MARCH 23, 2015 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 12
Last week we wrote about how to handle income tax returns for self-settled special needs trusts. Our simple message: such trusts will always be “grantor trusts”, an income tax term that means they do not pay a separate tax or even file a separate return.
This week we’re going to try to explain third-party trust taxation. Unfortunately, the rules are not as straightforward or as simple. But that doesn’t mean you won’t understand them.
First, a quick definition of terms. A “third-party” special needs trust is one established by the person owning funds for the benefit of someone else — usually someone who is receiving public benefits. The usual purpose of such a trust is to allow the beneficiary to receive some assistance without forcing them to give up their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid (in Arizona, AHCCCS or ALTCS) benefits.
To figure out what to do about income taxes on the trust Jack set up, we need to consider a couple of questions:
- Did Jack retain some levels of control over the trust while he’s still living?
If, for instance, Jack has the power to revoke the trust, or he stays as trustee, or even if he receives the trust’s assets back if Melanie dies before him, even this third-party trust may be a “grantor trust.” If it is, though, the grantor will be Jack — and he will probably pay any tax due on all of the trust’s taxable income. The trust will not need to have a separate EIN (tax number) and even if it does the actual income will usually be reported on Jack’s personal income tax return. None of the rest of this newsletter will be relevant to Jack’s income tax return.
What kinds of control might Jack have to trigger this treatment? There are volumes of suggestions and commentary written about that question, and it is impossible to answer without having spent some time reviewing the trust, its funding sources the IRS’s “grantor trust rules” and Jack’s intentions when he set it up. Some of the kinds of control might have been intentional, while others might surprise Jack (or even the lawyer who helped him draft the trust).
- Does the trust treat principal and income differently?
Sometimes a trust might say that its income is available to the beneficiary, but not the principal (though this kind of arrangement is less common today than it was a few decades ago). In such a case the taxation of interest and dividends might be different from capital gains.
- Does the trust require distribution of all income?
Some trusts mandate that the current beneficiary must be given all the trust’s income. That’s very rare in the case of special needs trusts (since the whole point is usually to prevent the beneficiary from having guaranteed income) but sometimes a trust might have been written before the beneficiary’s disability was known, and inappropriate provisions might still be included. If the trust does require distribution of income, it will be what the tax code calls a “simple” trust and will have some slight income tax benefit. But it also will probably need to be modified (if it can be) to eliminate the mandatory distribution language.
- Has the trust made actual distributions for the benefit of the beneficiary?
It is a bit of an oversimplification, but usually trust distributions result in the beneficiary paying the tax due. That is true even though the distribution is not of income. Let us explain (but not before warning you that we are going to simplify the numbers and effect somewhat):
Assume for a moment that Jack’s trust for Melanie is not a grantor trust. It holds $250,000 of mutual fund investments, and last year the investments returned $20,000 of taxable income. During that year, the trustee paid $10,000 to Melanie’s school for activity fees (so that Melanie could participate in extracurricular activities, go on field trips, and have the services of a tutor). The trustee also received a $4,900 fee for the year.
Now it is time for the trust to file its federal income tax return (the Form 1041). The trust will report $20,000 of income, a $100 personal (trust) exemption, a $4,900 deduction for administrative expenses and a $10,000 deduction for distributions to Melanie. The trust will also send a form K-1 to Melanie showing the $10,000 distribution; she will be liable for the tax on the income. The trust’s taxable income: $5,000.
But what if the trustee also paid $15,000 for Melanie and her full-time attendant to spend a week at a famous theme park? As before, the trust will have a $5,000 deduction for the personal exemption plus administrative expenses, but distributions for Melanie’s benefit totaled $25,000 — and the remaining taxable income was only $15,000. The trust will report a $15,000 distribution of income to Melanie, and send her a K-1 with that figure. She will be liable for income taxes on the $15,000 and the trust will have no income tax liability at all.
We can come up with infinite variations on this story. Perhaps the trustee purchased a vehicle for Melanie, and had it titled in her name. Maybe there were payments for wages for that attendant. Each variation might change the precise nature of the deductions, reporting and taxation, but the bottom line will be (approximately) the same in each case. Distributions to Melanie or for her benefit will shift the taxation from the trust level to her individual return.
- Is Melanie’s trust a “Qualified Disability Trust”?
Yes, it is. We slipped the controlling fact into our narrative quite a while back. Melanie receives SSI. The same would be true if she was receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments. It could be true even if she was not receiving either benefit, but it probably would not be.
The effect of being a Qualified Disability Trust: instead of a $100 exemption (deduction) from trust income on the trust’s own tax return, the trust would get an exemption set at the current annual exemption amount for individuals. In 2015 that means the trust would get a $4,000 exemption — which could ultimately save the trust, or Melanie, the tax on that larger amount.
Some people resist understanding tax issues, thinking they are just too hard. We don’t agree. These concepts are manageable. We hope this helped.
One Response
What do you do when a trust payment is not income for SSI but is income for tax purposes so it is on the K-1. Is there any way we can alert SSA workers this may be the case to avoid the issues associated with a change in benefits determination becuase the K-1 showed too much income?