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General information about Form 709 in ProSeries Professional

by Intuit• Updated 3 months ago

You must complete the Donee List, one or more of the various gifts worksheets (Gifts, Other Gifts, Gifts to Multiple Donees, Gifts to Crummey Trust, or Section 529 Plan Gifts), and the Prior Year Forms 709 Worksheet(s) before proceeding to Form 709.

Transferring information from Form 1040

If you didn't prepare a prior-year Form 709 for this taxpayer, but you did prepare a current-year Form 1040, you may save time by transferring the name and address information from the Form 1040 Information Worksheet to the Gift Tax Information Worksheet.

To transfer the taxpayer information from Form 1040:

From the File menu, select Transfer.
Select Transfer Clients.
Under Select the type of files to transfer, select Federal 1040 to Federal 709.
Locate the Form 1040 data file and click on it to initiate the transfer.
- A new data file with a similar name will show in HomeBase.

Election - Splitting Gifts

Check the Yes box on the Information Worksheet to elect to treat all gifts made by either spouse as made one-half by each spouse. When this election is made, the program will automatically split the gifts you enter on the following worksheets:

Gifts Worksheet
Other Gifts
Gifts to Multiple Donees
Gifts to Crummey Trust
Section 529 Plan Gifts Worksheet

To be eligible for the election, the taxpayer and spouse must have been married to each other at the time of the gift. If divorced or widowed during the tax year, the donor mustn't have remarried by the end of the year.

The program won't split any gifts made prior to a marriage date or after a divorce date entered on the Information Worksheet. The program also won't split any gifts made after the death of either the taxpayer or spouse.

If you're splitting gifts, and a gift tax return won't be filed by the spouse, override the Yes box on Form 709, Line 17 and answer No. You don't need to print the spouse’s copy of Form 709. The program doesn't automatically handle this item.

Gifts to Crummey Trust Worksheet

You may use this worksheet for gifts to a Crummey trust. Gifts to trusts which grant "Crummey powers" to the trust beneficiaries qualify as gifts of a "present interest," and therefore are eligible for the annual gift exclusion. This worksheet provides for the computation of the annual exclusion and reporting of gifts to Crummey trusts.

Don't mix "skip person" and "not a skip person" beneficiaries in the same Crummey Trust. Instead, create two donee Crummey Trusts where one is identified as "not a skip person" and the other is a "skip person." Assign the same type beneficiaries to the corresponding Crummey Trust type and split the gifts given based on the beneficiaries’ percentages. Splitting the trust based on skip/not skip person allows the Generation Skipping Transfer Tax to calculate properly on page 4 of Form 709. Additional copies of the worksheet may be accessed using the QuickZoom button at the top of the screen.

Allocated GST Exemption

ProSeries will automatically allocate, on a pro rata basis, the GST exemption to gifts made to a skip person. If you wish to make a different allocation, enter the GST exemption allocated to the gift in this section.

To accept the program's allocation of the GST exemption, no entry is needed.

If you're entering a non-pro rata allocation of the GST exemption and the donor is the spouse, make the entry on the spouse line. If the gift is a joint gift or the gift is split between the spouses, you must enter the non-pro rata GST exemption amount for each spouse.

The dollar figure entered here will appear on Schedule C, Part 3, Column C for that gift, if the donee has been marked as a skip person on the Donee List.

ProSeries Professional 2023

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