The Global Residence & Citizenship Conference will be held at The Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong on 19-21 November 2008, following its successful debut in Dubai last year. The event which is co-organised by HSBC and Henley & Partners will address important and current issues on residence and citizenship which will be of immense value to international clients and those seeking to relocate for business purposes in order to spread their assets and activities worldwide or for personal reasons. Leading experts from HSBC and Henley & Partners will provide residence options available in some very attractive countries with individual workshops and one-on-one meetings to explore all possibilities for clients. For more details click here.

More international firms are setting up holding companies in Switzerland with the figures rising to 25% last year. Credit risk firm Dunn & Bradstreet reports that 2,113 holding companies were set up in Switzerland in 2007. There are now 20,000 holding companies in Switzerland with foreign firms making up a larger proportion. Under Swiss law, cantons can exempt taxes on holding, mixed and management company profits earned abroad. In recent years in order to attract more foreign firms many cantons have taken more tax cutting measures with cantons such as Zug, Schwyz and Obwalden taking full advantage. Although some European countries complain that the tax breaks represent an unfair subsidy, Switzerland has denied the charges and is locked in a dispute with the European Commission over tax breaks. However, more international firms seem to benefit from the favourable tax regime. The Dunn & Bradstreet report found that the holding company boom continues in Switzerland with 323 enterprises founded in the first two months of 2008. For more information on Swiss tax regime click here.

The new regime regarding non-UK trusts is to be introduced with effect from 6 April this year. The proposed expansion of the disclosure rules for non-UK trusts has been dropped in the recent 2008 budget though the £30,000 annual flat charge remains. Under the new tax regime non-domiciles who have been resident in the UK for seven out of ten years will have to pay a £30,000 charge in addition to tax on UK income. However, non-doms will not be required to make any additional disclosures about their income and gains arising abroad as long as they declare their remittances to the UK and pay UK tax on them. Money brought into the UK to pay the £30,000 charge will not itself be taxable. Particular concessions have also been made in relation to art and it is still possible to bring art works into the UK for public display without incurring a charge to tax. The clarification came in a letter sent by Dave Hartnett, the acting head of HM Revenue and Customs. It also said that "there will be no retrospection in the treatment of trusts and the tax changes will not apply to gains accrued or realised prior to the changes coming into effect". The government will also continue to hold discussions with the US tax authorities on how Americans in the UK can make the £30,000 charge creditable against US tax. However the concern remains that the levy will deter non-doms from coming to the UK. For more details on alternative tax haven click here.