Recent shifts and changes in the taxation of estates and trusts have also changed some of the planning techniques that practitioners should consider when advising clients. This 8 hour CPE webinar will help you learn the Critical Concepts of Trusts and Estates provide your clients with greater value. This 8 hour CPE webinar is divided into 4 sessions and will cover Trusts & Estates, Fundamental of Trust Taxation, Preparing the 709 Gift Tax Return and understanding the important Gift, Estate, and Income Tax Elections.
Session 1 - About Trusts and Estates
This session would focus on what the CPA should know about trusts and estates & will cover a broad number of topics ranging from the fundamental legal principals necessary for the trust and estate practitioner to understand. It should be noted that the ability of language in the trust instrument accomplish a certain tax result.
Major Topics Covered in Session 1:
- Legal definitions and principals involving estates and trusts
- Basic principles regarding property ownership
- Types of trusts commonly used
- Trust accounting fundamentals
- Certain clauses that are important to understand
- Formula valuation clauses
- Requirements for a trust to be a qualified designated beneficiary of an IRA
- Using IRD to fund charitable bequests
Session 2 - Fundamentals of Income Taxation of Trusts & Form 1041 Planning
With more and more trusts being used today and audits of Form 1041 (U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts) on the rise, it has never been more critical to understand the ins and outs of income taxation of trusts and estates and the preparation of the Fiduciary Income Tax Return.
Major Topics Covered in Session 2:
- Grantor trusts
- Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs)
- Bracket Management
- Shifting Income with Trust Distributions
- Limit on Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions
- State Income Tax Planning for Trusts
- Form 1041 Example
Session 3 - Preparation of the 709 Gift Tax Return
Preparing gift tax returns (Form 709) seems relatively simple. However, there are lots of traps for the unwary. Moreover, unlike income tax returns, mistakes are not quickly beyond audit and are often uncovered when the client dies – providing years. Many taxpayers made gifts in the last year to transfer substantial assets at little to no Federal gift tax cost to take advantage of the significant federal gift tax exclusion. Proper compliance with the complex gift tax rules remains necessary to protect and preserve the advantage of the current exclusion levels. Nevertheless, some of your most wealthy clients will have a taxable estate. For these select clients, making large gifts before death can be extremely tax efficient for the client and profitable for the practitioner filing the gift tax return.
Major Topics Covered in Session 3:
- Filing obligations
- Annual exclusion gifting and Crummy Letters
- Using a deceased spouse’s portable exemption amount (“DSUEA”)
- Reporting Installment Sales, Loans, Private Annuities, GRATs, QPRTs, and CRTs
- Reporting front-loaded 529 plans
Session 4 - Understanding the Important Gift, Estate, and Income Tax Elections
How often do you prepare a trust return and see the trust's marginal tax rate is too high? Form 709, Federal Gift Tax return and Form 706, Federal Estate Tax return, are key parts of any practice involving estate planning and wealth management. There have been many recent tax law changes that impact these two returns and practitioners who’ve not prepared one of these returns in recent years must understand the latest changes to file these forms accurately.
Major Topics Covered in Session 4:
- Gift splitting elections
- Reverse QTIP elections
- Electing out of automatic GST allocations
- Valuation issues
- 5-year 529 plan elections
- Section 2642(c) charitable issues
- Section 691(c) issues
- Section 2013 PPT Credits
- Adequate disclosure rules
- Statute of limitations issues
- Section 2032A and alternative valuation date
- 754 partnership elections
- Understanding DNI
- Planning for Kenan gains
This 8 hour CPE webinar is specifically meant for CPAs and Financial Planners so they can develop fundamental understanding about Trust and Estate in order to serve their clients better.
