Only two days remain until 2017. Prior to this, the tax bureau drafted and released the Management Measures for Due Diligence on Financial Accounts Involving Non-Residents (Draft for Comments). According to the regulations, starting January 1, 2017, China will officially investigate the financial accounts of high-net-worth individuals with assets exceeding 6 million, and the first information exchange will take place in 2018, which has sparked widespread discussion about the CRS in the country for the first time.
In fact, the CRS is not a new topic. As early as September 2014, our country committed at the G20 level to implement the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, aiming to enhance global tax cooperation to improve tax transparency and combat tax evasion through cross-border financial accounts.
Of course, the implementation of the CRS will not have any immediate impact on the general public and high-net-worth individuals who do not invest overseas. However, for high-net-worth individuals who hold offshore assets, by the end of 2018, in less than two years, all asset information of these individuals and enterprises will be disclosed to the Chinese tax authorities. This also means that the era of asymmetry in international economic exchanges and international tax management information will come to an end, and the era of global taxation is about to arrive.
The CRS assesses based on the country of residence; the location of tax residency will determine to which country's tax authorities tax information is provided. If a person is recognized as a tax resident of China, the account information they hold overseas, regardless of whether it is in Hong Kong, Australia, Switzerland, or other countries and regions, must be provided to the Chinese tax authorities. Conversely, if a country recognizes you as a national, then you are not required to declare your assets to other countries.
As the global taxation era approaches, an increasing number of high-net-worth individuals or enterprises are inclined to acquire a nationality from a low-tax or tax-exempt country when arranging global asset allocations or to engage in reasonable tax avoidance through the allocation of overseas real estate. This is one of the reasons why the Antigua fast passport program has gained popularity among investors as a tax haven. Although Antigua has joined the CRS, the Antigua government will not exchange information regarding assets held under the names of Antigua citizens with other countries. Moreover, Antigua’s superior tax regime, which exempts property tax, income tax, gift tax, and inheritance tax, makes it an excellent choice for reasonable tax savings for both enterprises and individuals. Investors can use their Antigua citizenship to establish offshore companies, open overseas bank accounts, and conduct overseas investments as part of a comprehensive wealth planning and allocation strategy. This is exceptionally attractive for enterprises or wealthy individuals looking to expand their overseas businesses or preserve their wealth.
The luxurious resort project, Carlyle Resort, launched by Worldway Immigration and jointly invested and owned by the Antigua government and the royal family of the United Arab Emirates, is the first real estate project approved by the Antigua government for investment citizenship. It is expected to have a total investment of $150 million, recruiting 50 investors globally, each investing $400,000 to subscribe for equity in the hotel, allowing them to apply for a Commonwealth passport for the whole family across four generations. Five years later, the project team promises to fully refund the investors’ principal through a buyback, and the recovery of funds will not affect their citizenship status. This is the first project among Commonwealth countries to promise repayment to investors seeking citizenship — is there anything more advantageous than obtaining a passport for free?
For more details on the Antigua Fast Passport Program, please call the customer service hotline: 400—138—2929.