Structuring property ownership

Our Experts Answer:

For most people the choice of entity narrows down to a trust, LTC (lool through company) or personal ownership. A trust is the only entity that provides asset protection and you can now gift into it free of gift duty. The big drawback with a trust is that it can't distribute losses so losses are essentially ring fenced with it. A LTC provides limited liability rotection but is transparent for tax purposes i.e. profits and losses are accounted for directly by shareholders. The LTC does have a loss limitation rule that prevents losses greater to the money you have invested in the company from being flowed to shareholders. Personal ownership in a partnership has the benefit of simplicity, losses and profits are flowed to the partners directly. Partners are jointly and seperately liable for partnership debts though so there is no asset protection with a simple partnership. In making your choice you should budget the trading outcome from the investment to determine if you have a profit or a loss, this may start to narrow down the options. NZ doesn't have a capital gains tax yet.