Italian Supreme Court confirms foreign trusts should receive tax treaty benefits

The Italian Supreme Court has officially confirmed in two new legal decisions that trusts are entitled to tax relief under Italy's double tax conventions, regardless of any specific provision for them. The Supreme Court's judgments represent an important recognition of trusts in Italy. The two decisions (which are identical but referring to different tax years) involve National Westminster Bank (NatWest) in its capacity as trustee of the Baring Global Growth Trust. NatWest, at the end of the 1990s, invested in shares in Italian companies whose dividends (received between 1995-2000) we...