Evaluating Trust Documents for Tax Consequences: Trust Types, Distribution and Termination Clauses, Beneficiary Powers

Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Tax Preparer
- event Date
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
110 minutes
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BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.
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BARBRI is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).
This course will explain common provisions found in trust documents that have meaningful tax consequences. Our panel of trust veterans will identify clauses found in trust documents that affect distributions, termination, and taxation of trusts and trust beneficiaries.
Faculty

Mr. Bridgers' practice encompasses all areas of private wealth and family business. In addition to estate planning and estate administration, he is experienced in mergers and acquisitions, taxation, business transactions, franchising, commercial contracts, asset protection, executive compensation, employee benefits, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, and nonprofit organizations. He counsels closely-held and family businesses, and nonprofit organizations, with their planning, succession, and liquidity needs in a variety of industries including tech, restaurant and retail, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, real estate, financial services, consulting, and professional staffing.

Mr. Doyle provides clients with integrated wealth management advice on how to hold, manage and transfer their wealth in a tax efficient manner. He is the editor and co-author of Preparing Fiduciary Income Tax Returns, a contributing author of Preparing Estate Tax Returns and Understanding and Using Trusts and a contributing author of Drafting Irrevocable Trusts in Massachusetts. He is a lecturer in law in the Graduate Tax Program at Boston University School of Law.
Description
The income tax treatment of different types of trusts varies significantly. Most notable is the taxation of grantor and non-grantor trusts, where the former taxes the individual who created the trust. The latter may tax the trust itself, its beneficiaries, or a combination of the two, depending on the type of trust and whether it is a simple or complex trust. The type of trust--revocable or irrevocable--influences the basis of assets held and whether beneficiaries may or may not receive a date of death step-up.
Common trust clauses impact distributions and grant powers to beneficiaries that ultimately control the trust and its beneficiaries' taxation. These include 5X5 withdrawal rights, HEMs, and spendthrift provisions. Tax professionals working with trusts need to identify and interpret common trust language that affects the taxation of the trust and its beneficiaries and the preparation of Form 1041.
Listen as our panel of trust taxation experts examines common provisions found in trust instruments for fiduciaries, tax practitioners, and trust advisers.
Outline
- Types of trusts
- Basis considerations
- Beneficiaries and powers
- Distributions and taxation
- Finalizing the trust
- Other income tax considerations
Benefits
The panel will review these and other critical issues:
- Determining tax differences between revocable and irrevocable trusts
- How the type of trust influences date of death step-up
- Identifying support and discretionary distribution clauses in the trust document
- Deciding when a trust is terminated based on the language in the trust document
NASBA Details
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Differentiate between different types of trusts
- Distinguish between the distribution systems of simple and complex trusts
- Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of various types of trusts
- Decide the tax consequences of including capital gain in distributable net income
- Identify the qualifications for making a QTIP election
- Field of Study: Taxes
- Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
- Advance Preparation: None
- Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
- Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
- Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
- Prerequisite: Three years+ business or public firm experience preparing complex tax forms and schedules, supervising other preparers or accountants. Specific knowledge and understanding of estate, gift and trust taxation including various trusts types, the unified credit, and portability.

Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

Strafford is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).
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