2.15.Op 6 oktober 2014 heeft de Inspecteur via de Central Liaison Office te Almelo (hierna: CLO) aan de autoriteiten in Jersey op de voet van artikel 4 van het Verdrag tussen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden en de Staten van Jersey inzake de uitwisseling van informatie betreffende belastingzaken (hierna: de TIEA) informatie gevraagd over de Trust (hierna: het informatieverzoek). In het informatieverzoek is het volgende opgenomen:
“
Time period or taxable event for which or in relation to which the information is sought:
The information is requested for the period 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2013 inclusive.
Reason for requesting information from 2008
Section 16, par 4 of the Dutch General Tax Act determines that, if too little tax has been levied on a part of the object of any tax which is held or has emerged abroad, additional tax assessments can be made until 12 years after the tax debt came about.
On 22 April 1985, Mr [belanghebbende] set up a trust, named [naam4] The Trust is formally set up by [naam13] , [adres4] , [plaats5] . Trustee was toen [naam13] , [adres5] , [plaats6] . Later on, Equity Trust took over the role of trustee. Beneficiaries are the persons mentioned in part 2 of the Second Schedule: two French charities and the persons added by the trustee. Mr [belanghebbende] is one of the beneficiaries.
Over the years, [belanghebbende] has drawn up several letters of wishes. The NTCA assumes that he drew up a letter of wishes on or around the date the Trust was set up. The content of this letter of wishes is unknown to the NTCA. On 25 April 1996, [belanghebbende] drew up a new letter of wishes, of which the content is also unknown. On 23 September 2002, [belanghebbende] replaces the old letter of wishes by the new one. This letter of wishes shows that [belanghebbende] is closely involved and that he made two Dutch charities and a certain person “Mr [naam10] ” beneficiaries after his death. The details of this person were made illegible. The authorised representative, Mr [naam1] , is given an important role in the execution of Mr [belanghebbende] 's wishes.
The NTCA has no annual accounts of the Trust, apart from one A4 paper with the heading: “Balance Sheet (as at 31 December 2005)”. At the end of 2005, the equity of the Trust amounts to € 2,175,029.
The participation in the balance sheet is probably [naam8] Ltd. This is also the most important possession of the trust. The Trust incorporated this company in 1995. [naam8] Ltd is a company incorporated under Jersey law and is registered with the Chamber of Commerce in Jersey under no. 62795. The business address is [adres4] [plaats5] . The (practically) sole activity of [naam8] Ltd is investing in a villa in the Netherlands.
Mr [belanghebbende] re-emigrated from Belgium to the Netherlands on 22 June 1998. In the meantime, he also lived in Spain and in the UK. His wife does not come with him to the Netherlands.
[naam4]
I would like to receive all the business records of [naam4] (this includes all correspondence, letters, memos, file notes, telephone discussions or instructions, in any form, relating to the activities of [naam4] or relating to any correspondence between the Trustee and Mr [belanghebbende] or his authorized representative concerning [naam4] ), as from the moment it was set up until 31 December 2013 inclusive.
In my view, these business records include at least the information mentioned below regarding the period from 1 January 2008 up to and including 31 December 2013:
I. What type of Trust is [naam4] (for example, a discretionary trust, a lift interest trust, a purpose trust, etc.)?
II. Copies of the following documents relating to [naam4]
a. The trust deed and any amending deeds;
b. Letter of indemnity;
c. Letter of wishes;
d. Declaration of Trust;
e. Memorandum or deed of addition;
f. Authorisations (for example for granting loans to beneficiaries, or for making certain investments);
g. Notarial deeds of transfer of assets and private agreements;
h. All correspondence (such as bank statements, authorisation forms, opening forms, closing forms) with regard to bank accounts of [naam4] and its subsidiaries;
i. Computer files relating to [naam4] ;
j. Any letters, memos, emails, file notes of telephone discussions or instructions, in any form, which refer to or contain details of the settlor(s) or beneficiaries of [naam4] ;
k. All documents concerning the settled funds/assets and any other property held by the trustee; the management and investment of those funds/assets and the distribution of any of the assets, capital or income held in trust.
III. Copies of any financial accounts or statements, relating to [naam4]
Trust, prepared by or on behalf of the trustees of [naam13] / [naam5] which include the period in whole or in part.
IV. Details of all depositions or payments (including the amounts and dates) made by the
trustee to Mr [belanghebbende] or his dependents during the period; whether directly or indirectly and whether by loan, gift, transfer or any other means whatsoever or made to any other person at their request, will or instruction.
V. Order or client form, or management agreement which states which services are exactly ordered, and who are the beneficiaries of the trust (KYC = Know Your Client);
VI. Copies of any other correspondence (not already provided under II-V above) between
the trustees and Mr [belanghebbende] .
[naam8]
I would like to receive all the business records of [naam8] (this includes all correspondence, letters, memos, file notes, telephone discussions or instructions, in any form, relating to the activities of [naam8] or relating to any correspondence between the director/management and Mr [belanghebbende] or his authorized representative concerning [naam8] ), as from the moment it was set up until 31 December 2013 inclusive.
In my view, these business records include at least the information mentioned below regarding the period from 1 January 2008 up to and including 31 December 2013:
I. Copies of the following documents relating to [naam8]
a. Authorisations (for example for granting loans to beneficiaries, or for making certain investments);
b. Notarial deeds of transfers of assets and private agreements;
c. All correspondence (such as bank statements, authorisation forms, opening forms, closing forms) with regard to bank accounts of [naam8] and its subsidiaries;
d. Computer files relating to [naam8] ;
e. Any letters, memos, emails, file notes of telephone discussions or instructions, in any form, which refer to or contain details of the beneficiaries of [naam8] ;
f. All documents concerning the settled funds/assets and any other property held by the director, the management and investment of those funds/assets and the distribution of any of the assets, capital or income held in limited.
II. Copies of any financial accounts or statements, relating to [naam8] and its subsidiaries, prepared by or on behalf of the director/management of [naam5] which
include the period in whole or in part.
III. Details of all depositions or payments (including the amounts and dates) made by the
Limited/director to Mr [belanghebbende] or his dependents during the period; whether directly or indirectly and whether by loan, gift, transfer or any other means whatsoever or made to any other person at their request, will or instruction.
IV. Order or client form, or management agreement which states which services are exactly ordered, and who are the beneficiaries of the Limited (KYC = Know Your Client);
V. Copies of any other correspondence (not already provided under I - IV above) between
the director/management and Mr [belanghebbende] .
General remark in relation to the requested information
In my opinion, this case concerns a ‘criminal tax matter’ covered by the TIEA. This means that information can be requested in relation to the period prior to the TIEA coming into force. In addition, I would like to remark that the business records of [naam4] and [naam8] regarding the years prior to 2009 affect the taxation of the period after 1 January 2009. These business records give insight into transparency of [naam4] and [naam8] and the realisation of the values in Trust and Limited. Mr [belanghebbende] ’s power of disposal of the assets can have great influence on the determination of the ultimate values. As ultimate beneficiary, Mr [belanghebbende] has an actual interest in the results of the Trust and the Limited, because these affect the valuations in the tax returns after 1 January 2009. These values are important for the valuation of the assets and liabilities (box 3) in the income tax returns.
In my opinion, the result of the above is that the period in relation to which information can be requested is not limited to 1 January 2009 - 31 December 2013, but the information can be requested in relation to the entire period as from the set-up of [naam4] and [naam8] .
(…)
Tax purpose for which the information is requested. Please indicate:
□ determination, assessment & collection of taxes
□ recovery and enforcement of tax claims
□ investigation of civil tax matters
X investigation or prosecution of criminal tax matters
□ other (please specify):
Intentionally filing incorrect gift tax returns, inheritance tax returns and income tax returns regarding the years 2008-2012, by not mentioning the possession of foreign allocated funds is punishable under Section 69 of the General Tax Act. Therefore, I rely on the retroactive provision as referred to in Article 11, par. a of the Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the States of Jersey for the exchange of information relating to tax matters.
(…)
Power of disposition - income tax interest requirement
In 1985, the Supreme Court pronounced judgement that is vital for the (Dutch) foundation, and that also applies to other allocated funds, such as the Trust and Limited, according to the general assumptions in the literature. The question that raised in the judgement, was whether a taxpayer- sole director of a foundation - had such power of disposition of the assets available that they should be allocated to him.
In HR 30 October 1985, no. 22715, BNB 1986/16 in r.o. 42, the Supreme Court took into
consideration that:
“If it is established that a taxpayer can dispose of the available assets of the foundation as if it were his own assets, there is no need to meet the requirement as referred to in the plea, to treat the available assets of the foundation as if they were the taxpayer's own assets for the levy of income and wealth tax.”
The independence of the foundation (Trust/Limited) is absent if founders/capital providers/directors/beneficiaries can dispose of the foundation’s assets as if they were their own assets, according to the judgement pronounced with regard to income tax. In that case the assets of the foundation and the income resulting from it, are allocated to them who have the disposition of power.
In this case, it is vital for the levy of taxes in the Netherlands to be able to prove the transparency of [naam4] and [naam8] , and to show that the assets of [naam4] and [naam8] remained in disposal of Mr [belanghebbende] , as if they were his own assets. To substantiate this transparency the accounts of [naam4] and [naam8] are very important sources of information.
In order to prove this transparency it is especially important to know the facts and circumstances in the period before 2009. To a major extent, the execution of the events in this period determine whether the assets of [naam4] and [naam8] remained in disposal of Mr [belanghebbende] as if they were his own assets. For the levy of income tax for the years 2009 to 2013 inclusive, the NTCA also has to prove the transparency with regard to the assets.
The events in the years before 2009 form the basis for this transparency. The information
regarding this period is vital for the determination of the tax obligations for the years 2009-2013 inclusive.
(…)
Request to refrain from notifying the taxpayer(s) involved. Please indicate:
X Yes □ No
If yes, please indicate the reason(s):
□ disclosure might identify a person who has provided information
□ there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the taxpayer has committed a relevant
criminal offence
X disclosure of that information would prejudice the assessment or collection of tax
□ other (please specify):
(…)”