In 2017, Immigration New Zealand announced policy changes for the Investor Migrant category visas to New Zealand which will encourage more charitable donations.
These changes mean that people looking to move to New Zealand under an Investor Migrant Visa can now use up to 15% of their investment funds as a charitable gift.
This means that for those people who are already philanthropically minded in their home countries, they can continue to do so in the NZ charitable sector and have it count towards their visa requirements.
Read more about the details on the Immigration NZ website here.
How The Gift Trust can help
For many international migrants, knowledge of the New Zealand charity sector may be limited. The Gift Trust, as a registered charity which meets the philanthropic giving requirements of Immigration NZ, can help clients to invest their philanthropic funds and provides advice and support on NZ charities.
Benefits of using The Gift Trust donor advised fund for Investor Migrants are:
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Time: Setting up Gift Account with the Gift Trust qualifies as a philanthropic gift and this allows new migrants to New Zealand to gain the benefit for their visa immediately. This gives our clients the time and space to get settled in New Zealand before they decide which charities they will support using these funds. When clients are ready The Gift Trust can then provide guidance and advice on possible beneficiary charities.
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Expert support: The Gift Trust’s team can provide expert philanthropic advice and support about New Zealand charities in line with clients philanthropic values.
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Flexibility: Donations can be made from a Gift Trust account at any time and to any charity throughout New Zealand. We can also make a limited number of international donations.
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Growth: Philanthropic funds can grow while awaiting distribution to the charities of your choice.
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Family involvement: Allows for family to become involved in local giving as they become more established within New Zealand.
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No immediate spend down requirements: Unlike other countries offering donor advised funds, there are currently no spend down requirements, but we do request a donation be made at least ever three years.
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Transfers from international donor advised funds: The Gift Trust has supported donors who have donor advised funds based in other countries, to transfer some of these funds for their charitable giving in New Zealand.
If you are looking at an Investor Migrant Visa and wish to consider philanthropic giving as part of your investments, please talk to us to find out more.