Taiwan Eases Tax Rules for Successive-Beneficiary Trusts to Advance Asian Asset Management Hub

Families seeking to pass assets down through successive generations can use a successive-beneficiary trust to stipulate the order and conditions under which beneficiaries inherit. Uncertainty over the legal and tax treatment of subsequent beneficiaries had previously impeded long-term succession planning. Clarifying the framework could keep family wealth in Taiwan and support the Financial Supervisory Commission’s push to develop family offices and establish Taiwan as an Asian asset management hub.

On May 5, 2026, the Executive Yuan coordinated an agreement among the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice and Financial Supervisory Commission. Contracts may run for up to 100 years, provided settlors retain no right to change beneficiaries and beneficiaries do not exercise effective control over the assets. Descendants who receive beneficial interests under the contract will no longer face repeated estate or gift taxation. The trust remains subject to a one-time tax when established, while income generated by its assets is subject to income tax. Accountants estimate that transferring NT$1 billion across three generations could save nearly NT$400 million at most.