At GTG we provide individuals, corporate fiduciaries and charitable and non-profit entities with wealth management services. Our services include assistance in document preparation for and planning the management and transfer of property, and the administration of trusts, estates and other fiduciary accounts. Our overall objective in this regard is to implement the client's personal and business goals in a tax-efficient manner so as to minimize applicable tax, whether income, donation, transfer or inheritance-related. GTG also acts as administrator of estates and trusts with property in Malta.

Trusts
A trust is an obligation which binds a person or persons (the trustees) to deal with property over which they have control (the trust property) for the benefit of persons (the beneficiaries) or for a charitable purpose in accordance with the terms of the trust. Accordingly trusts can be set up for a number of uses ranging from wealth management, asset protection, and investment purposes, to providing a life annuity for a surviving spouse or a child with special needs.

The fundamental principle of a trust is to create a separate patrimony from that of the trustee so that it is exempt from seizure by the creditors of the trustee-debtor. Therefore the first advantage conferred by setting up a trust is that the trust property does not form part of the trustee’s personal estate upon his insolvency or bankruptcy, nor part of the matrimonial property of the trustee or his spouse or of the trustee’s estate upon his death.

The second advantage relates to resultant tax benefits, which under Maltese law revolve around the concept of “tax transparency”.  This effectively means that income attributable to a trust is not charged to tax in the hands of a trustee if it is distributed to a beneficiary. On the other hand, income attributable to a trust that is not distributed to beneficiaries is charged to tax in the hands of the trustee at the rate of 35%. If all the beneficiaries are non-resident and all the income does not arise in Malta, there is no taxation under Maltese law.

GTG helps its clients better understand the advantages of trust formation in the light of the Trusts and Trustees Act (Chapter 331 of the Laws of Malta) and other relevant legislation, and provides a range of services in relation to:

• Setting up trusts, including their creation according to the specific demands of the client and registration with the competent Authority, that is, the Malta Financial Services Authority.
• Providing the services of trustee, administrator or executor of trusts through Finac Limited, a sister company of GTG, which is licensed to act as a trustee.