invited to share their experiences from around the world They will trans-fer some of their thinking through rich conversations and feedback sessions held at tables Debating some of the critical conditions for being the kind of leader that might be more appropriate today

John Caswell Founder and CEO Group Partners ndash Over the years and like most of us Irsquove experienced a lot of things about business Irsquove observed countless practices designed to help business solve challenges that in reality next page

GGI Leadership Forumin Eisenberg Austria

20-23 June 2013

John Caswell

the Global Village on the Move applied leadership program GGI is also look-ing forward to expanding cooperation with the prestigious school Carol Ham one of the speakers at the Boston event heads the International Internship Pro-gram for Lehigh Her role will be to help facilitate International Internship possi-bilities with GGI member firms for Le-highrsquos top graduates

Dick Brandt Chairman of the Iacocca Institute will be the keynote speaker for the Boston program highlighting the differences between a manager and a leader and which traits are attributed to each He is truly an authority on interna-tional education and development

There are two main objectives for this event Delivering content that per-tains to the soft skill development of the participants and making connec-tions with likeminded professionals that will surely aid in any future career

path GGI would like to thank all those who have been involved to make this conference the huge success it will be

Looking forward to seeing you in Bos-ton GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The detailed conference programme is also available on the website

The Developing Leaders platform will be held in Boston

GGI North America Services Corp100 State Street 3rd FloorBoston MA 02109United StatesAdam CrowsonT +1 857 300 5100E crowsonggicom W wwwggicom

8

Content

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

prove to be mediocre A large pro-portion of them offer surprisingly low value and many are just plain stupid wrong ndash full of risk and expense

Like everyone Irsquove seen a lot about how business works or doesnrsquot Much of it was pretty ugly Because I was a client myself I witnessed it first hand ndash countless practices designed to help business solve challenges and in re-ality delivering the opposite Mostly self serving and superficial ndash they simply solved the wrong things re-ally well I set up Group Partners to apply radically different thinking to this situation and change the game in the favour of our clients (httpjohncas-wellcomabout)

Hazel Tiffany Partner ndash I knew there had to be another way to deal with complex organisations and their challenges Experiencing the Group Partners approach was my first break-through towards finding the answer Thatrsquos why I joined the team For me it means constantly exploring new ways to maximise the use of our approach ndash particularly in the way we develop

tools and structures that deal with the most complex of issues

I have a deep passion for uncover-ing meaning within the mass of in-formation that already exists within our clientsrsquo worlds and showing them ways to unlock the value that it holds for them

Group Partners ndash Group Partners was founded in January 2001 Itrsquos a unique business that invented Structured Vi-

sual Thinkingtrade (A revolutionary new approach to busi-ness thinking) and 4Dtrade (An acceler-ated approach to

answering the critical questions of the 21st Century Organization)

The approach challenges popular methods by using logical visual frame-works collaborative working and wid-ening the critical contexts in order to reframe and then reshape the impor-tant thinking at leadership level It then provides the frameworks and tools to enable the sustainability of the team to endure and execute

Group Partners (httpgrouppart-nersnet) simply aims to change the way business thinks and works

In addition to an attractive profes-sional programme participants can expect the usual lively discussions ex-cellent networking opportunities and inspiring fringe events

GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The de-tailed conference programme is also available on the website

The annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria

Hazel Tiffany

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 3: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

3

Content18-21 April 2013 GGI European Conference Lisbon ndash Portugal

02-04 May 2013 GGI North American Developing Leaders Conference Boston MA ndash USA

09-12 May 2013 GGI North American Regional Conference San Francisco CA ndash USA

20-23 June 2013 GGI Leadership Forum Eisenberg ndash Austria

05-07 July 2013 GGI Asia-Pacific EasyMeet Goa ndash India

27-29 September 2013 GGI German Speaking Chapter Barcelona ndash Spain

04-06 October 2013 GGI EasyMeet Zurich ndash Switzerland

31 October-03 November 2013 GGI World Conference Cancun ndash Mexico

15-17 November 2013 (TBC) GGI North American Developing Leaders Conference Philadelphia PA - USA

05-08 December 2013 (TBC) GGI Asia-Pacific Regional Conference Mumbai - India

Please refer to our website for actualised information and additional events wwwggicom entry ldquoEventsrdquo

Diary

TBC

= to

be

confi

rmed

EDITORIAL CONTACT DISCLAIMER 02

CONTENT DIARY 03

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS GGI European Conference in Lisbon 04 Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture 06 GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg 07

REVIEW GGI EVENTS GGI Practice Group Chairpersons meeting in Zurich 09 GGI EasyMeet Tel Aviv 10

GGI NEW MEMBER FIRMS 11

GGI INTERNAL NEWS New GGI Logo 13 GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination 14 Successful Event in Romania jointly hosted by four GGI member firms 14

COMMON INTEREST Is your Business Heading Off a Fiscal Cliff 16 Luxury goods on the edge 17 The new UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction 18 Vibrant Gujarat 2013 20

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES ITPG ITPG meets in Amsterdam 22 REAL ESTATE Correlation between debt policy and land prices 23 TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING The use of family limited partnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planningi 24

GGI BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP Lisbon Portugal 26

BOOK REVIEW 28

FURTHER CONFERENCES EVENTS 29

4

Content

The upcoming GGI European Con-ference in Sintra near Lisbon will start with the Practice Group Meeting on In-ternational Taxation Three GGI mem-bers from the USA the UK and Spain will deliver presentations to update their colleagues on the latest tax devel-opments in their countries with respect to foreign investments A transfer pric-ing lecture will round off the meeting

Dr Daniele Ganser who was intro-duced in the January issue of Insider will be our keynote speaker and will discuss ldquoEurope and its addiction to oil the consequences of a dangerous dependencyrdquo

Marcus Grubb Managing Director of Investment at the World Gold Council wwwgoldorg will talk about ldquoThe stra-tegic case of Goldrdquo The World Council is the market development organisation that represents the gold mining indus-try

The first part of Mr Grubbrsquos presen-tation will explore the fundamental bal-ance of supply and demand in the gold market The second part will explore the thousands of years in which gold has been an investment asset

As its gold strategist Mr Grubb plays a key role in the World Gold Coun-cil He is responsible for the organisa-

tionrsquos view on all aspects of the gold market and articulates this view to in-vestors of all types from private wealth to institutional and sovereign investors worldwide He has worked in invest-ment banking and capital markets for 20 years and has experience in man-agement sales trading research and product origination Mr Grubb was Global Head of Equities at Rabobank and a Board member where he built and managed their global equities and equity derivatives business He was the founder and Chief Executive of Swap-stream the largest inter-bank exchange for interest rate swaps which was sold

Welcome to Lisbon Portugal

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon Portugal

18-21 April 2013

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

5

to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2006

During the mid-1990s Mr Grubb was a top-rated Senior Investment Strategist and managed part of the re-search conducted at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) as well as at Salo-mon Brothers He began his career in eurobond and swap origination at JP Morgan in the 1980s and graduated in 1983 from Oxford University with top first class honours in Modern History amp Economics

This will not mean that the interactive part of the Conference shall be forgot-ten experts from all over the world will be invited to Practice Group meetings where they can enjoy lively discussion on content-specific topics exchanges of technical knowledge and ideas as well as discovering opportunities for future joint business projects The following discussions are scheduled to take place

At the Auditing Reporting amp Com-pliance Practice Group meeting GGI member Olena Makeieva from the Ukraine will deliver a presentation on several different public private and even mixed models of audit institutes worldwide Furthermore notes shall be compared on the idea of creating a ldquoBest Practices Tool Kitrdquo as a platform

The Corporate Commercial amp IP Practice Group will discuss ldquoMonetisa-tion of IP assets ndash the generation of rev-enue from a firmrsquos patent assetsrdquo

Prof Robert Anthony and Dr Justus Westerburg will jointly chair the Private Equity amp International Wealth Manage-ment Practice Group meeting where ldquoChanges in the investment climate ndash current PE and wealth management structuring opportunities and future developmentrdquo will be discussed The le-gal framework for wealth management appears to be subject to exponential extension Safe havens today may be wiped away soon particularly as a result of EU and OECD influence Audience discussion will be based on the follow-ing topics The Cyprus financial company by

Marios Eliades (M Eliades amp Part-

ners LLC) SIF (Specialised Investment Fund)

ndash Luxembourg by Claudine Wilhelm (Stratera Audit)

QIF (Qualified Investment Fund) ndash Ireland by Joe McCall (Byrne amp Mc-Call Accountants amp Tax Advisors)

EU and OECD driven development by Dr Justus Westerburg (Noumlrenberg Schroumlder)

The Labour Law Practice Group will discuss the legal aspects of employee transfer from one company to another Tricia Goodson of Brooks Pierce will update the participants on US laws and

the latest developments relating to the transfer of employees and harmonisa-tion of employment conditions Jeffrey L Kenens of TeekensKarstens will de-liver a speech on the transfer of employ-ees based on the related EU directive from the perspective of European law

Two presentations from the Govern-mental Affairs amp Public Procurement Practice Group will form the basis of another interesting discussion ldquoA look behind the news EU-US free trade proj-ect ndash significance hopes and obstaclesrdquo and ldquoThe role task and chance of GGI members in the biggest deals of all timerdquo

The Renewable Energies Practice Group will discuss ldquoLegislative changes ahead ndash potential challenges to renew-able energy investments in Europerdquo

The following topics will be covered by the Forensics Litigation Support Valuation amp Tax Controversy Practice Group Private Investigator licencing emerg-

ing as a potential threat to CPAs practicing forensic accounting

Criminalsrsquo minds Guarding against cyber theft Common questions ndash evasion tactics Applying forensic scepticism to lost

profits valuations next page

Marcus Grubb

Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site east of Lisbon

6

Content

The new arsenal of governments ndash whistleblower programmes what you should know

MampA specialists from around the world will update each other on the lat-est developments in their countries in the field of MampA and related services Transaction insurances will be among the topics discussed

Dr Reinhard Nacke will discuss the correlation between debt policy and land prices with his Real Estate Practice Group If you would like to read an arti-cle on this subject please turn to pages 23f

At the Task Force Financial Crisis meeting participants will discuss pos-sible scenarios including the break-up of the eurozone as a consequence of a political crisis caused by the lack

of mutual solidarity and the upcom-ing social unrest in various developed countries around the world Attendees will also discuss future currency deval-uation wars and the real risk of higher inflation resulting from unwillingness to tackle it by increasing interest rates

The Trust amp Estate Planning Practice Group will discuss the ldquoLatest develop-ments in cross border estate planningrdquo and the VAT Practice Group will talk about ldquoHidden VAT in the health sec-torrdquo where there are pitfalls in cross-border transactions in which VAT is due and challenges in claiming the VAT back

Further Practice Group meetings will also be held along with interactive workshops which promise lively discus-sions

The conference will be held in Sin-

tra in the Penha Loga Hotel Spa amp Golf Resort (wwwpenhalongacom) Participants will meet other profession-als from around the globe to forge new friendships exchange views experienc-es ideas and knowledge

They will also be able to catch up with old friends and gain inspiration from top-quality lectures participat-ing in workshops and Practice Group meetings Sightseeing tours have been organised for members to discover the cities of Sintra Belem and Lisbon Socialising with fellow GGI members is also an important part of the fringe events

This conference is already fully booked No further bookings are being accepted We recommend registering for other upcoming GGI events such as the North American Conference in San Francisco andor the GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture

Geneva Group International has al-ways believed in a whole firm approach GGI is not meant to be used by a single partner of a firm but to be offered as a tool to all members of the firm There has been an abundance of excitement surrounding one of the future cornerstones of GGI which aims to further develop this philos-ophy The newly launched concept of the Developing Leaders platform formally known as EasyMeets in North America will soon have its first meeting in Boston on May 2nd through the 4th under the su-pervision of the GGI Institute

As a separate entity under the brand of GGI the GGI Institute is dedicated to the development of professionals through ongoing education This will

be a unique resource targeted towards younger partners and or managers through the top line decision makers of professional firms The goal is to be-come an authority in best practices and leadership development with an inter-national perspective

The Developing Leaders platform will become an engaging community for mid-level professionals and junior partners across all of GGI Similarly the Developing Leaders conference will accomplish what the Regional and World conferences have done for the senior leaders of GGIrsquos member firms

The host firms include Mirick OrsquoConnell tonneson + co and Shields amp Co It is thanks to their donated time and efforts that the program has devel-oped into a highly pertinent and engag-ing agenda Two of the sessions will be co-hosted by the three managing part-ners of the respective firms One ses-sion highlights ldquoHow to Develop a High Value Networkrdquo from three different perspectives and disciplines The other will discuss ldquoLife Beyond Businessrdquo and how all aspects of onersquos life play into success

Many thanks are also in order to GGIrsquos colleagues at Lehigh University GGI is privileged to support Lehighrsquos in-ternational education platforms such as

02-04 May 2013

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

7

From 20-23 June 2013 the annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria Participants will dis-cuss several concepts of business lead-ership that apply to independent firms Attendees can talk with like-minded partners about leadership strategy work-life balance the intersection of personal and business cash flow and the toll that business can take on their personal lives Leadership presents a multitude of challenges

The keynote speakers will be John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany They will deal with the topic - ldquoWhen did we last chal-lenge our leadership abilityrdquo

Using visual tools and techniques participants will collaboratively work to

co-create lsquoliversquo with clients Conference participants (principals and lead Practi-tioners of GGI member firms) will then be invited to share their experiences from around the world They will trans-fer some of their thinking through rich conversations and feedback sessions held at tables Debating some of the critical conditions for being the kind of leader that might be more appropriate today

John Caswell Founder and CEO Group Partners ndash Over the years and like most of us Irsquove experienced a lot of things about business Irsquove observed countless practices designed to help business solve challenges that in reality next page

GGI Leadership Forumin Eisenberg Austria

20-23 June 2013

John Caswell

the Global Village on the Move applied leadership program GGI is also look-ing forward to expanding cooperation with the prestigious school Carol Ham one of the speakers at the Boston event heads the International Internship Pro-gram for Lehigh Her role will be to help facilitate International Internship possi-bilities with GGI member firms for Le-highrsquos top graduates

Dick Brandt Chairman of the Iacocca Institute will be the keynote speaker for the Boston program highlighting the differences between a manager and a leader and which traits are attributed to each He is truly an authority on interna-tional education and development

There are two main objectives for this event Delivering content that per-tains to the soft skill development of the participants and making connec-tions with likeminded professionals that will surely aid in any future career

path GGI would like to thank all those who have been involved to make this conference the huge success it will be

Looking forward to seeing you in Bos-ton GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The detailed conference programme is also available on the website

The Developing Leaders platform will be held in Boston

GGI North America Services Corp100 State Street 3rd FloorBoston MA 02109United StatesAdam CrowsonT +1 857 300 5100E crowsonggicom W wwwggicom

8

Content

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

prove to be mediocre A large pro-portion of them offer surprisingly low value and many are just plain stupid wrong ndash full of risk and expense

Like everyone Irsquove seen a lot about how business works or doesnrsquot Much of it was pretty ugly Because I was a client myself I witnessed it first hand ndash countless practices designed to help business solve challenges and in re-ality delivering the opposite Mostly self serving and superficial ndash they simply solved the wrong things re-ally well I set up Group Partners to apply radically different thinking to this situation and change the game in the favour of our clients (httpjohncas-wellcomabout)

Hazel Tiffany Partner ndash I knew there had to be another way to deal with complex organisations and their challenges Experiencing the Group Partners approach was my first break-through towards finding the answer Thatrsquos why I joined the team For me it means constantly exploring new ways to maximise the use of our approach ndash particularly in the way we develop

tools and structures that deal with the most complex of issues

I have a deep passion for uncover-ing meaning within the mass of in-formation that already exists within our clientsrsquo worlds and showing them ways to unlock the value that it holds for them

Group Partners ndash Group Partners was founded in January 2001 Itrsquos a unique business that invented Structured Vi-

sual Thinkingtrade (A revolutionary new approach to busi-ness thinking) and 4Dtrade (An acceler-ated approach to

answering the critical questions of the 21st Century Organization)

The approach challenges popular methods by using logical visual frame-works collaborative working and wid-ening the critical contexts in order to reframe and then reshape the impor-tant thinking at leadership level It then provides the frameworks and tools to enable the sustainability of the team to endure and execute

Group Partners (httpgrouppart-nersnet) simply aims to change the way business thinks and works

In addition to an attractive profes-sional programme participants can expect the usual lively discussions ex-cellent networking opportunities and inspiring fringe events

GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The de-tailed conference programme is also available on the website

The annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria

Hazel Tiffany

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 4: GGI European Regional Conference

4

Content

The upcoming GGI European Con-ference in Sintra near Lisbon will start with the Practice Group Meeting on In-ternational Taxation Three GGI mem-bers from the USA the UK and Spain will deliver presentations to update their colleagues on the latest tax devel-opments in their countries with respect to foreign investments A transfer pric-ing lecture will round off the meeting

Dr Daniele Ganser who was intro-duced in the January issue of Insider will be our keynote speaker and will discuss ldquoEurope and its addiction to oil the consequences of a dangerous dependencyrdquo

Marcus Grubb Managing Director of Investment at the World Gold Council wwwgoldorg will talk about ldquoThe stra-tegic case of Goldrdquo The World Council is the market development organisation that represents the gold mining indus-try

The first part of Mr Grubbrsquos presen-tation will explore the fundamental bal-ance of supply and demand in the gold market The second part will explore the thousands of years in which gold has been an investment asset

As its gold strategist Mr Grubb plays a key role in the World Gold Coun-cil He is responsible for the organisa-

tionrsquos view on all aspects of the gold market and articulates this view to in-vestors of all types from private wealth to institutional and sovereign investors worldwide He has worked in invest-ment banking and capital markets for 20 years and has experience in man-agement sales trading research and product origination Mr Grubb was Global Head of Equities at Rabobank and a Board member where he built and managed their global equities and equity derivatives business He was the founder and Chief Executive of Swap-stream the largest inter-bank exchange for interest rate swaps which was sold

Welcome to Lisbon Portugal

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon Portugal

18-21 April 2013

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

5

to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2006

During the mid-1990s Mr Grubb was a top-rated Senior Investment Strategist and managed part of the re-search conducted at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) as well as at Salo-mon Brothers He began his career in eurobond and swap origination at JP Morgan in the 1980s and graduated in 1983 from Oxford University with top first class honours in Modern History amp Economics

This will not mean that the interactive part of the Conference shall be forgot-ten experts from all over the world will be invited to Practice Group meetings where they can enjoy lively discussion on content-specific topics exchanges of technical knowledge and ideas as well as discovering opportunities for future joint business projects The following discussions are scheduled to take place

At the Auditing Reporting amp Com-pliance Practice Group meeting GGI member Olena Makeieva from the Ukraine will deliver a presentation on several different public private and even mixed models of audit institutes worldwide Furthermore notes shall be compared on the idea of creating a ldquoBest Practices Tool Kitrdquo as a platform

The Corporate Commercial amp IP Practice Group will discuss ldquoMonetisa-tion of IP assets ndash the generation of rev-enue from a firmrsquos patent assetsrdquo

Prof Robert Anthony and Dr Justus Westerburg will jointly chair the Private Equity amp International Wealth Manage-ment Practice Group meeting where ldquoChanges in the investment climate ndash current PE and wealth management structuring opportunities and future developmentrdquo will be discussed The le-gal framework for wealth management appears to be subject to exponential extension Safe havens today may be wiped away soon particularly as a result of EU and OECD influence Audience discussion will be based on the follow-ing topics The Cyprus financial company by

Marios Eliades (M Eliades amp Part-

ners LLC) SIF (Specialised Investment Fund)

ndash Luxembourg by Claudine Wilhelm (Stratera Audit)

QIF (Qualified Investment Fund) ndash Ireland by Joe McCall (Byrne amp Mc-Call Accountants amp Tax Advisors)

EU and OECD driven development by Dr Justus Westerburg (Noumlrenberg Schroumlder)

The Labour Law Practice Group will discuss the legal aspects of employee transfer from one company to another Tricia Goodson of Brooks Pierce will update the participants on US laws and

the latest developments relating to the transfer of employees and harmonisa-tion of employment conditions Jeffrey L Kenens of TeekensKarstens will de-liver a speech on the transfer of employ-ees based on the related EU directive from the perspective of European law

Two presentations from the Govern-mental Affairs amp Public Procurement Practice Group will form the basis of another interesting discussion ldquoA look behind the news EU-US free trade proj-ect ndash significance hopes and obstaclesrdquo and ldquoThe role task and chance of GGI members in the biggest deals of all timerdquo

The Renewable Energies Practice Group will discuss ldquoLegislative changes ahead ndash potential challenges to renew-able energy investments in Europerdquo

The following topics will be covered by the Forensics Litigation Support Valuation amp Tax Controversy Practice Group Private Investigator licencing emerg-

ing as a potential threat to CPAs practicing forensic accounting

Criminalsrsquo minds Guarding against cyber theft Common questions ndash evasion tactics Applying forensic scepticism to lost

profits valuations next page

Marcus Grubb

Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site east of Lisbon

6

Content

The new arsenal of governments ndash whistleblower programmes what you should know

MampA specialists from around the world will update each other on the lat-est developments in their countries in the field of MampA and related services Transaction insurances will be among the topics discussed

Dr Reinhard Nacke will discuss the correlation between debt policy and land prices with his Real Estate Practice Group If you would like to read an arti-cle on this subject please turn to pages 23f

At the Task Force Financial Crisis meeting participants will discuss pos-sible scenarios including the break-up of the eurozone as a consequence of a political crisis caused by the lack

of mutual solidarity and the upcom-ing social unrest in various developed countries around the world Attendees will also discuss future currency deval-uation wars and the real risk of higher inflation resulting from unwillingness to tackle it by increasing interest rates

The Trust amp Estate Planning Practice Group will discuss the ldquoLatest develop-ments in cross border estate planningrdquo and the VAT Practice Group will talk about ldquoHidden VAT in the health sec-torrdquo where there are pitfalls in cross-border transactions in which VAT is due and challenges in claiming the VAT back

Further Practice Group meetings will also be held along with interactive workshops which promise lively discus-sions

The conference will be held in Sin-

tra in the Penha Loga Hotel Spa amp Golf Resort (wwwpenhalongacom) Participants will meet other profession-als from around the globe to forge new friendships exchange views experienc-es ideas and knowledge

They will also be able to catch up with old friends and gain inspiration from top-quality lectures participat-ing in workshops and Practice Group meetings Sightseeing tours have been organised for members to discover the cities of Sintra Belem and Lisbon Socialising with fellow GGI members is also an important part of the fringe events

This conference is already fully booked No further bookings are being accepted We recommend registering for other upcoming GGI events such as the North American Conference in San Francisco andor the GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture

Geneva Group International has al-ways believed in a whole firm approach GGI is not meant to be used by a single partner of a firm but to be offered as a tool to all members of the firm There has been an abundance of excitement surrounding one of the future cornerstones of GGI which aims to further develop this philos-ophy The newly launched concept of the Developing Leaders platform formally known as EasyMeets in North America will soon have its first meeting in Boston on May 2nd through the 4th under the su-pervision of the GGI Institute

As a separate entity under the brand of GGI the GGI Institute is dedicated to the development of professionals through ongoing education This will

be a unique resource targeted towards younger partners and or managers through the top line decision makers of professional firms The goal is to be-come an authority in best practices and leadership development with an inter-national perspective

The Developing Leaders platform will become an engaging community for mid-level professionals and junior partners across all of GGI Similarly the Developing Leaders conference will accomplish what the Regional and World conferences have done for the senior leaders of GGIrsquos member firms

The host firms include Mirick OrsquoConnell tonneson + co and Shields amp Co It is thanks to their donated time and efforts that the program has devel-oped into a highly pertinent and engag-ing agenda Two of the sessions will be co-hosted by the three managing part-ners of the respective firms One ses-sion highlights ldquoHow to Develop a High Value Networkrdquo from three different perspectives and disciplines The other will discuss ldquoLife Beyond Businessrdquo and how all aspects of onersquos life play into success

Many thanks are also in order to GGIrsquos colleagues at Lehigh University GGI is privileged to support Lehighrsquos in-ternational education platforms such as

02-04 May 2013

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

7

From 20-23 June 2013 the annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria Participants will dis-cuss several concepts of business lead-ership that apply to independent firms Attendees can talk with like-minded partners about leadership strategy work-life balance the intersection of personal and business cash flow and the toll that business can take on their personal lives Leadership presents a multitude of challenges

The keynote speakers will be John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany They will deal with the topic - ldquoWhen did we last chal-lenge our leadership abilityrdquo

Using visual tools and techniques participants will collaboratively work to

co-create lsquoliversquo with clients Conference participants (principals and lead Practi-tioners of GGI member firms) will then be invited to share their experiences from around the world They will trans-fer some of their thinking through rich conversations and feedback sessions held at tables Debating some of the critical conditions for being the kind of leader that might be more appropriate today

John Caswell Founder and CEO Group Partners ndash Over the years and like most of us Irsquove experienced a lot of things about business Irsquove observed countless practices designed to help business solve challenges that in reality next page

GGI Leadership Forumin Eisenberg Austria

20-23 June 2013

John Caswell

the Global Village on the Move applied leadership program GGI is also look-ing forward to expanding cooperation with the prestigious school Carol Ham one of the speakers at the Boston event heads the International Internship Pro-gram for Lehigh Her role will be to help facilitate International Internship possi-bilities with GGI member firms for Le-highrsquos top graduates

Dick Brandt Chairman of the Iacocca Institute will be the keynote speaker for the Boston program highlighting the differences between a manager and a leader and which traits are attributed to each He is truly an authority on interna-tional education and development

There are two main objectives for this event Delivering content that per-tains to the soft skill development of the participants and making connec-tions with likeminded professionals that will surely aid in any future career

path GGI would like to thank all those who have been involved to make this conference the huge success it will be

Looking forward to seeing you in Bos-ton GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The detailed conference programme is also available on the website

The Developing Leaders platform will be held in Boston

GGI North America Services Corp100 State Street 3rd FloorBoston MA 02109United StatesAdam CrowsonT +1 857 300 5100E crowsonggicom W wwwggicom

8

Content

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

prove to be mediocre A large pro-portion of them offer surprisingly low value and many are just plain stupid wrong ndash full of risk and expense

Like everyone Irsquove seen a lot about how business works or doesnrsquot Much of it was pretty ugly Because I was a client myself I witnessed it first hand ndash countless practices designed to help business solve challenges and in re-ality delivering the opposite Mostly self serving and superficial ndash they simply solved the wrong things re-ally well I set up Group Partners to apply radically different thinking to this situation and change the game in the favour of our clients (httpjohncas-wellcomabout)

Hazel Tiffany Partner ndash I knew there had to be another way to deal with complex organisations and their challenges Experiencing the Group Partners approach was my first break-through towards finding the answer Thatrsquos why I joined the team For me it means constantly exploring new ways to maximise the use of our approach ndash particularly in the way we develop

tools and structures that deal with the most complex of issues

I have a deep passion for uncover-ing meaning within the mass of in-formation that already exists within our clientsrsquo worlds and showing them ways to unlock the value that it holds for them

Group Partners ndash Group Partners was founded in January 2001 Itrsquos a unique business that invented Structured Vi-

sual Thinkingtrade (A revolutionary new approach to busi-ness thinking) and 4Dtrade (An acceler-ated approach to

answering the critical questions of the 21st Century Organization)

The approach challenges popular methods by using logical visual frame-works collaborative working and wid-ening the critical contexts in order to reframe and then reshape the impor-tant thinking at leadership level It then provides the frameworks and tools to enable the sustainability of the team to endure and execute

Group Partners (httpgrouppart-nersnet) simply aims to change the way business thinks and works

In addition to an attractive profes-sional programme participants can expect the usual lively discussions ex-cellent networking opportunities and inspiring fringe events

GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The de-tailed conference programme is also available on the website

The annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria

Hazel Tiffany

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 5: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

5

to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2006

During the mid-1990s Mr Grubb was a top-rated Senior Investment Strategist and managed part of the re-search conducted at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) as well as at Salo-mon Brothers He began his career in eurobond and swap origination at JP Morgan in the 1980s and graduated in 1983 from Oxford University with top first class honours in Modern History amp Economics

This will not mean that the interactive part of the Conference shall be forgot-ten experts from all over the world will be invited to Practice Group meetings where they can enjoy lively discussion on content-specific topics exchanges of technical knowledge and ideas as well as discovering opportunities for future joint business projects The following discussions are scheduled to take place

At the Auditing Reporting amp Com-pliance Practice Group meeting GGI member Olena Makeieva from the Ukraine will deliver a presentation on several different public private and even mixed models of audit institutes worldwide Furthermore notes shall be compared on the idea of creating a ldquoBest Practices Tool Kitrdquo as a platform

The Corporate Commercial amp IP Practice Group will discuss ldquoMonetisa-tion of IP assets ndash the generation of rev-enue from a firmrsquos patent assetsrdquo

Prof Robert Anthony and Dr Justus Westerburg will jointly chair the Private Equity amp International Wealth Manage-ment Practice Group meeting where ldquoChanges in the investment climate ndash current PE and wealth management structuring opportunities and future developmentrdquo will be discussed The le-gal framework for wealth management appears to be subject to exponential extension Safe havens today may be wiped away soon particularly as a result of EU and OECD influence Audience discussion will be based on the follow-ing topics The Cyprus financial company by

Marios Eliades (M Eliades amp Part-

ners LLC) SIF (Specialised Investment Fund)

ndash Luxembourg by Claudine Wilhelm (Stratera Audit)

QIF (Qualified Investment Fund) ndash Ireland by Joe McCall (Byrne amp Mc-Call Accountants amp Tax Advisors)

EU and OECD driven development by Dr Justus Westerburg (Noumlrenberg Schroumlder)

The Labour Law Practice Group will discuss the legal aspects of employee transfer from one company to another Tricia Goodson of Brooks Pierce will update the participants on US laws and

the latest developments relating to the transfer of employees and harmonisa-tion of employment conditions Jeffrey L Kenens of TeekensKarstens will de-liver a speech on the transfer of employ-ees based on the related EU directive from the perspective of European law

Two presentations from the Govern-mental Affairs amp Public Procurement Practice Group will form the basis of another interesting discussion ldquoA look behind the news EU-US free trade proj-ect ndash significance hopes and obstaclesrdquo and ldquoThe role task and chance of GGI members in the biggest deals of all timerdquo

The Renewable Energies Practice Group will discuss ldquoLegislative changes ahead ndash potential challenges to renew-able energy investments in Europerdquo

The following topics will be covered by the Forensics Litigation Support Valuation amp Tax Controversy Practice Group Private Investigator licencing emerg-

ing as a potential threat to CPAs practicing forensic accounting

Criminalsrsquo minds Guarding against cyber theft Common questions ndash evasion tactics Applying forensic scepticism to lost

profits valuations next page

Marcus Grubb

Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site east of Lisbon

6

Content

The new arsenal of governments ndash whistleblower programmes what you should know

MampA specialists from around the world will update each other on the lat-est developments in their countries in the field of MampA and related services Transaction insurances will be among the topics discussed

Dr Reinhard Nacke will discuss the correlation between debt policy and land prices with his Real Estate Practice Group If you would like to read an arti-cle on this subject please turn to pages 23f

At the Task Force Financial Crisis meeting participants will discuss pos-sible scenarios including the break-up of the eurozone as a consequence of a political crisis caused by the lack

of mutual solidarity and the upcom-ing social unrest in various developed countries around the world Attendees will also discuss future currency deval-uation wars and the real risk of higher inflation resulting from unwillingness to tackle it by increasing interest rates

The Trust amp Estate Planning Practice Group will discuss the ldquoLatest develop-ments in cross border estate planningrdquo and the VAT Practice Group will talk about ldquoHidden VAT in the health sec-torrdquo where there are pitfalls in cross-border transactions in which VAT is due and challenges in claiming the VAT back

Further Practice Group meetings will also be held along with interactive workshops which promise lively discus-sions

The conference will be held in Sin-

tra in the Penha Loga Hotel Spa amp Golf Resort (wwwpenhalongacom) Participants will meet other profession-als from around the globe to forge new friendships exchange views experienc-es ideas and knowledge

They will also be able to catch up with old friends and gain inspiration from top-quality lectures participat-ing in workshops and Practice Group meetings Sightseeing tours have been organised for members to discover the cities of Sintra Belem and Lisbon Socialising with fellow GGI members is also an important part of the fringe events

This conference is already fully booked No further bookings are being accepted We recommend registering for other upcoming GGI events such as the North American Conference in San Francisco andor the GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture

Geneva Group International has al-ways believed in a whole firm approach GGI is not meant to be used by a single partner of a firm but to be offered as a tool to all members of the firm There has been an abundance of excitement surrounding one of the future cornerstones of GGI which aims to further develop this philos-ophy The newly launched concept of the Developing Leaders platform formally known as EasyMeets in North America will soon have its first meeting in Boston on May 2nd through the 4th under the su-pervision of the GGI Institute

As a separate entity under the brand of GGI the GGI Institute is dedicated to the development of professionals through ongoing education This will

be a unique resource targeted towards younger partners and or managers through the top line decision makers of professional firms The goal is to be-come an authority in best practices and leadership development with an inter-national perspective

The Developing Leaders platform will become an engaging community for mid-level professionals and junior partners across all of GGI Similarly the Developing Leaders conference will accomplish what the Regional and World conferences have done for the senior leaders of GGIrsquos member firms

The host firms include Mirick OrsquoConnell tonneson + co and Shields amp Co It is thanks to their donated time and efforts that the program has devel-oped into a highly pertinent and engag-ing agenda Two of the sessions will be co-hosted by the three managing part-ners of the respective firms One ses-sion highlights ldquoHow to Develop a High Value Networkrdquo from three different perspectives and disciplines The other will discuss ldquoLife Beyond Businessrdquo and how all aspects of onersquos life play into success

Many thanks are also in order to GGIrsquos colleagues at Lehigh University GGI is privileged to support Lehighrsquos in-ternational education platforms such as

02-04 May 2013

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

7

From 20-23 June 2013 the annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria Participants will dis-cuss several concepts of business lead-ership that apply to independent firms Attendees can talk with like-minded partners about leadership strategy work-life balance the intersection of personal and business cash flow and the toll that business can take on their personal lives Leadership presents a multitude of challenges

The keynote speakers will be John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany They will deal with the topic - ldquoWhen did we last chal-lenge our leadership abilityrdquo

Using visual tools and techniques participants will collaboratively work to

co-create lsquoliversquo with clients Conference participants (principals and lead Practi-tioners of GGI member firms) will then be invited to share their experiences from around the world They will trans-fer some of their thinking through rich conversations and feedback sessions held at tables Debating some of the critical conditions for being the kind of leader that might be more appropriate today

John Caswell Founder and CEO Group Partners ndash Over the years and like most of us Irsquove experienced a lot of things about business Irsquove observed countless practices designed to help business solve challenges that in reality next page

GGI Leadership Forumin Eisenberg Austria

20-23 June 2013

John Caswell

the Global Village on the Move applied leadership program GGI is also look-ing forward to expanding cooperation with the prestigious school Carol Ham one of the speakers at the Boston event heads the International Internship Pro-gram for Lehigh Her role will be to help facilitate International Internship possi-bilities with GGI member firms for Le-highrsquos top graduates

Dick Brandt Chairman of the Iacocca Institute will be the keynote speaker for the Boston program highlighting the differences between a manager and a leader and which traits are attributed to each He is truly an authority on interna-tional education and development

There are two main objectives for this event Delivering content that per-tains to the soft skill development of the participants and making connec-tions with likeminded professionals that will surely aid in any future career

path GGI would like to thank all those who have been involved to make this conference the huge success it will be

Looking forward to seeing you in Bos-ton GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The detailed conference programme is also available on the website

The Developing Leaders platform will be held in Boston

GGI North America Services Corp100 State Street 3rd FloorBoston MA 02109United StatesAdam CrowsonT +1 857 300 5100E crowsonggicom W wwwggicom

8

Content

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

prove to be mediocre A large pro-portion of them offer surprisingly low value and many are just plain stupid wrong ndash full of risk and expense

Like everyone Irsquove seen a lot about how business works or doesnrsquot Much of it was pretty ugly Because I was a client myself I witnessed it first hand ndash countless practices designed to help business solve challenges and in re-ality delivering the opposite Mostly self serving and superficial ndash they simply solved the wrong things re-ally well I set up Group Partners to apply radically different thinking to this situation and change the game in the favour of our clients (httpjohncas-wellcomabout)

Hazel Tiffany Partner ndash I knew there had to be another way to deal with complex organisations and their challenges Experiencing the Group Partners approach was my first break-through towards finding the answer Thatrsquos why I joined the team For me it means constantly exploring new ways to maximise the use of our approach ndash particularly in the way we develop

tools and structures that deal with the most complex of issues

I have a deep passion for uncover-ing meaning within the mass of in-formation that already exists within our clientsrsquo worlds and showing them ways to unlock the value that it holds for them

Group Partners ndash Group Partners was founded in January 2001 Itrsquos a unique business that invented Structured Vi-

sual Thinkingtrade (A revolutionary new approach to busi-ness thinking) and 4Dtrade (An acceler-ated approach to

answering the critical questions of the 21st Century Organization)

The approach challenges popular methods by using logical visual frame-works collaborative working and wid-ening the critical contexts in order to reframe and then reshape the impor-tant thinking at leadership level It then provides the frameworks and tools to enable the sustainability of the team to endure and execute

Group Partners (httpgrouppart-nersnet) simply aims to change the way business thinks and works

In addition to an attractive profes-sional programme participants can expect the usual lively discussions ex-cellent networking opportunities and inspiring fringe events

GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The de-tailed conference programme is also available on the website

The annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria

Hazel Tiffany

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 6: GGI European Regional Conference

6

Content

The new arsenal of governments ndash whistleblower programmes what you should know

MampA specialists from around the world will update each other on the lat-est developments in their countries in the field of MampA and related services Transaction insurances will be among the topics discussed

Dr Reinhard Nacke will discuss the correlation between debt policy and land prices with his Real Estate Practice Group If you would like to read an arti-cle on this subject please turn to pages 23f

At the Task Force Financial Crisis meeting participants will discuss pos-sible scenarios including the break-up of the eurozone as a consequence of a political crisis caused by the lack

of mutual solidarity and the upcom-ing social unrest in various developed countries around the world Attendees will also discuss future currency deval-uation wars and the real risk of higher inflation resulting from unwillingness to tackle it by increasing interest rates

The Trust amp Estate Planning Practice Group will discuss the ldquoLatest develop-ments in cross border estate planningrdquo and the VAT Practice Group will talk about ldquoHidden VAT in the health sec-torrdquo where there are pitfalls in cross-border transactions in which VAT is due and challenges in claiming the VAT back

Further Practice Group meetings will also be held along with interactive workshops which promise lively discus-sions

The conference will be held in Sin-

tra in the Penha Loga Hotel Spa amp Golf Resort (wwwpenhalongacom) Participants will meet other profession-als from around the globe to forge new friendships exchange views experienc-es ideas and knowledge

They will also be able to catch up with old friends and gain inspiration from top-quality lectures participat-ing in workshops and Practice Group meetings Sightseeing tours have been organised for members to discover the cities of Sintra Belem and Lisbon Socialising with fellow GGI members is also an important part of the fringe events

This conference is already fully booked No further bookings are being accepted We recommend registering for other upcoming GGI events such as the North American Conference in San Francisco andor the GGI Leadership Forum in Eisenberg

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

Developing Leaders program adds to GGI Culture

Geneva Group International has al-ways believed in a whole firm approach GGI is not meant to be used by a single partner of a firm but to be offered as a tool to all members of the firm There has been an abundance of excitement surrounding one of the future cornerstones of GGI which aims to further develop this philos-ophy The newly launched concept of the Developing Leaders platform formally known as EasyMeets in North America will soon have its first meeting in Boston on May 2nd through the 4th under the su-pervision of the GGI Institute

As a separate entity under the brand of GGI the GGI Institute is dedicated to the development of professionals through ongoing education This will

be a unique resource targeted towards younger partners and or managers through the top line decision makers of professional firms The goal is to be-come an authority in best practices and leadership development with an inter-national perspective

The Developing Leaders platform will become an engaging community for mid-level professionals and junior partners across all of GGI Similarly the Developing Leaders conference will accomplish what the Regional and World conferences have done for the senior leaders of GGIrsquos member firms

The host firms include Mirick OrsquoConnell tonneson + co and Shields amp Co It is thanks to their donated time and efforts that the program has devel-oped into a highly pertinent and engag-ing agenda Two of the sessions will be co-hosted by the three managing part-ners of the respective firms One ses-sion highlights ldquoHow to Develop a High Value Networkrdquo from three different perspectives and disciplines The other will discuss ldquoLife Beyond Businessrdquo and how all aspects of onersquos life play into success

Many thanks are also in order to GGIrsquos colleagues at Lehigh University GGI is privileged to support Lehighrsquos in-ternational education platforms such as

02-04 May 2013

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

7

From 20-23 June 2013 the annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria Participants will dis-cuss several concepts of business lead-ership that apply to independent firms Attendees can talk with like-minded partners about leadership strategy work-life balance the intersection of personal and business cash flow and the toll that business can take on their personal lives Leadership presents a multitude of challenges

The keynote speakers will be John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany They will deal with the topic - ldquoWhen did we last chal-lenge our leadership abilityrdquo

Using visual tools and techniques participants will collaboratively work to

co-create lsquoliversquo with clients Conference participants (principals and lead Practi-tioners of GGI member firms) will then be invited to share their experiences from around the world They will trans-fer some of their thinking through rich conversations and feedback sessions held at tables Debating some of the critical conditions for being the kind of leader that might be more appropriate today

John Caswell Founder and CEO Group Partners ndash Over the years and like most of us Irsquove experienced a lot of things about business Irsquove observed countless practices designed to help business solve challenges that in reality next page

GGI Leadership Forumin Eisenberg Austria

20-23 June 2013

John Caswell

the Global Village on the Move applied leadership program GGI is also look-ing forward to expanding cooperation with the prestigious school Carol Ham one of the speakers at the Boston event heads the International Internship Pro-gram for Lehigh Her role will be to help facilitate International Internship possi-bilities with GGI member firms for Le-highrsquos top graduates

Dick Brandt Chairman of the Iacocca Institute will be the keynote speaker for the Boston program highlighting the differences between a manager and a leader and which traits are attributed to each He is truly an authority on interna-tional education and development

There are two main objectives for this event Delivering content that per-tains to the soft skill development of the participants and making connec-tions with likeminded professionals that will surely aid in any future career

path GGI would like to thank all those who have been involved to make this conference the huge success it will be

Looking forward to seeing you in Bos-ton GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The detailed conference programme is also available on the website

The Developing Leaders platform will be held in Boston

GGI North America Services Corp100 State Street 3rd FloorBoston MA 02109United StatesAdam CrowsonT +1 857 300 5100E crowsonggicom W wwwggicom

8

Content

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

prove to be mediocre A large pro-portion of them offer surprisingly low value and many are just plain stupid wrong ndash full of risk and expense

Like everyone Irsquove seen a lot about how business works or doesnrsquot Much of it was pretty ugly Because I was a client myself I witnessed it first hand ndash countless practices designed to help business solve challenges and in re-ality delivering the opposite Mostly self serving and superficial ndash they simply solved the wrong things re-ally well I set up Group Partners to apply radically different thinking to this situation and change the game in the favour of our clients (httpjohncas-wellcomabout)

Hazel Tiffany Partner ndash I knew there had to be another way to deal with complex organisations and their challenges Experiencing the Group Partners approach was my first break-through towards finding the answer Thatrsquos why I joined the team For me it means constantly exploring new ways to maximise the use of our approach ndash particularly in the way we develop

tools and structures that deal with the most complex of issues

I have a deep passion for uncover-ing meaning within the mass of in-formation that already exists within our clientsrsquo worlds and showing them ways to unlock the value that it holds for them

Group Partners ndash Group Partners was founded in January 2001 Itrsquos a unique business that invented Structured Vi-

sual Thinkingtrade (A revolutionary new approach to busi-ness thinking) and 4Dtrade (An acceler-ated approach to

answering the critical questions of the 21st Century Organization)

The approach challenges popular methods by using logical visual frame-works collaborative working and wid-ening the critical contexts in order to reframe and then reshape the impor-tant thinking at leadership level It then provides the frameworks and tools to enable the sustainability of the team to endure and execute

Group Partners (httpgrouppart-nersnet) simply aims to change the way business thinks and works

In addition to an attractive profes-sional programme participants can expect the usual lively discussions ex-cellent networking opportunities and inspiring fringe events

GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The de-tailed conference programme is also available on the website

The annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria

Hazel Tiffany

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 7: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

7

From 20-23 June 2013 the annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria Participants will dis-cuss several concepts of business lead-ership that apply to independent firms Attendees can talk with like-minded partners about leadership strategy work-life balance the intersection of personal and business cash flow and the toll that business can take on their personal lives Leadership presents a multitude of challenges

The keynote speakers will be John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany They will deal with the topic - ldquoWhen did we last chal-lenge our leadership abilityrdquo

Using visual tools and techniques participants will collaboratively work to

co-create lsquoliversquo with clients Conference participants (principals and lead Practi-tioners of GGI member firms) will then be invited to share their experiences from around the world They will trans-fer some of their thinking through rich conversations and feedback sessions held at tables Debating some of the critical conditions for being the kind of leader that might be more appropriate today

John Caswell Founder and CEO Group Partners ndash Over the years and like most of us Irsquove experienced a lot of things about business Irsquove observed countless practices designed to help business solve challenges that in reality next page

GGI Leadership Forumin Eisenberg Austria

20-23 June 2013

John Caswell

the Global Village on the Move applied leadership program GGI is also look-ing forward to expanding cooperation with the prestigious school Carol Ham one of the speakers at the Boston event heads the International Internship Pro-gram for Lehigh Her role will be to help facilitate International Internship possi-bilities with GGI member firms for Le-highrsquos top graduates

Dick Brandt Chairman of the Iacocca Institute will be the keynote speaker for the Boston program highlighting the differences between a manager and a leader and which traits are attributed to each He is truly an authority on interna-tional education and development

There are two main objectives for this event Delivering content that per-tains to the soft skill development of the participants and making connec-tions with likeminded professionals that will surely aid in any future career

path GGI would like to thank all those who have been involved to make this conference the huge success it will be

Looking forward to seeing you in Bos-ton GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The detailed conference programme is also available on the website

The Developing Leaders platform will be held in Boston

GGI North America Services Corp100 State Street 3rd FloorBoston MA 02109United StatesAdam CrowsonT +1 857 300 5100E crowsonggicom W wwwggicom

8

Content

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

prove to be mediocre A large pro-portion of them offer surprisingly low value and many are just plain stupid wrong ndash full of risk and expense

Like everyone Irsquove seen a lot about how business works or doesnrsquot Much of it was pretty ugly Because I was a client myself I witnessed it first hand ndash countless practices designed to help business solve challenges and in re-ality delivering the opposite Mostly self serving and superficial ndash they simply solved the wrong things re-ally well I set up Group Partners to apply radically different thinking to this situation and change the game in the favour of our clients (httpjohncas-wellcomabout)

Hazel Tiffany Partner ndash I knew there had to be another way to deal with complex organisations and their challenges Experiencing the Group Partners approach was my first break-through towards finding the answer Thatrsquos why I joined the team For me it means constantly exploring new ways to maximise the use of our approach ndash particularly in the way we develop

tools and structures that deal with the most complex of issues

I have a deep passion for uncover-ing meaning within the mass of in-formation that already exists within our clientsrsquo worlds and showing them ways to unlock the value that it holds for them

Group Partners ndash Group Partners was founded in January 2001 Itrsquos a unique business that invented Structured Vi-

sual Thinkingtrade (A revolutionary new approach to busi-ness thinking) and 4Dtrade (An acceler-ated approach to

answering the critical questions of the 21st Century Organization)

The approach challenges popular methods by using logical visual frame-works collaborative working and wid-ening the critical contexts in order to reframe and then reshape the impor-tant thinking at leadership level It then provides the frameworks and tools to enable the sustainability of the team to endure and execute

Group Partners (httpgrouppart-nersnet) simply aims to change the way business thinks and works

In addition to an attractive profes-sional programme participants can expect the usual lively discussions ex-cellent networking opportunities and inspiring fringe events

GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The de-tailed conference programme is also available on the website

The annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria

Hazel Tiffany

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 8: GGI European Regional Conference

8

Content

UPCOMING GGI EVENTS

prove to be mediocre A large pro-portion of them offer surprisingly low value and many are just plain stupid wrong ndash full of risk and expense

Like everyone Irsquove seen a lot about how business works or doesnrsquot Much of it was pretty ugly Because I was a client myself I witnessed it first hand ndash countless practices designed to help business solve challenges and in re-ality delivering the opposite Mostly self serving and superficial ndash they simply solved the wrong things re-ally well I set up Group Partners to apply radically different thinking to this situation and change the game in the favour of our clients (httpjohncas-wellcomabout)

Hazel Tiffany Partner ndash I knew there had to be another way to deal with complex organisations and their challenges Experiencing the Group Partners approach was my first break-through towards finding the answer Thatrsquos why I joined the team For me it means constantly exploring new ways to maximise the use of our approach ndash particularly in the way we develop

tools and structures that deal with the most complex of issues

I have a deep passion for uncover-ing meaning within the mass of in-formation that already exists within our clientsrsquo worlds and showing them ways to unlock the value that it holds for them

Group Partners ndash Group Partners was founded in January 2001 Itrsquos a unique business that invented Structured Vi-

sual Thinkingtrade (A revolutionary new approach to busi-ness thinking) and 4Dtrade (An acceler-ated approach to

answering the critical questions of the 21st Century Organization)

The approach challenges popular methods by using logical visual frame-works collaborative working and wid-ening the critical contexts in order to reframe and then reshape the impor-tant thinking at leadership level It then provides the frameworks and tools to enable the sustainability of the team to endure and execute

Group Partners (httpgrouppart-nersnet) simply aims to change the way business thinks and works

In addition to an attractive profes-sional programme participants can expect the usual lively discussions ex-cellent networking opportunities and inspiring fringe events

GGI members who have not yet registered may still do so Please use the online registration tool at wwwggicom (Member loginEvents) The de-tailed conference programme is also available on the website

The annual GGI Leadership Forum will be held in Eisenberg Austria

Hazel Tiffany

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 9: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

9

GGI Practice GroupChairpersons meeting

1-3 Februar 2013 Zurich

The Practice Group (PG) Chairper-sonsrsquo Meeting 2013 took place in Zu-rich at the Hotel Continental from 1 to 3 February The welcoming venue pro-vided the PG Chairpersons from mem-ber firms from around the world with a cosy and elegant atmosphere

The meeting commenced on Friday 1 February with a dinner at the fabu-lous Brasserie Schiller Restaurant Lo-cated in the heart of the city right next to the Opera House this restaurant served delicious dishes accompanied by fine wines

The following day Saturday 2 Febru-ary the attendees met together at the hotel GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcom-ing all PG Chairpersons Each of the Practice Groups presented informa-

tion on new projects and other activi-ties The focus of the meeting was to ensure the maintenance of high qual-ity standards for the Practice Groupsrsquo members For GGI it is of paramount importance that attending a Practice Group meeting is a rich and remark-able experience Consequently the PG Chairpersons had a lengthy discus-sion on the best ways to keep achiev-ing this goal for the sake of every GGI member

The MampA Practice Group showed an excellent example of how to best reinvest funds into the PG Tim van der Meer Chairman of the PG pre-sented the MampA website which was established for the purpose of better connecting the MampA PG members and providing them with a sound platform

from which to deal The MampA web-site was launched under the domain wwwggimergerscom

Following the meeting members walked to the dinner venue which was located on board the MS Sentosa an elegant ship docked in Bellevue har-bour All the Practice Group Chairper-sons enjoyed savouring exquisite dish-es tasting fine wines and admiring the view of the lake by night as the meet-ing came to a successful conclusion

Next yearrsquos PG Chairpersonsrsquo meet-ing to be held in Zurich is scheduled for 31 January to 2 February 2014 GGI invites all the PG Global Chairpersons to attend this event and experience the beauty of the city whilst using the oc-casion to keep improving the services offered to all the members

GGIrsquos CEO Michael Reiss von Filski started the meeting by welcoming all PG Chairpersons

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 10: GGI European Regional Conference

10

Content

REVIEW GGI EVENTS

GGI EasyMeet in Israel1-3 March 2013 Tel Aviv

The 2013 GGI Spring EasyMeet was held in Tel Aviv between 1 and 3 March and was kindly co-hosted by GGI mem-ber firms Soroker-Agmon Advocates amp Patent Attorneys and Vardi Brukner In-gber Rozenzveig CPA (VBIR) GGI had the pleasure of sharing this remarkable experience with over 40 delegates from GGI member firms who attended this inspiring meeting They took the oppor-tunity to network with the staff of fellow members share experiences and attend rewarding presentations focused on the benefits of doing business in Israel

The event began on Friday 1 March in the evening with a dinner at the Gor-do Beach Front Cafeacute where the CEO of GGI Michael Reiss von Filski wel-comed members and the host firms The attendees tasted local products and dishes enjoying the beautiful ven-ue situated just a few meters from the beach

The meeting continued on Saturday with the main conference In the morn-

ing Eran Soroker and Naama Gonnen from Soroker-Agmon explained the strengths of Israel as a start-up nation and great source of business opportu-nities while also providing an in-depth focus on intellectual property law

In the afternoon Dov Ingber from GGI member firm VBIR revealed the tax benefits of doing business with Is-rael and provided an interesting over-view of the success Israel has had in creating start-ups for leading technol-ogy companies and the importance of venture capital activities

The last contribution of the day was delivered by Michael Braumlndli Timon Witschi and Ricardo Cruz from Walser and Partners (Switzerland) During the presentation they introduced their firm and then moved on to the review of their start-up ldquoBandplanetrdquo under-lining the importance of digital sales in the music market

The day ended with a walk through Tel Aviv to the dinner venue the Bell-

ini Restaurant located in the beautiful Dellal Centre Delegates could savour tasty Italian cuisine and appreciate this particularly atmospheric venue

On Sunday most of the partici-pants chose to attend a very special and fascinating tour of the holy city of Jerusalem This outstanding experi-ence allowed the attendees to visit the most holy places for both Jews and Christians Starting from the Mount of Olives the group moved towards the Gethsemane Church and then arrived at the Western Wall The next part of the tour was to the Muslim quarter fol-lowed by the Christian quarter through which runs the Via Dolorosa and at its summit the Church of the Holy Sep-ulcher The group had a typical Israeli lunch before visiting the Museum of Israel and the colourful Mahne Yehuda market

All delegates attending enjoyed this cultural event which brought the con-ference to a successful end

EasyMeet participants

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 11: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

11

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Jun

Ajay MKhatlawalanior

RaffaelloLombardi

AldoPonzi

MassimoCalvi

Banco Fiscal do BrasilAv Dr Nilo Peccedilanha 1221 ndash 6ordmAndar (601)91330-000 Porto AlegreBrazil

T +51 3073 65 70E luisbancofiscalcombr W wwwbancofiscalcombr

Company languages Portuguese EnglishContact person Luis Alberto Buss Wulff Junior luisbancofiscalcombrServices Tax Consulting

Little amp CoCentral Bank Building 3rd Floor Mahatma Gandhi Road Fort400 001 MumbaiIndia

T +91 22 226 527 39F +91 22 226 599 18E aklittlecompanycom W wwwlittlecompanycom Company languages Hindi Eng-lish FrenchContact person Ajay M Khatlawa-la aklittlecompanycomServices Law Firm

ITER AUDIT SRLVia dei Bossi 720121 MilanItaly

T +39 02 880 81 71F +39 02 720 01 874E infomilanoiterauditcom W wwwiterauditcom

Further Offices Brescia Florence Padova amp Rome (Italy)Company languages Italian Eng-lish SpanishContact persons Massimo Calvi massimocalviiterauditcom Raffaello Lombardi raffaellolom-bardiiterauditcom Aldo Ponzi aldoponziiterauditcomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services

Brazil India Italy

NEW MEMBER FIRMS

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 12: GGI European Regional Conference

12

Content

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

Latvia Switzerland The Netherlands

IevaAzanda

Matiss DKukainis

Spigulis Kukainis amp AzandaValnu iela 31050 RigaLatvia

T +371 6721 42 72F +371 6721 42 73E lawskalv W wwwskalv Company languages Latvian Eng-lish Russian LithuanianContact persons Matiss D Ku-kainis matisskukainisskalv Ieva Azanda ievaazandaskalv Arturs Spigulis artursspigulisskalvServices Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

MatthiasSchlaumlfli

PhilippAkeret

STG SchweizerischeTreuhandgesellschaft AG(Swiss Trust Company Ltd)Lange Gasse 15 PO Box4052 BaselSwitzerland

T +41 61 277 01 11F +41 61 277 01 12E infobaselstgch W wwwstgch Further Offices Bern amp Zurich (Switzerland)Company languages English Ger-man French Spanish ItalianContact persons Philipp Akeret philippakeretstgch Matthias Schlaumlfli matthiasschlaeflistgchServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Corporate Finance Interna-tional Trust amp Wealth Management

WE WISH TO ExTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

Tomvan Zwieten

CONTOUR AccountantsBereklauw 35831 PE BoxmeerThe Netherlands

PO Box 265830 AA Boxmeer

T +31 485 57 64 64F +31 485 57 54 21W wwwcontouraccountantsnl Further Offices Cuijk Venlo Veg-hel amp Venray (The Netherlands)Company languages Dutch Eng-lish German FrenchContact person Tom van Zwieten tvzcontouraccountantsnlServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Consult-ing Management Consulting Cor-porate Finance International Trust amp Estate Planning

ArtursSpigulis

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 13: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

13

GGI re-brandingndash new GGI Logo

M AliAkccedilay

CAN Consultance Groupİstanbul Duumlnya Ticaret Merkezi A2 Blok Kat 16 No 456 Yeşilkoumly ndash BakırkoumlyIstanbulTurkey

T +90 212 465 65 00F +90 212 465 65 15E infocanconsultancecom W wwwcanconsultancecom Further Offices Ankara Adana Izmir amp Bursa (Turkey)Company languages Turkish Eng-lish ArabicContact person M Ali Akccedilay infocanconsultancecomServices Financial Audit amp Ac-countancy Services Tax Con-sulting Law Firm Management Consulting Corporate Finance International Trust amp Estate Plan-ning

Turkey

As previously announced GGIrsquos corporate identity will be relaunched The new GGI logo has already been applied in this article On 10 April 2013 GGI will implement its new cor-porate branding underlining the val-ues and strategies of its continuously growing alliance The new design will also affect GGIrsquos website The fresh and modern ggicom will go live on 10 April 2013 Some website functions such as the member search will also have been optimised and developed by this date

WhyTrademark protection is a very im-

portant value for all GGI members It is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the name Geneva Group Inter-national and in some countries this is no longer possible We researched this matter extensively and as a result our trademark lawyers filed the GGI trademark for worldwide protection in

the relevant classes Our experience in practice shows that the GGI abbrevia-tion is used much more frequently than Geneva Group International including in our publications (GGI Insider GGI NewsFlash GGI Newsletter) in con-versations or for website domains

What does thismean for you

The colours of GGIrsquos corporate de-sign (light grey dark grey and green) remain unchanged and so if you have integrated these colours into your cor-porate design this will be unaffected For a transition period of 12 months from the introduction of the new logo use of either logo will be acceptable You still can use your existing sta-tionery business cards and publica-tions for that period From 10 April 2014 only the new GGI logo should be used so please apply the new logo to all new orders The new Corporate Design Manual will be available for all GGI members from 10 April 2013 on GGIrsquos intranet (Documents ndash GGI Corporate Design Manual) The vari-ous new GGI logos can also be found there in a range of formats as well as the user instructions for the new GGI intranet Should you require any fur-ther information the GGI Team will be happy to help

10 April New corporate branding

NEW MEMBER FIRMS | INTERNAL NEWS

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 14: GGI European Regional Conference

14

Content

Successful event in Romania

GGI INTERNAL NEWS

Jointly hosted by four GGI member firms

GGI member firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC announce combination

New York headquartered GGI mem-ber firm Prager amp Fenton LLP and Metis Group LLC have combined their exper-tise The two firms will now operate and continue their GGI membership under the name Prager Metis International LLC

The combined firm will have more than 140 professional staff and 30 part-ners It will have an expanded national and international presence with seven offices Its offices are located in New York City NY Los Angeles CA London UK Basking Ridge NJ Armonk NY and Plainview NY

Prager Metis International will pro-vide services through its four operating companies with services including as-surance tax and consulting entertain-

ment-based services IT consulting and financial planning

ldquoSeamlessly bringing together two individually respected firms with unique qualities is the vision of the futurerdquo Me-tis managing partner Glenn Friedman said in a statement ldquoBeing in the unique position of establishing a co-managing partner structure brings greater depth and leverage of leadership into the firm as a whole Our aim is to focus on grow-ing our presence both nationally and in-ternationally through new niches as well as expanding existing niche practicesrdquo

GGI member firmPrager Metis International LLC Financial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingNew York City (NY) Los Angeles (CA) Basking Ridge (NJ) Armonk (NY) Plainview (NY) London (UK)

David NesteE dnestepragerfentoncom Glenn Friedman E gfriedmanmetisgroupllccomW wwwpragerfentoncom wwwmetisgroupllccom

David NesteGlenn Friedman

On 12 February 2013 GGI mem-ber firms Mirus Consultanta Fiscala Limes Tax amp Expat BV Human Capital

Services and Wendler Tremml Recht-sanwaumllte jointly hosted the second an-nual edition of the conference ldquoLabour

migration within the European Union ndash the key for business development op-portunities with Germany the Nether-

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 15: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

15

lands and Belgium Legislation exper-tise and practicerdquo

The event in Bucharest Romania was attended by companies from vari-ous industries interested in the Euro-pean mobility of employees and relat-ed key technical tax and legal matters The seminars were supported by the Romanian-German Chamber of Com-merce and Industry of Romania

The main topics focused on at the conference were immigration require-ments for Romanians working within the EU taxation of various structures including local employment split pay-roll and cross border employment structuring compensation for both headcount intensive agency business-es and top executives social security coverage within the EU and pitfalls and challenges in obtaining European certificates

The seminars also included discus-sions on transfer pricing matters PE establishments the latest multi-juris-dictional regulations and VAT refunds through the online application Dur-ing the event participants had the op-portunity to interact and debate with speakers discuss critical matters for their own businesses become involved in interactive QampA sessions and share ideas with GGI professionals and other industry operators

We look forward to welcoming you to our next event The next seminar on labour force migration is scheduled to take place in autumn 2013 Any GGI member interested in joining or con-tributing to the next edition of the sem-inars are encouraged to contact Mirus

GGI member firmMirus Consultanta FiscalaFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingBucharestRomaniaMarinela BaditaE mbaditamirus-groupeuW wwwmirus-groupeu

GGI member firmLIMES International BV Tax Consulting ManagementConsulting InternationalTrust amp Estate PlanningAmsterdam NoordwijkEindhoven Almere HeerenveenThe NetherlandsHuub Kapel E huublimes-intcomW wwwlimes-intcom

GGI member firmHuman Capital Services BVBATax ConsultingManagement ConsultingDendermondeBelgiumVeerle TriempontE vtriempont humancapitalservicesbe W wwwhumancapitalservicesbe

GGI member firmWendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte Dusseldorf Munich BerlinGermanyLaw FirmMichael WendlerE mwendlerlaw-wtde W wwwlaw-wtde

Ionut Zeche from Mirus Consultanta Fiscala

Michael Wendler from Wendler Tremml Rechtsanwaelte

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 16: GGI European Regional Conference

16

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

Is your BusinessHeading Off a Fiscal Cliff

By Anthony Soukenik

Now that wersquove had a chance to ex-hale after watching the media blur cov-erage of the governmentrsquos fiscal cliff fi-asco if yoursquore a small business owner this is a good time to ask yourself if your own business is fiscal cliff-proof Corporate governance and succession planning has no sense of urgency The deadlines are ever so random often de-termined by the sudden death or debili-tating illness of the small business pres-ident a natural disaster or the random departure of a trusted key employee or partner

How would you answer the following questions Do your articles of incorporation by-

laws or operating agreements reflect the current day-to-day operations of your Company

Is your company properly authorized to do business in every jurisdiction that you have a physical presence or nexus

Does your personal estate planning dove tail with your corporate plan-ning

In the absence of the president is there a mechanism to appoint a tem-porary or permanent successor

Is the successor your choice is he or she ready to lead and will third par-ties eg financial institutions recog-nize the successor

Does your Company have ldquobuysellrdquo agreements binding the other own-ers confidentiality and noncompet-ing agreements sufficient to prevent the key employees or other owners from walking away from the company with your goodwill

Does your Company have person-nel files for all employees Do you conduct annual reviews Are the an-

nual reviews customized to manage-mentrsquos expressed expectations of the employee

Are your employees properly docu-mented

Do you have adequate insurance to compensate for the loss of a key of-ficer or employee Or contemporane-ously do they submit to annual exec-utive physicals and regular exercise

Do you have adequate insurance to address all risks associated with your business and understand the inter-relations between policies and their copays

Is your company in good standing with local and state annual registra-tions and licensing

Who has the institutional knowledge of the Company passwords or keys

Will your successor find the impor-tant Company documents and what kind of condition are they in

Will the sudden transfer of owner-ship trigger a negative covenant in borrowing or leasing agreements or the qualification of DBE MBE or WBE status

Is your Company party to a collective

bargaining agreement which par-ticipates in an underfunded multi-employer defined benefit plan and if you have other companies are they exposed the underfunded liability

Do you have contingency manage-ment plans in the event of a disaster or an interruption of services

Have you performed a risk analysis of your Companyrsquos operations and pri-oritized a remedy for the greatest and most likely risks

Are your personal assets and Com-pany assets properly titled or as in-tended

Can you find your Companyrsquos stock or ownership ledger

Is your Company utilizing the best ldquochoice of entityrdquo

Are all deadlines for contractual financial and governmental obliga-tions and Company priorities calen-dared on ldquoOutlookrdquo

Are you a shareholder partner or member with a fiduciary duty or owe corporate opportunity to another

Itrsquos never too late to get your house in order If the government can (almost) so can you Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or concerns

Anthony Soukenik

GGI Member firmSandberg Phoenixamp von Gontard PCLaw FirmSaint Louis (MO) Carbondale (IL) Edwardsville (IL) OrsquoFallon (IL) Alton (IL)USAAnthony SoukenikE asoukenik sandbergphoenixcomW wwwsandbergphoenixcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 17: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

17

Luxury goods on the edgeBy Urban B Eberleand Eduard Werder

Is the boom in the luxury goods sec-tor coming to an end Investors were stunned by the subdued forecasts for the current year issued by consumer goods groups including LVMH and Richemont The weakening of momen-tum in China in particular is raising a few concerns Is it time to beat a re-treat from the luxury goods sector

Letrsquos have a closer look at the luxury goods market According to surveys conducted by the business consulting firm Bain amp Co in 2012 EUR 212 bil-lion was spent on luxury goods proper The share of total sales was accounted for as follows in the four key sectors accessories such as handbags shoes etc (27 share of total sales) fashionclothing (26) watches and jewellery (22) and perfumes and cosmetics (20) The remaining 5 was attribut-able to decorative tableware and house-hold items This core area does not in-

clude other significant sectors such as luxury cars yachts wine and spirits and luxury hotels which combined added a further EUR 500 billion in sales

The main attraction of the luxury goods sector for investors is its im-pressive rate of growth Since 1995 when the estimated turnover was EUR 77 billion the sector has grown by more than 6 per year on average even throughout the various crises The most striking increases have been

achieved in the past three years Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in the USA Europe and Japan luxury goods have broken record after record re-porting double-digit growth rates every year This growth is not however linked to the gap between rich and poor widen-ing in the West as might be

assumed but is a reflection of the un-bridled appetite for luxury goods in the emerging economies of South America and Asia especially China Whereas 15 years ago less than

1 of all luxury goods were purchased by Chinese consumers today more than a quarter of all Hermegraves bags Prada shoes and Dior perfumes go to the ldquoMiddle Kingdomrdquo When it comes to luxury Swiss watches such as Rolex Cartier IWC and Omega the propor-tion rises to almost half

This phenomenal boom has been made possible by the breathtaking pace of Chinese economic growth which according to the Hurun Re-search Institute in Shanghai has al-ready turned more than one million Chinese citizens into euro millionaires and created over 200 billionaires However itrsquos not just the millionaires who buy luxury goods for themselves and their nearest and dearest There are also huge numbers of people who make luxury goods an incredibly high priority and will go without a lot of oth-er items in order to be able to afford an accessory with a luxury label Observ-ers of the local market have found that consumers are now extremely astute and prioritise quality and value reten-tion On this topic gifts are very im-portant in China and the majority of luxury goods are purchased as gifts

next page

LVMH Single Quote

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 18: GGI European Regional Conference

18

Content

GGI COMMON INTEREST

A not insignificant proportion of gifts are also used to build up friendly business relationships and as a ldquopub-lic relationsrdquo strategy with officials This last factor is one reason why the central government keeps a critical eye on the luxury goods sector and burdens it with advertising bans new laws and high tax surcharges

The biggest change to be seen now in the luxury goods sector is not in the products or the people buying them but in the place of purchase Chinese con-sumers are travelling abroad in growing numbers and shopping is a key part of their trip The Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows that Switzerland received 575000 Chinese visitors last year com-pared with 286000 in 2010 and only 130000 in 2008 The Chinese buying pattern is of no great surprise Even if other reasons are often cited for buying abroad such as the shopping experience or the pleasure of buying something in its country of origin the price factor cer-tainly also plays a part Because of the appreciation of the Chinese yuan cus-toms duties and consumer taxes luxury watches cost up to 70 more at home than in Zurich Lucerne or Vaduz

Bearing in mind this aspect it is less troubling to see sales in China levelling off It does not matter where the Chi-nese buy as long as they are still doing so A welcome side effect of this trend is that a higher proportion of the value creation is accruing to Switzerland and

Liechtenstein Of course the traditional markets of Europe and America should not be completely sidelined in any eval-uation of the outlook for the global luxu-ry goods industry However against the backdrop of the debt crisis uncertainty persists in these markets

Clearly the luxury goods industry cannot sustain the breakneck speed of growth that the past three years have

shown Provided that Chinarsquos economy grows by 5 to 10 each year as most currently anticipate the world mar-ket for luxury goods will see satisfying growth which while not in double fig-ures will still be a respectable 4 to 6 per annum So the boom may be over but there is still potential for growth In the light of this equities in this sector still have a lot to offer

Bank AlpinumVaduzLiechtensteinW wwwbankalpinumcom

New UK Statutory Residence Test ndash an Introduction

By David J Kidd

There are many changes occurring in UK tax legislation at present The one with the widest practical applica-

tion is the introduction of a new test of residence the criterion of an indi-vidualrsquos connection with the UK which subjects him to UK taxation New leg-islation governing residence is to be

effective from 6th April 2013 This will replace all the existing case law and practices from that date The Finance Bill giving effect to the new rules is ex-pected to come into force by late July

Richemont Single Quote

Urban B EberleE urbaneberlebankalpinumcomEduard WerderE eduardwerderbankalpinumcom

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 19: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

19

2013 Almost anyone who comes to or leaves the UK may need to consider the impact of these rules on their par-ticular situation The points made in this article are based on draft legisla-tion not expected to change in prin-ciple but details may change up until late July 2013

I set out in simplified form the heart of the new provisions It is only an introduction to the primary rules The legislation proceeds by specify-ing rules and sub-rules The practical meaning is not usually evident at first sight Accordingly I attempt to stress practical aspects and illustrate appli-cations of the rules

The governing rule

The rule for residence and non-resi-dence is as follows

An individual is resident in the UK if1 The automatic residence test is met

for that year or2 The sufficient ties test is met for that

year If neither 1 nor 2 apply the individual

is not resident

The rule is short but not simple and it contains key concepts in bold text which need unpacking and ex-plaining

Sub-rule 1 Automatic residence test

This is satisfied if at least one auto-matic UK test applies and none of the automatic overseas tests The most important of these tests are specified below in boxed text It is important to note that if any of the automatic over-seas tests are satisfied this first sub-rule 1 test of residence cannot apply The second ldquosufficient tiesrdquo test also does not apply if any automatic over-seas test is met

Thus meeting an automatic over-seas test is a sure fire way of obtaining non-residence or staying non-resident without having to consider further rules or complexities

The most practically relevant auto-matic overseas tests are

a) Less than 16 days in the UK ndash for peo-ple who are leaving the UK and wish to break their UK residence this rule in effect says they must leave the UK completely for one fiscal year but are allowed two weeks holiday or visits back

b) Less than 46 days in the UK ndash this more generous time allocation only applies to individuals who have not been UK resident in the past three years ndash in effect a foreign visitor to the UK is permitted a little over six weeks in the UK as a safe harbour A person who has left the UK more than three years ago may also use this day count as a safe harbour

c) Full-time overseas work with less than 31 working days in the UK and less than 91 days in the UK in total with no significant break from over-seas work This is a complicated rule but where it can be satisfied up to 90 days in the UK remains consistent with non-residence

Satisfying any of these safe harbours in the box is onerous for anyone hitherto

resident and leaving the UK otherwise than in straightforward circumstances

A maximum of 15 days is normally onerous if there are continuing busi-ness or personal matters to attend to in the UK and the conditions for full-time work abroad - which is broadly 35 hours per week without significant breaks - im-poses its own restrictions

Automatic UK tests If none of the above safe harbours can be met it will be important to ensure none of the automatic UK tests are met since oth-erwise UK residence automatically ap-plies The automatic UK tests are

a 183 days or more in the UKb The individualrsquos only home is in the

UK (or any home overseas is little used)

c Full-time work in the UK for a period of 365 days

It should normally be possible to avoid being in the UK for 183 days or more and to avoid full-time work here Requiring more attention is the possi-bility that an individual retains a home in the UK uses it substantially and whilst he also has a home overseas he fails to use it sufficiently to avoid the only home test

Nevertheless provided the individu-al is aware of this problem and takes next page

David J Kidd

Wide practical application The new UK statutory residence test

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 20: GGI European Regional Conference

20

Content

the necessary steps to handle it this part of the automatic residence test may not create a problem

Sub-rule 2 Sufficient ties test

At this stage it has been assumed that the individual under consideration cannot meet the relevant overseas tests and does not meet any of the UK tests

This means that to become or re-main non-resident he must show that he does not meet the sufficient ties test

The ties to the UK which are taken into account are as follows Family ndash spouse or minor children ndash

resident in the UK Accommodation ndash there is an avail-

able place to stay in the UK on visits Substantive work in the UK ndash this is

more than 3 hours work for at least 40 days in the year

Substantive UK presence in previous two years ndash this means more than 90 days in either or both of the two pre-ceding tax years

Country tie ndash this applies if more days are spent in the UK than in any other single country It only applies to peo-ple who have to date been resident in the UK

The sufficient ties test works by speci-fying how many ties the individual must have for specified days of presence in the UK in order to become resident

It is more informative however re-ordered as the maximum number of ties permitted to remain non-resident The position is as follows

UK Days Max for non-residence

16-45 No more than 3

46-90 No more than 2

91-120 No more than 1

121 + None

Example ofsufficient ties test ndash previous UK resident

Take the case of a previous UK resi-dent He wishes to go non-resident but also is firm in his wishes to visit the UK regularly in excess of 15 days so cannot meet the automatic overseas test

He will typically have at least two ties ndash accommodation here where he stays on return visits and the 90 days in pre-vious years tie If he can keep it to that level he can spend up to 90 days in the

UK and be non ndash resident However in more complex cases

it may be that the family tie ndash resident wife or minor children in the UK - needs to be considered In that event with three ties he can spend only up to 45 days in the UK And if he has continu-ing substantial unavoidable business commitments in the UK he may find it difficult to go non-resident at all since that would create four ties and any days of presence above fifteen would mean residence

Thus advice will focus on how many days the individual wishes to be in the UK and how many relevant ties he will have and whether and how any of them can be removed from the equation to achieve the desired result

GGI Member firmCitroen WellsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Interna-tional Trust and Estate PlanningLondonUnited KingdomDavid J Kidd senior tax partnerE davidkiddcitroenwellscoukW wwwcitroenwellscouk

Vibrant Gujarat 2013By Vijesh Zinzuwadia

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was an example of the visionary ap-proach taken by the government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sus-tainable development The sixth edi-tion of the summit was a brilliant op-portunity for Gujarat to showcase its strengths progressive stance initia-tives taken to improve governance and its investor-friendly climate as well as its arts and culture With two partner

countries namely Canada and Japan and five partner organisations JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) US India Business Council Australia Trade Business Council Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and UK India Business Council Vibrant Gujarat 2013 truly became a ldquoglobal business hubrdquo This is clearly evident from the photo-graphs of the grand inauguration and the closing ceremony

With inclusive development as the prime focus the following key areas

for development were identified in-novation sustainability youth and skill development knowledge sharing and networking These major areas were in-fused through more than 127 events or-ganised under the aegis of the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit In the run up to the Summit the government planned a number of events in the form of sem-inars conventions panel discussions series of lectures exhibitions brain-storming sessions interactions and other innovative discussion forums

GGI COMMON INTEREST

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 21: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

21

The events were carefully planned to reach out to a larger audience and provide a common platform for think tanks academia industrialists and government officials to analyse and suggest avenues for Gujarat to assume leadership especially in the field of in-novation and sustainability

The state of Gujarat known as the Growth Engine of India is now mov-ing towards leadership in knowledge advancements based on the pillars of innovation and sustainability

The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was transformational and innovative both in its coverage and scale It pro-vided a platform for various Indian states and other countries to cooper-ate and explore attractive business op-portunities A total of 2100 delegates from 121 countries attended 127 semi-nars on different topics forging 2670 strategic partnership intentions which is an exceptional achievement With the Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit ldquoBrand Gujaratrdquo established a bond with people from around the globe

Three GGI member firms from In-dia participated in the summit Vijesh Zinzuwadia a GGI member who lives in Ahmedabad where the summit took place hosted Ashish Bairagra

and Haren Sanghvi two GGI members from Mumbai At the event their three firms worked in partnership to initiate and develop awareness about Geneva Group International and its members around the world The members were also given the opportunity to jointly host and attend a breakfast meeting with government officials from the USA along with the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Haren Sanghvi commented that Vi-brant Gujarat was a fantastic showcase of corporate and government together-ness Gujarat demonstrates the best Public Private Partnership benchmark which every state in India should aim to achieve He says that the govern-ment of Gujarat strives to simplify business complexities

Ashish Bairagra remarked that Vi-brant Gujarat is a demonstration of the Gujarat governmentrsquos success and continuing effort to attract national and global investors to the state The industrial infrastructure and business development roadmap designed by the state will set an example not only for other states in India but also for de-veloping countries around the world He also feels that one of the reasons why Gujarat has been successful in at-

tracting industries is because the state government has ensured that the three most important requirements of any industry power infrastructure and people (labour) are available 247

On behalf of Zinzuwadia amp Co Chartered Accountants and Gujarat CA Vijesh Zinzuwadia would like to welcome all GGI members to the next Vibrant Gujarat Event 2015 from 11-13 January 2015 This wonderful global platform is bursting with opportunities and GGI is delighted to be in a key po-sition as both a participant and host

GGI members with US Government Officials (left to right) Martin Claessens (Commercial Officer US Department of Com-merce) Peter Haas (US Consulate General to India) Judy R Reinke (Minister-Counsellor for Commercial Affairs US Depart-ment of Commerce) Vijesh Zinzuwadia Haren Sanghvi and Ashish Bairagra

GGI Member firmZinzuwadia amp CoChartered AccountantsFinancial Audit amp Accountancy Services Tax ConsultingManagement ConsultingCorporate FinanceAhmedabad VadodaraKalol MumbaiIndiaVijesh Zinzuwadia E vijeshzinzuwadiacocomW wwwzinzuwadiacocom

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 22: GGI European Regional Conference

22

Content

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

ITPG

ITPG meets in AmsterdamBy Oliver Biernat

Global Chairman of the International Taxation Practice Group

The ITPG winter meeting was at-tended by over 50 GGI members from 17 countries that had made their way to a partly snowy and partly sunny Amster-dam The event was kindly hosted by Hugo Everaerd tax partner of De Kei-jzer Nipius amp Co in Amsterdam Hugo and his charming wife Inga prepared a pleasant all round programme and se-lected an excellent and stylish hotel in downtown Amsterdam in short walking distance from the central railway station and the famous canal boats

The event began on Friday with a gathering of the participants for lunch in the conference hotel At the invitation of the ITPG to form part of the Friday afternoon programme after lunch dele-gates were given a choice of three differ-ent PG meetings Together with partici-pants from eight countries Raluca Tutu of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Roma-nia celebrated the first birthday of her ITPG subgroup VAT offering one pre-sentation and three case-studies on VAT matters At the same time Prof Robert Anthony of Anthony amp Cie France of-fered information to a very well attend-ed meeting of the PG Private Equity and International Wealth Management PG followed by a very brief discussion on marketing issues concerning the Immi-gration amp Expatriate Services PG lead by Ionut Zeche of Mirus Consultantaacute Fiscalaacute in Romania

The evening was spent in an excellent nearby restaurant in downtown Amster-dam Thereafter individuals returned to the hotel by foot or by bike-taxi with some diverting tax case studies on the way (see below for more detail) Once back the hotelacutes Skylounge Bar offered a terrific view over the city and was a great venue for drinks and networking

On Saturday Oliver guided the par-ticipants through a diversified tax pro-gramme only interrupted by food and drinks and his famous funny short films The morning session was covered by speakers from IBFD the Internation-al Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam Pavel Grishunin presented the IBFD tax platform database and Luis Nouel reported in detail on new rules for ldquoAttribution of Profits to Permanent Establishmentsrdquo including several case studies

After lunch Oliver continued with ITPG internal matters and announced that ITPG had grown to 61 regular and 258 visiting members The participants had a lively discussion on plans for an update of the ITPG book ldquoInternational Tax and Business Guiderdquo and other mar-keting ideas for the membersrsquo firms On

the ldquocatwalkrdquo Cindy Hsieh who had travelled from far-distant San Francisco presented the concept of an ITPG polo shirt Oliver mentioned that in 2013 ITPG is especially focusing on those members who cannot travel to many conferences by offering about 18 WebEx conferences in four different regions and in two different languages He also presented a preview of dates and topics for future 2013 ITPG meetings in Lis-bon San Francisco Eisenberg Cancun and Mumbai Details can be found on the GGI homepage and in the minutes

Following a coffee break various professional presentations on tax top-ics were given by GGI members such as Julie Bryant Dr Stefan Drawetz Prof Robert Anthony Nick Brennan and Brian Rowbotham Shortly before 6 pm the final presentation by our host

ITPG winter meeting ndash Amsterdam was the place to be

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 23: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

23

Hugo Everaed kept the participants well awake It was on ldquoTaxation in Am-sterdamrdquo but also covered taxation of so called ldquocoffeerdquo (drug) shops in the City and taxation of prostitutes in the Red Light District (all participants had the opportunity to assure themselves of this during ldquotax case studiesrdquo at the pre-ceding evening on the walk to the res-taurant) In order to help those whose brain had become a little tired by then Hugo summarised the essentials to a) a whore has in average 17 punters per hour and b) the average costs is 50 eu-ros per act

After a hard dayrsquos work the partici-pants were invited to board a canal boat for a sightseeing ride through Amsterdam followed by dinner in a good restaurant At 9 pm (by then it was already the next day in India) Clau-dio Cocca and Oliver Biernat launched

a birthday party for Ashish Bairagra who once again had made it all the way from India Having returned by boat the participants followed the good old GGI tradition of continuing to party in the Skylounge while complaining about early closure hours of the bar Rumours were abounding that after se-curity had closed the bar some people were heard in a guestrsquos room celebrat-ing an Indian birthday by emptying the minibar

If you want to be a part of the 2014 event note next yearrsquos ITPG winter meeting in your calendar which will be held by Dr Sergio Finulli from Comma 10 in Milan Italy It will be of particular interest to some of you and those who accompany you that besides very inter-esting tax topics of course there will be a ski outing to Engadin (probably St Moritz) on Thursday shopping and

sightseeing possibilities in Milan on Fri-day morning and a spectacular Milan carnival party on Saturday evening I am looking forward to seeing you there just for workhellip of course

Correlation betweendebt policy and land prices

GGI Member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaftFinancial Audit amp AccountancyServices Tax ConsultingManagement Consulting Corpo-rate Finance International Trustamp Estate PlanningFrankfurtGermanyOliver BiernatE obiernatbenefitaxdeW wwwbenefitaxde

REAL ESTATE

By Dr Reinhard Nacke

The Swiss economists Reiner Eichenberger and David Stadelmann of the University of Fribourg disclosed some interesting theses concerning the coherence between property prices and unsound financial behavior of pub-lic bodies in the ldquoNeue Zuumlricher Zei-tungrdquo dated 1232013 When a munici-pality finances her disbursements with debts this means future higher liabili-ties and a heavier financial burden due to upcoming interest and amortization payments Because of the higher capi-tal strain the municipality must either save costs by reducing the benefits for

the citizens or raise taxes and contri-butions The downside is in both cases the decrease of attractiveness of the community as residential working and production place As real estate buyers observe price development and price behavior they anticipate lower prop-erty prices so that the effect occurs im-mediately and not just in the future

Eichenberger and Stadelmann see the theoretical approach confirmed by their own empiric investigations in the Zurich area

Furthermore they found confirmed that the higher the real estate owner-ship rate in the community the more next page Dr Reinhard Nacke

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 24: GGI European Regional Conference

24

Content

the municipality finances her expendi-tures with taxes instead of with debts Hence public political parties which generally represent landlords rather than tenants are against higher debts as opposed to more left-wing parties

If not only the municipality but also adjacent bodies or the central Govern-ment had to settle the liabilities of the municipality according to Eichenberg-erStadelmann real estate prices would not only decline locally but also supra-locally due to high indebtedness As people are much more mobile and flex-

ible as in the past and are even willing to move abroad an excessive debt pol-icy can pull downwards the real estate prices of the entire country In general this means bdquothe higher the debts the lower the property pricesldquo

If this is right property prices would have to be relatively low in the USA Ja-pan Spain France or also Germany as opposed to those in Switzerland Lux-embourg and the Scandinavian coun-tries

Amongst other issues we will dis-cuss these correlations in our next Real

Estate practice group meeting which will take place on 19 April 2013 in Lis-bon

The use of family limitedpartnerships in the context of UK tax and estate planning

By Camilla Wallace

For over a century in the UK the trust has been the favoured structure for hold-ing family wealth However the UK Gov-ernmentrsquos extension of inheritance tax (IHT) in 2006 to virtually all new and some existing trusts saw many wealthy families look for alternatives Two of those alternatives are family partner-ships and family investment companies

There are three different forms of fam-ily partnership general partnerships limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships This article will focus on family general partnerships (FGPs) and family limited partnership (FLPs) Gen-erally limited liability partnerships are less popular as they are subject to UK company law and have annual filings to make with the UKrsquos Registrar of Compa-nies which means the names of the un-

derlying owners are publically available They are also subject to a double layer of taxation (at company and shareholder level) which again has made them less popular in UK estate planning

What areFGPs and FLPs

FGPs and FLPs are defined in s1 of the Partnership Act 1890 as ldquothe relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profitrdquo In the context of estate planning a partnership is used to manage family wealth with the partners comprising ju-nior family members (the ultimate bene-ficiaries) or nominees appointed on their behalf if they are under 18 The assets will generally be contributed to the partner-ship by senior family members although

they should not be partners themselves if the structure is to be effective from an IHT perspective Partners in a FGP have unlimited liability for their debts where-as a FLP has the attraction of limited li-ability

A FLP has a more complex structure than a FGP as it splits control and eco-nomic benefits between a ldquogeneral part-nerrdquo and up to 19 ldquolimited partnersrdquo The general partner (usually a company con-trolled by senior family members) has unlimited liability for the partnershiprsquos debts and obligations and is responsible for managing the partnership business The role is one of control and is akin to a trustee in a trust structure The limited partners have limited liability up to the amount of their contributions but no management powers These persons are generally junior family members similar to beneficiaries of a trust

GGI Member firmFPS Rechtsanwaumllte amp NotareLaw FirmDusseldorfGermanyDr Reinhard NackeE nackefps-lawdeW wwwfps-lawde

TRUST amp ESTATE PLANNING (TEP)

GGI PRACTICE GROUP PAGES

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 25: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

25

Either way all partners sign a partner-ship deed the partnershiprsquos governing document which sets out how capi-tal income and gains are to be shared amongst the partners and under what circumstances the partners can receive withdrawals of capital

Key features

The essential features advantages and drawbacks of FGPs and FLPs are as follows

Tax The main driving force behind these structures is tax Most UK trusts are now subject to an IHT charge ev-ery ten years and when capital leaves the trust In addition when creating a UK trust a settlor faces an immedi-ate charge to IHT at 20 of the value of the assets settled if these exceed his available nil-rate band (currently a maxi-mum of pound325000) By contrast there is no IHT charge when creating a FGP or FLP (provided the donor survives seven years) and no on-going IHT charges dur-ing the subsistence of the partnership A partnership also has advantages from a UK income tax perspective as the most flexible form of UK trust is subject to in-come tax at 50 A partnership however is tax transparent meaning that the part-ners are assessed on the income of the partnership as if they owned it directly in accordance with their shares As such income is taxed at the partnersrsquo marginal rates of income tax with the benefit of personal allowances In many cases un-less the partner is a top rate tax payer this will produce an income tax saving Note however that income of minor partners will be taxed at their parentrsquos rate if their contribution to the partner-ship came from a parent

Business The partners must be carry-ing out a business in order for a partner-ship to exist Merely holding investments will not suffice unless they are being actively managed Holding residen-tial property is acceptable provided the property is let and managed In many in-stances the requirement for some form of business activity presents a practical difficulty for families unless their assets or intentions are of a commercial nature

Asset protection Partnerships pro-vide a similar level of asset protection to a trust by allowing senior family mem-bers to pass wealth down to younger generations without relinquishing com-plete control This can be done by senior family members acting as or being the controlling force behind the general partner (in a FLP) andor writing appro-priate protections into the partnership deed regarding capital withdrawals and the age at which these can be made

Regulation FLPs usually have to be regulated by the UKrsquos Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a ldquocollective invest-ment schemerdquo In practice this means that the general partner delegates his management and operational functions to a FSA-authorised professional This delegation makes FLPs expensive to run they would usually need assets in excess of pound10m to make them cost effective FGPs do not generally have this layer of regulation and make a cheaper alterna-tive but they do not have the same level of control for senior family members

Confidentiality FGPs and FLPs do not have to file annual accounts with the UKrsquos Registrar of Companies meaning that the identity of partners can be kept confidential

Comment

The FLP is generally the more popu-

lar choice of alternative wealth man-agement vehicle in the UK but they are still relatively rare because of the ex-pense involved and because the trust is still the traditional ldquotried and test-edrdquo family estate planning structure However where significant wealth is at stake the merit of a FLP should be weighed up against those of a trust as the particular circumstances of the family may make it worthwhile Particu-larly so if the family are concerned with short-term tax savings it is possible to set up a FLP at no tax cost and with no limitation on the amount that can be put in whereas a trust holding invest-ments will invariably have an upfront IHT cost

However some words of warning to end on FLPs may be subject to the UKrsquos new taxation regime for ldquonon-natural personsrdquo holding UK residential prop-erty (for personal use) worth more than pound2m as at 1 April 2012 This consists of an annual charge a 28 rate of capital gains tax and 15 rate of stamp duty land tax In addition the Government hinted in its annual Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 that it would be looking closely at tax avoidance involv-ing partnerships However until that time they remain viable alternatives to trusts for UK tax and estate planning purposes

Camilla Wallace is a partner in London GGI member firm Wedlake Bell LLP and is currently the Chairperson for the European Region for GGIrsquos Trust and Estate Planning Practice Group She specialises in UK tax trust and estate planning

GGI Member firmWedlake Bell LLPThe merged firm of Wedlake Bell and Cumberland EllisLaw FirmLondonUKCamilla WallaceE cwallacewedlakebellcomW wwwwedlakebellcom

Camilla Wallace

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 26: GGI European Regional Conference

26

Content

BUSINESS TRAVEL TIP

Lisbon the PortugueseRepublicrsquos Capital

By Ady Nordman

Just a few weeks before the GGI Eu-ropean Regional Conference in Lisbon I highlight some culinary delights of this waterfront city of spectacular beauty and charm It is the oldest city in West-ern Europe predating even Rome Built on 7 hills overlooking the River Tagus Lisbonrsquos ambiance emanates from its strong links to the past reflected in magnificent churches impressive cas-tles and palaces Diverse neighbour-hoods with decorative facades and nar-row medieval streets all offer visitors a

warm welcomeI must admit I have not visited Lis-

bon in recent years but every time I do so I have wanted to go back I therefore took some advice from prominent lo-cal friends

ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo located at Rua Duques de Braganccedila 7 1200-162 Lisboa (Tel 211 992 369) ndash wwwcantinhodoavillezpt Small place mag-nificently orchestrated by Portuguese chef Joseacute Avillez This restaurant which specialises in great local food is well situated being close to the Opera

house

ldquoBica do Sa-patoldquo at Avenida Infante Dom Hen-rique Armazeacutem B Cais da Pedra Santa Apoloacutenia 1900-436 Lisboa (Tel 218 810 320) ndash wwwbicadosa-patocom has for many years been and still is one of the greatest places I have ever

tried Although one needs to take a taxi from down-town a ride of 10 to15 minutes it is worth the trip Lo-cated on the Tagus river front the es-tablishment is also known for one of its owners the ac-tor John Malkov-ich The food is a brilliant new take on traditional Por-tuguese cuisine Although there is a cafeteria and a sushi bar do take the time to treat yourself to the res-taurant There are enough other great bars in downtown Lisbon

ldquoSolar dos Presuntosrdquo at Rua Por-

tas de Santo Antatildeo 150 1150-269 Lis-boa (Tel 213 424 253) ndash wwwsolardo-spresuntoscom Not a fancy venue but the best for traditional Portuguese food and less expensive than Bica Do

Ady Nordman

Restaurant ldquoO Cantinho do Avillezrdquo

Restaurant ldquoBica do Sapatoldquo Restaurant ldquoSolar dos Presuntosldquo

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 27: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

27

Sapato This restaurant is popular with local Lisboans which suggests that it is not aimed at crowds of tourists I personally very much prefer to dine where locals choose to eat as I find that the quality of food and service is usually very good

ldquoCasanovaldquo located just near Bica Do Sapato above at Avenida Infante D Henrique ndash Cais da Pedra a Bica do Sapato Armazem B loja 7 Lisbon is another place which I have enjoyed very much for its great pizzas One does not always need to eat in top rate restaurants If you come here with your family especially with kids this place is probably a winner It has a unique method of service the table (you need to go and see it) ndash wwwrestauranteca-sanostracomcnovasite

Fancy a drink music or dancing Try

Bar Incognito situated in Rua Poliais de Sao Bento 37 Sao Bento Lisbon 1200 ndash wwwincognitobarcom One should be aware that very much like Tel Aviv Madrid and Barcelona noth-ing really happens in the Biarro Alto neighbourhood till after 11 pm There is no name on the door of this clubbar and you have to ring the bell to get in It is one of Lisbonrsquos oldest clubs where music that was popular two decades ago is still played There is also a dance floor of course

When in Portugal donrsquot forget to pay tribute to the great fortified wine port (Vinho do Porto) which is produced ex-

clusively in the Northern Douro Valley At this time of year I would like to

extend my warmest greetings to those of you who are celebrating specific events May you your families and

friends enjoy a Very Happy Easter and Very Happy Passover

Saude (sounds like lsquosah-oodrsquo) which means ldquoto your healthrdquo

Ady

GGI Member firmSoroker-Agmon Advocatesamp Patent AttorneysLaw FirmHerzliyaIsraelAdy NordmanE nordmanip-lawcoil W wwwip-lawcoil

Restaurant ldquoCasanovaldquo

Check out some of Lisbons restaurants using the Lisbon tram

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 28: GGI European Regional Conference

28

Content

BOOK REVIEW

The Synergist How to Lead Your Teamto Predictable Success

Why do so many teams fail to per-form - achieving compromise at best and gridlock at worst And what does it take to end this gridlock Wall Street Journal bestselling author and speaker Les McKeown shows how to take any team from gridlock to world class suc-cess

In his new book McKeown argues that every successful team includes a critical player the Synergist who can take the three exisiting types - The bold dreamers (Visionaries) the pragmatic realists (Operators) and the systems designers (Processors) - and knit them together into a dynamic well-rounded team Most importantly according to McKeown the Synergist is a role that anyone can learn

While most attempts at teamwork improvement deal only with the symp-toms of group dysfunction such as dis-trust poor communication and fear of change McKeown address the root cause the innately unstable Visionary-Operator-Processor triangle Because each of the three stylesrsquo motivations views and goals are incompatible without a Synergist every team will eventually implode stall or underper-form Only the Synergist can put aside their own agenda and interpret the lan-guage of difficult personalities capture the best from each person and put the good of the enterprise ahead of their own ego

McKeown- who has used techniques presented here in his consulting with Harvard University American Express Financial Services the US Army Pella Corporation Microsoft United Tech-nologies Corporation and more- shows how any individual can fill this critical

role whether or not theyrsquore the formal leader of the group

With thought-provoking self-assesments and an extensive Syn-ergist Toolkit he teaches how anyone can learn to be an effective Synergist by rec-ognizing the vital signs of inneffec-tive teamwork and making the right interventions at these pivitol mo-ments

Les McKeown is the president and CEO of Pre-dictable Success a consulting firm with clients that include T-Mobile Microsoft The US Army Harvard University Bose British Aerospace and many more McKeownrsquos previous book Predictable Success hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-sell-er lists in 2010 McKeown is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has appeared on CNN ABC BBC Inc Entrepreneur magazine USA Today and The New York Times Les speaks to businesses around the country help-ing management achieve a systematic approach to success

The Synergist How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success By Les McKeown Hardcover 272 pages ISBN-13 978-0230120556

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 29: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

29

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Tax Planning for Domestic amp Foreign Partnerships LLCs Joint Ventures amp Other Strategic Alliances 2013Where Chicago IL United StatesWhen 30 April - 02 May 2013

Brief Description Joint ventures be-tween large companies or with start-up or other smaller companies are now an everyday occurrence Partnerships have long been the tried and true for-mat for the holding and operation of real estate and since the 1981 Act for the conduct of closely-held business operations as well Further the in-crease in the number of joint ventures to develop large-scale projects and innovative concepts the rise of the

limited liability company the promul-gation of the ldquocheck-the-boxrdquo regula-tions and the use of hybrids that have fueled an explosion of tax planning op-portunities have led many companies both large and small to focus on the partnership form or the LLC form for structuring subsidiary operations and foreign operations More than ever be-fore corporate tax executives find they must advise senior management and outside counsel find they must advise their clients on the opportunities and pitfalls of structuring joint ventures and investments as partnerships or LLCs under Subchapter K of the Inter-nal Revenue Code

This three-day seminar will trace the partnership tax rules from the birth of

the partnership through its operating life with emphasis on tax issues and planning strategies and opportunities and then since for one reason or an-other such ventures frequently unwind either before or after satisfying their purpose will focus on exit strategies and tax planning possibilities in un-winding

MORE INFORMATION

What Auditing Techniques for Lead AuditorsWhere London United KingdomWhen 06 - 08 May 2013

Brief Description Understand the im-pact of corporate scandals and govern-ment legislation on the role of internal audit

Explore IIA guidance and best prac-tice auditing techniques

Learn how to successfully manage an audit from start to finish

Develop individual audit risk assess-ment strategies

Appreciate the value of persuasive evidence and how to effectively in-fluence successful outcomes

Apply project management tools and techniques to internal audit

Increase your fraud awareness

MORE INFORMATION

What Building Partnerships between Government amp Not-for-ProfitsWhere Melbourne AustraliaWhen 21 - 22 May 2013

Brief Description Government and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship and become genuine partners This conference will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to genuine partnership Since commit-ment to the National Compact Gov-ernment and Not-for-Profits have been working to reform their relationship

and become genuine partners Wersquove made great progress so far

(with the establishment of the ACNC and other regulatory reforms) but therersquos still some way to go This con-ference will provide you with an update on progress to date and will explore whatrsquos required to move closer to gen-uine partnership With contributions from all of the key players and unparal-leled cross-sectoral networking oppor-tunities this conference is one not to be missed

ldquoAustraliarsquos diverse not-for-profit sector is a cornerstone of our commu-

nity The Government has a compre-hensive plan to help support the not-for-profit sector by improving the ways we work together streamlining and simplifying regulation and promoting the long term sustainability of the sec-torrdquo The Hon Mark Butler MP Minis-ter for Social Inclusion 2012

MORE INFORMATION

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 30: GGI European Regional Conference

30

Content

FURTHER CONFERENCES amp EVENTS

Further Conferences amp EventsWhat Global Patent Strategy ExchangeWhere Dublin IrelandWhen 04 - 06 June 2013

Brief Description Develop profitable long-term patent initiatives at the Global Patent Strategy Exchange 2013 Designed exclusively for Heads of Pat-ent Heads of IP and General Counsel this invitation only event is an ideal platform to meet global patent leaders

share common pain points and formu-late practical strategies to effectively monetize and protect patent portfo-lios

Learn how you can be more innova-tive in patent prosecution protection valuation monetization and licens-ing to help you meet your strategic business goals and align them with your companyrsquos objectives In addi-tion to meeting you peers establish new relationships with world-class law

firms technology companies valua-tion firms brokers consultants and other solution providers in confidential meetings where you can discuss how you can take your patent portfolio to the next level

MORE INFORMATION

GGI European RegionalConference in Lisbon

See you inPortugal

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 31: GGI European Regional Conference

GGI INSIDER | No 64 | March 2013

31

Please notethe next GGI INSIDER

will be published in May 2013

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom

Page 32: GGI European Regional Conference

32

Content

ggicomggiforumcom