Get Planning To Minimize Or Avoid State Income Tax On Trusts

The trust fund loophole refers to the “stepped-up basis rule” in U.S. tax law. The rule is a tax exemption that lets you use a trust to transfer appreciated assets to the trust's beneficiaries without paying the capital gains tax. Your “basis” in an asset is the price you paid for the asset.

Typically this comes in the form of income taxes which either the trust pays or your heirs pay when they receive distributions. You can mitigate that through the use of an intentionally defective grantor trust, or IDGT. This is an irrevocable trust into which you place assets, again shielding them from estate taxes.

When set up properly, trusts can either greatly reduce how much of an estate is taxed at the 40-percent rate or eliminate the estate tax burden altogether. A trust is essentially a financial arrangement between three parties in which assets are held for a beneficiary.

Trust beneficiaries must pay taxes on income and other distributions from a trust. Trust beneficiaries don't have to pay taxes on returned principal from the trust's assets. IRS forms K-1 and 1041 are required for filing tax returns that receive trust disbursements.

Charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) are often used for highly appreciated assets, because they help divert capital gains taxes as well as estate taxes. They may be a good choice for real estate, stocks, mutual funds or other assets that have been in a portfolio for some time.

Using trusts to give away homes and country houses When the trust ends, the property is transferred out of the taxable estate. The estate only has to pay gift tax on the value of the property when the trust was formed even if the home has appreciated by millions in value.

The trust fund loophole refers to the “stepped-up basis rule” in U.S. tax law. The rule is a tax exemption that lets you use a trust to transfer appreciated assets to the trust's beneficiaries without paying the capital gains tax. Your “basis” in an asset is the price you paid for the asset.

Using trusts to give away homes and country houses When the trust ends, the property is transferred out of the taxable estate. The estate only has to pay gift tax on the value of the property when the trust was formed even if the home has appreciated by millions in value.