Title: Home Away From Home: Structuring the Foreign Acquisition of a US Personal Residence
Presenters: Eli Akhavan, Partner of Steptoe & Johnson LLP and Robert Dienes from Brown Harris Stevens.
Description: Please join us for this presentation by Eli Akhavan, Partner of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. In addition, Robert Dienes from Brown Harris Stevens will review the New York City residential real estate market and highlight recent trends with international buyers and sellers. When a foreigner purchases a US residence, tax issues may not be the priority, especially if the main goal is to “get the deal done”. However, prior to the acquisition, the purchaser needs to establish a structure to align with their investment, succession, and tax planning objectives as it may be too late to do so after the purchase. Eli Akhavan will discuss different structuring options for a foreign investment in US residential real estate and the estate and income tax considerations that need to be considered by advisors. The program will cover the following:
- Structuring options for foreign investment in a US residence
- Estate and income tax consequences of different structures
- Potential benefits of a tax treaty
- Tax issues related to personal use of home
Eli Akhavan focuses his practice on tax and estate planning for US and non-US clients. He advises domestic and international individuals and families with respect to tax and estate planning for their US assets and beneficiaries. Eli also advises cross-border clients on all aspects of international estate matters, including foreign trusts, pre-immigration, and expatriation planning, and on planning for the purchase of US residential and investment real property. Eli's practice includes advising clients on the formation of private trust companies for purposes of wealth management and privacy.
Eli employs sophisticated wills and trusts and closely held entities to enable ultra-affluent clients to transfer their wealth and minimize tax. He also counsels US and non-US individuals and families on implementing domestic and foreign asset protection structures, integrates innovative private placement life insurance planning into estate and asset protection plans, and advises US clients on Puerto Rico's Act 60.
Eli has served as an adjunct professor of law at St. John's University Law School teaching International Taxation. Eli is an active member of numerous bar and professional associations including the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association, STEP New York, and the New York State Bar Association.
Robert Dienes, with Brown Harris Stevens in New York City as a Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker, will cover the current state of the New York City residential real estate marketplace. He will also focus on international real estate buyers and sellers including the types of and location of international participants and the recent trends in their New York City activity. He will also discuss the impacts of international buyers on the new real estate developments the market is continuing to see in New York City, Miami, and other major US cities. Robert works with and advises individual clients and families, executors of estates, and attorneys advising their domestic and international clients on US transactions across a range of property types including townhouses, condominiums, cooperative building apartments, and new residential development buildings in New York City. Robert has 35 years of professional real estate experience, including in the commercial real estate arena, and has worked with hundreds of US and international clients in the New York City marketplace.
Thank you to our sponsor AlTi Tiedemann Global.