Cross-border tax planning

When a person, an asset and a beneficiary all live in the same country, the tax picture on death is usually a single-country question. As soon as any of those three sit in different countries, more than one tax authority can take an interest in the same estate. The interaction between countries, sometimes mitigated by tax treaties, sometimes not, is what makes cross-border tax planning a specialism in its own right.

What follows are general concepts that come up often in cross-border conversations. They are not the rules in any specific country. Anyone planning a cross-border estate will benefit from speaking to a professional who knows both the relevant rules and the treaty positions between the countries concerned.

• Domicile and residence. Different countries use different concepts to decide whether you fall under their tax net on death. Definitions of domicile, habitual residence, tax residence and citizenship-based taxation vary, and the same person can be assessed differently by different authorities. The connecting factor can also change over time. The UK, for example, moved the basis for inheritance tax scope from domicile to long-term residence from 6 April 2025, and how that test applies to any individual is a question for a qualified tax adviser. Our UK inheritance tax and long-term residence guide sets out the background. See also our domicile vs tax residence page for a side-by-side comparison.
• Worldwide vs source-based reach. Some countries tax people on assets anywhere in the world based on a connecting factor such as domicile, long-term residence or citizenship. Others focus only on assets situated within their borders. Many positions sit between these two extremes.
• Estate tax vs inheritance tax. Some systems tax the estate as a whole, before distribution; others tax the recipient based on what they receive and the relationship to the deceased. The difference can change who actually pays.
• Tax-free thresholds and reliefs. Many systems include exemptions or reliefs based on relationship, asset type, or amount. The level and conditions vary between countries and over time.
• Bilateral tax treaties. Some country pairs have treaties intended to reduce double taxation. Their scope, mechanics and the credits they allow vary considerably.
• Lifetime gifts. Many systems treat gifts made during life as relevant to taxes on death, sometimes for several years afterwards. Cross-border gifting can interact with multiple regimes at once.

None of the points below are universally true. They are observed patterns that often deserve attention in a cross-border conversation:

• Two countries that each consider an estate fully within their reach, with no treaty to coordinate the result
• An asset that is taxed where it is situated and where the deceased was tax-resident at the same time
• Lifetime gifts that drop out of one country’s window only to remain in another’s
• Beneficiary designations on policies and pensions that are treated favourably for tax under one regime and disregarded by another
• Mismatches between what counts as "the estate" in different countries, for example community-property regimes versus separate-property regimes
• Currency and valuation differences between when an asset is reported in one country and when it is reported in another
• Reporting and filing obligations that fall on the executor or the heirs, not on the deceased

A combined legal and tax view tends to be most valuable when:

• You hold meaningful assets in more than one country
• You are about to move country, change citizenship, marry, divorce or have a child
• You hold business interests, trusts or significant equity that span jurisdictions
• An estate is approaching the threshold at which one or more countries levy a tax
• You are weighing up gifts during your lifetime against transfers on death
• An existing plan was drawn up before a major life change and has not been reviewed since

The cross-border intake includes an optional indication that you are interested in tax planning. When that option is selected, professionals in our marketplace whose declared practice areas include tax planning or inheritance tax planning rank higher among your matches, alongside legal-only matches, and the same filter carries through if you browse the wider directory. You stay in control, and you decide whether to contact anyone, and any engagement is between you and the professional on their own terms.