美国税法下外国设保人信托的定义
外国设保人信托是美国税法中的一个艺术术语。在外国设保人信托中需要定义 2 个修饰符：外国和设保人。
Foreign grantor trust是美国税法中的专业术语。要理解这一概念，需拆解其两个关键限定词：“foreign”和“grantor”。
（1）外国信托
“foreign trust”
A foreign trust under US tax law is not the same as a foreign trust under trust law. Under tax law, a foreign trust is a trust that meets either of the tests below:
Court test: A US court does not exercise primary supervision over the trust.[1]
Control test: There is no US person or group of US persons who control all substantial decisions of the trust.[2]
In general, a trust organized under non-US law and in a non-US jurisdiction meets the court test. It is a foreign trust under both trust law and tax law.
But because of the control test, it is possible for a trust to be organized under US trust law and be a foreign trust under US tax law. To achieve such a result, a foreign person can be given control or veto power over any of the decisions below:[3]
Whether and when to distribute income or corpus;
The amount of any distributions;
The selection of a beneficiary;
Whether a receipt is allocable to income or principal;
Whether to terminate the trust;
Whether to compromise, arbitrate, or abandon claims of the trust;
Whether to sue on behalf of the trust or to defend suits against the trust;
Whether to remove, add, or replace a trustee;
Whether to appoint a successor trustee to succeed a trustee who has died, resigned, or otherwise ceased to act as a trustee, even if the power to make such a decision is not accompanied by an unrestricted power to remove a trustee, unless the power to make such a decision is limited such that it cannot be exercised in a manner that would change the trust's residency from foreign to domestic, or vice versa; and
Investment decisions.
美国税法下的“foreign trust”与信托法中的“外国信托”概念不同。根据税法定义，符合以下任何测试的信托即构成外国信托：
法院测试：美国法院不对该信托行使主要监管权；
控制测试：美国个人或团体不能控制信托的所有重大决策。
通常情况下，依据非美国法律且在非美国司法管辖区设立的信托自然满足法院测试，这类信托在信托法和税法下均属于外国信托和foreign trust。
但由于控制测试，即使依据美国信托法设立的信托，也可能被认定为美国税法下的foreign trust。要实现这种结果，可赋予外国人士对以下任一决策的控制权或否决权：
是否及何时分配收益或本金；
分配的金额；
受益人的选定；
收入应归类为收益还是本金；
是否终止信托；
是否和解、仲裁或放弃信托索赔权；
是否代表信托提起诉讼或应诉；
是否撤换、增补或更换受托人；
在受托人死亡、辞职或停止履职时是否任命继任受托人（即使该任命权未附带不受限制的受托人撤换权），但若该决策权受到限制以致无法改变信托的税收居民身份（外国变更为美国或反之）则除外；
投资决策。
（2）Grantor trust
“grantor trust”
A grantor trust refers to a trust whose income is imputed to the grantor, regardless of whether there is any distribution or whether the grantor is a beneficiary.[4]The grantor is deemed to be an owner of the trust under income tax rules.
The grantor is a US tax term that is not the same as the settlor under trust law. The grantor refers to anyone who transfers assets into a trust.[5]By contrast, in some jurisdictions (such as Australia), the common practice is for the settlor to be a professional nominee whose only purpose is to set up the trust.
A grantor trust is only an income tax classification. It does not necessarily reflect its estate tax or gift tax attributes. It is possible for a grantor to be deemed the owner of the trust assets under income tax rules but not estate or gift tax rules.
Grantor trust是指即使信托未分配利益或grantor不是受益人，信托收入根据所得税规则归属于grantor的信托。在这种情况下，grantor被视为信托资产的所有者。
Grantor是美国税法术语，与信托法中的“委托人”（settlor）不同。Grantor指任何将资产转入信托的人。相比之下，在某些区域(如澳大利亚)，通常由专业名义人作为“委托人”（settlor）来设立信托。
Grantor trust仅是所得税层面的分类，不一定反映其在遗产税或赠与税的后果。可能出现grantor在所得税规则下被视为信托所有者，但在遗产税或赠与税规则下却不被视为所有者的情况。
（3）Achieving grantor trust status for a foreign trust
外国信托怎么能成为grantor trust
The rules for grantor trust status depend on 1. Whether the trust is US or foreign and 2. Whether the grantor is US or foreign.
Assuming the trust is foreign:
The grantor is a US person: If the trust has or may have a US person as beneficiary, then the trust is a grantor trust.[6]There are other rules under which the trust may be a grantor trust, but the most common reason is that it has a US beneficiary.
The grantor is a foreign person: The trust is a grantor trust only if the foreign grantor has power to take back trust assets.[7]
Grantor trust身份的认定规则取决于两个因素：1. 信托本身是US trust还是foreign trust；2. grantor是美国还是外国人。
假设信托是个外国信托：
若grantor是美国人，且该信托有或可能有美国受益人时，则该信托被认定为grantor trust。虽然还有其他可能导致信托被认定为grantor trust的规则，但最常见的原因就是信托有美国受益人。
若grantor是外国人，则仅当该外国grantor有撤回信托资产的权力时，该外国信托才会被认定为grantor trust。
2. Potential uses for a foreign grantor trust when the grantor and family are emigrants to the US
当grantor及其家庭移民美国时，foreign grantor trust的用途
（1）In most cases, it is to meet a non-tax objective
多数情况下，委托人想达到的目的和税务无关
A foreign grantor trust (FGT) with a US grantor imputes its income to the US grantor, so there is no income tax advantage to using a FGT.
In most cases, a US person chooses a foreign trust for reasons other than tax planning. They may have a relationship with a family office outside the US, or they want to appoint a non-US friend or relative to control part of the trust.
For an immigrant family, a common reason to have a foreign trust is to appoint a relative who has not emigrated to the US to be the trust protector and give them the power to replace the trustee for any reason. The non-US protector means the trust meets the control test to be a foreign trust, and the presence of US beneficiaries makes it a grantor trust.
Foreign grantor trust（FGT）的收入直接计入美国grantor的应税收入，因此使用FGT并无所得税的优势。
大多数情况下，美国人选择外国信托是出于税务规划以外的考虑。他们可能与美国的境外家族办公室有关系，或者希望委任非美国的朋友或亲属参与信托的控制。
对于移民家庭，设立外国信托的一个常见原因是为了委任未移民美国的亲属为信托保护人，并赋予其无条件更换受托人的权力。这类非美国保护人使信托满足foreign trust的“控制测试”，而美国受益人的存在又使其符合grantor trust的条件。
（2）Tax use: intentionally defective grantor trust
税务用途：intentionally defective grantor trust （IDGT）
A grantor trust can be used to make non-taxable gifts to the grantor’s heirs.
US citizens and foreign citizens domiciled in the US have a lifetime gift and estate exemption amount of $15,000,000 (adjusted for inflation), as well as annual exclusions of $19,000 (adjusted for inflation).[8]These exemptions limit the amount of gift and inheritance that can be transferred to heirs free of tax.
Normally, if person A pays person B’s income tax, it is a gift.[9]But when a grantor pays tax on a grantor trust’s income, it is not a gift to the beneficiaries.[10]By using complete gifts to create a grantor trust whose assets are not included in the grantor’s estate, the grantor can in effect make non-taxable gifts to the heirs by paying the tax on the trust’s income. This type of trust is called an intentionally defective grantor trust (IDGT).
It is possible to create a US trust that is intentionally defective.[11]But if the grantor is not satisfied with any of the methods of making a US trust into an IDGT, then an easy method if creating an IDGT is to use a foreign trust, because any foreign trust created by a US grantor and has US beneficiaries is a grantor trust.
Grantor trust可用于向继承人进行免税赠与。
美国公民及在美国定居的外国公民享有1,500万美元（随通胀调整）的终身赠与及遗产税免税额，以及每年19,000美元（随通胀调整）的年度免税额。这些免税额限制了可免税转移给继承人的赠与及遗产金额。
通常情况下，若甲为乙支付所得税，该行为构成赠与。但当grantor为grantor trust的收入缴所得税时，不视为对受益人的赠与。如果设立资产不计入grantor遗产的grantor trust，grantor实际上可通过为信托收入缴税的方式，免税赠与继承人。此类信托被称为“intentionally defective grantor trust”（IDGT）。
虽然可以设立美国的IDGT，但若grantor对美国信托被视为IDGT的任何方式都不满意，则可使用外国信托，因为任何由美国grantor设立且拥有美国受益人的外国信托，均被视为grantor trust。
（3）Drawbacks to a foreign grantor trust
foreign grantor trust 的短处
There are drawbacks to a foreign grantor trust.
The trust, the grantor, and/or beneficiaries must file Form 3520 and Form 3520-A to report transfers to, ownership of, and/or distributions from a foreign grantor trust.[12]The penalties for not filing Form 3520 start at $10,000 and can reach 35% of the value transferred to the trust, 35% of the value received from the trust, or 5% of the trust assets deemed to be owned by the grantor.[13]For not filing Form 3520-A, the grantor is subject to a penalty of $10,000 or 5% of trust assets deemed to be owned by the grantor, whichever is higher.[14]
If a beneficiary does not receive a foreign grantor trust beneficiary statement (page 5 of Form 3520-A) in any year in which they received a trust distribution, then they must use a punitive method of calculating tax on the distribution for that year and all subsequent years.[15]The calculation method can convert distribution of trust principal into taxable income for the beneficiary.[16]
When the grantor dies, the trust is likely to convert into a foreign nongrantor trust. The trust and beneficiaries must deal with accumulation distribution rules, which require significant historical accounting to properly report.[17]
All the reporting rules and accounting rules narrows the field of competent trustees and accountants and add significant maintenance costs over a standard trust.
Foreign grantor trust有若干短处。
信托、grantor和/或受益人必须提交Form 3520和Form 3520-A，用以申报向foreign grantor trust的资产转移、所有权及分配情况。未提交Form 3520的处罚起点为10,000美元，最高可达转入信托资产价值的35%、从信托接收的资产价值的35%，或grantor持有信托资产价值的5%。若未提交Form 3520-A，grantor将面临10,000美元或持有信托资产价值5%的罚款（以较高者为准）。
如果受益人某年度从信托获得分配款，但未收到该年度的foreign grantor trust beneficiary statement（Form 3520-A第5页），则必须采用惩罚性计税方式计算该年度及后续所有年度的所得税。这种计算方法可能将信托本金的分配转化为受益人的应税收入。
当grantor去世时，信托通常会转为foreign nongrantor trust。此时信托与受益人需遵循累积分配规则（accumulation distribution rules），这要求保存完整的历史账目记录才能合规申报。
因为上述规则，可选的受托人及会计师的范围比较小，使维护成本显著高于标准信托。
3. Potential uses for a foreign grantor trust when the grantor is not emigrating to the US, but the beneficiaries are US persons
grantor不移民美国而受益人为美国纳税人时，foreign grantor trust的潜在用途
Sometimes a family’s grandparent or parent generation stay in the home country, while the children or grandchildren emigrate to the US. In this situation, a trust would have a foreign grantor and US beneficiaries.
When a foreign grantor trust (FGT) has a foreign grantor, income that is not US source or effectively connected with a US trade or business avoids US income tax altogether, even when distributed to a US beneficiary.[18]But the FGT is likely to convert to a foreign nongrantor trust when the grantor dies, so it is recommended to plan for the change in tax attributes.
There is only one way for a foreign grantor to create a foreign grantor trust: Reserve the power to take out trust assets for themselves.[19]This means any assets located in the US and in the FGT would be subject to US estate tax.[20]
Considering the income and estate tax attributes of a FGT with a foreign grantor, it is only appropriate for holding non-US assets such as shares of a family-owned business in the home country.
当祖父母或父母一辈留在祖国，而子女或孙辈移民美国，这种情况下，设立的信托可能由foreign grantor设立，而受益人则是美国税务居民。
当foreign grantor trust（FGT）的grantor是外国人时，只要信托收入并非美国来源，即使分配给美国受益人，也完全无需缴纳美国所得税。但一旦grantor去世，FGT通常会转变为foreign nongrantor trust（FNGT），因此建议提前规划以应对税务属性的变化。
Foreign grantor设立foreign grantor trust只有一种方式：保留撤回信托资产权。这也意味着，如果FGT持有美国境内资产，这些资产将适用美国遗产税。
综合考虑FGT在所得税和遗产税方面的属性，此类信托仅适合持有非美国资产，例如祖国的家族企业股权等。
●注释：
[1]26 CFR 301.7701-7(a)(2), (a)(1)(i).
[2]26 CFR 301.7701-7(a)(2), (a)(1)(ii).
[3]26 CFR 301.7701-7(d)(1)(ii).
[4]See e.g. 26 USC 671 – 679.
[5]See e.g. 26 USC 671 – 679.
[6]26 USC 679.
[7]26 USC 672(f)(2).
[8]26 USC 2010(c)(3)(A), as amended by OBBBA section 70106(a); Rev. Proc. 2024-45, section 2.43(1).
[9]See 26 CFR 25.2511-1.
[10]Rev. Rul. 2004-64.
[11]26 USC 673-677.
[12]See Form 3520, 3520-A, and instructions to both.
[13]Form 3520 instructions.
[14]Form 3520-A instructions.
[15]Form 3520 instructions; Form 3520, part III, line 29; Form 3520-A, page 5.
[16]See Form 3520, part III, schedule A.
[17]See Form 3520, part III, schedule B.
[18]26 USC 871, 102.
[19]26 USC 672(f)(2).
[20]26 USC 2038, 2101, 2103.
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