The deed of segregation in trust is not subject to any proportional tax withdrawal

The Supreme Court ruled that the deed of segregation in trust does not trigger any indirect tax.

2019

By means of the judgement no. 16701, filed on 21st June 2019, which follows the three similar judgments no. 15453, 15455 and 15456, issued on 7th june 2019, the Supreme Court clarifies that the deed of segregation in trust – even following the entry in force of the article 2, paragraph 47 of Legislative Decree no. 2226/2006, through which has been extended the application of the inheritance and gifts tax to the creation of free restrictions to the assets’ destination – is not subject to any indirect tax withdrawal, regardless of the purposes of the trust.

In order to avoid any indirect tax withdrawal at the time of segregation, the Supreme Court deems relevant the sole fact that the deed of segregation in trust does not realize a definitive transfer of assets and rights to the trustee, but only a temporary transfer aimed at the subsequent assignment of assets and rights to the beneficiary.

In the light of the above, the transfer subject to taxation is the subsequent and definitive transfer towards the beneficiary, while the deed of segregation is subject only to the registration tax in a fixed amount (as well as to the mortgage and cadastral tax in a fixed amount, in the case of segregation in trust concerning real estates).

According to the Supreme Court, there is not even a difference between trust whose deeds of segregation might be qualified as onerous and the ones which do not provide any consideration or having liberal nature, nor does it matter the nature of self-declared trust or the purposes of the same trust (guarantee, liquidation or succession).