Every Year A Life of It's Own

[dascpa]

Each year there are trends with clients. This year a slew of separations and divorces and a ton of parent's passing away creating both estates and lots of revocable trusts turning into irrevocable trusts at death. Easily 30 new trusts this year.  Of course estates can have a fiscal year but the trusts have a 12/31 year-end.

Then each year the calls come in - my accountant died. Two so far this year.

[IRonMaN]

No divorces

No new trusts

No dead accountants.

After that post I’m thinking maybe I’ll go out and buy a lottery ticket today.  I heard there is some screwy rule that you actually have to buy a ticket in order to win - go figure.

[BobKamman]

But there's that screwy rule that the trust can elect to be taxed with the estate, even if there is no estate, and so have a fiscal year.  Something about Section 644. 

People had no place to go during Covid.  Now they can get divorced and move out.  And people ignore that Covid still exists.  So they catch it and die.  These do not occur in northern Minnesota because it snows too much there.   

Unless you're British, you don't need an apostrophe for its.

[dascpa]

Great article at https://www.lindabury.com/firm/insights/benefits-to-making-a-section-645-election-for-trusts.html

[sjrcpa]

I've had several deaths. Long time clients in their 80s or 90s. Also my 104 year old.

Not unexpected.

Estates and trusts ensue. I'm a big fan of 645 elections.

[IRonMaN]

Yeah, there are always client deaths, especially when you have a client base like mine where the average age is something like 112 😀

[ljsmith2]

My trend this year is Publicly Traded Partnerships

Clients are coming in with their broker statements that show PTP distributions.

I advise them that they need to get the K-1.  Most of them do not really know what they bought. I think one of the brokers is recommending them somehow on their investments page.

Very small dollar amounts and suspended losses, etc. 

[BobKamman]

And some of those PTPs are being bought in IRA accounts.  And when they buy enough of them, they have enough UBTI to require filing a return. 

[BobKamman]

@IRonMaN  But in Minnesota, if people make it past age 4, the life expectancy is 115.  

[ljsmith2]

There is one of the clients who purchased the PTP in an IRA for his spouse.

Wasn't quite sure how that would work but amounts are minimal so there should be no UBTI.

[sjrcpa]

The threshold for a 990-T IS $1,000 Gross Income, not net. There should be UBIT disclosures among the many pages of the PTP K-1 stuff. And the IRA custodian is responsible for the filing.