(a) Distributable net income of a foreign trust. In the case of a foreign trust (see section 7701(a)(31)), the determination of distributable net income is subject to the following rules:

(1) There is included in distributable net income the amounts of gross income from sources without the United States, reduced by disbursements allocable to such foreign income which would have been deductible but for the provisions of section 265 (relating to disallowance of deductions allocable to tax exempt income). See paragraph (b) of §1.643(a)-5 for rules applicable when an estate or trust is allowed a charitable contributions deduction under section 642(c).

(2) In the case of a distribution made by a trust before January 1, 1963, for purposes of determining the distributable net income of the trust for the taxable year in which the distribution is made, or for any prior taxable year;

(i) Gross income from sources within the United States is determined by taking into account the provisions of section 894 (relating to income exempt under treaty); and

(ii) Distributable net income is determined by taking into account the provisions of section 643(a)(3) (relating to exclusion of certain gains from the sale or exchange of capital assets).

(3) In the case of a distribution made by a trust after December 31, 1962, for purposes of determining the distributable net income of the trust for any taxable year, whether ending before January 1, 1963, or after December 31, 1962;

(i) Gross income (for the entire foreign trust) from sources within the United States is determined without regard to the provisions of section 894 (relating to income exempt under treaty);

(ii) In respect of a foreign trust created by a U.S. person (whether such trust constitutes the whole or only a portion of the entire foreign trust) (see section 643(d) and §1.643(d)-1), there shall be included in gross income gains from the sale or exchange of capital assets reduced by losses from such sales or exchanges to the extent such losses do not exceed gains from such sales or exchanges, and the deduction under section 1202 (relating to deduction for capital gains) shall not be taken into account; and

(iii) In respect of a foreign trust created by a person other than a U.S. person (whether such trust constitutes the whole or only a portion of the entire foreign trust) (see section 643(d) and §1.643(d)-1), distributable net income is determined by taking into account all of the provisions of section 643 except section 643(a)(6)(C) (relating to gains from the sale or exchange of capital assets by a foreign trust created by a U.S. person).

(b) Examples. The application of this section, showing the computation of distributable net income for one of the taxable years for which such a computation must be made, may be illustrated by the following examples:

Example 1. (1) A trust is created in 1952 under the laws of Country X by the transfer to a trustee in Country X of money and property by a U.S. person. The entire trust constitutes a foreign trust created by a U.S. person. The income from the trust corpus is to be accumulated until the beneficiary, a resident citizen of the United States who was born in 1944, reaches the age of 21 years, and upon his reaching that age, the corpus and accumulated income are to be distributed to him. The trust instrument provides that capital gains are to be allocated to corpus and are not to be paid, credited, or required to be distributed to any beneficiary during the taxable year or paid, permanently set aside, or to be used for the purposes specified in section 642(c). Under the terms of a tax convention between the United States and Country X, interest income received by the trust from U.S. sources is exempt from U.S. taxation. In 1965 the corpus and accumulated income are distributed to the beneficiary. During the taxable year 1964, the trust has the following items of income, loss, and expense:
Open Table
Interest on bonds of a U.S. corporation $10,000
Net long-term capital gain from U.S. sources 30,000
Gross income from investments in Country X 40,000
Net short-term capital loss from U.S. sources 5,000
Expenses allocable to gross income from investments in Country X 5,000
(2) The distributable net income for the taxable year 1964 of the foreign trust created by a U.S. person, determined under section 643(a), is $70,000, computed as follows:
Open Table
Interest on bonds of a U.S. corporation $10,000
Gross income from investments in Country X 40,000
Net long-term capital gain from U.S. sources $30,000
Less: Net short-term capital loss from U.S. sources 5,000
Excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss 25,000
Total 75,000
Less: Expenses allocable to income from investments in Country X 5,000
Distributable net income 70,000
(3) In determining the distributable net income of $70,000, the taxable income of the trust is computed with the following modifications: No deduction is allowed for the personal exemption of the trust (section 643(a)(2)); the interest received on bonds of a U.S. corporation is included in the trust gross income despite the fact that such interest is exempt from U.S. tax under the provisions of the tax treaty between Country X and the United States (section 643(a)(6) (see H. Con. Res. (B)); the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss allocable to corpus is included in distributable net income, but such excess is not subject to the deduction under section 1202 (section 643(a)(6)(C)); and the amount representing gross income from investments in Country X is included, but such amount is reduced by the amount of the disbursements allocable to such income (section 643(a)(6)(A)).
Example 2. (1) The facts are the same as in example 1 except that money or property has also been transferred to the trust by a person other than a U.S. person and, pursuant to the provisions of §1.643(d)-1, during 1964 only 60 percent of the entire trust constitutes a foreign trust created by a U.S. person.

(2) The distributable net income for the taxable year 1964 of the foreign trust created by a U.S. person, determined under section 643(a), is $42,000 computed as follows:

Open Table
Interest on bonds of a U.S. corporation (60 percent of $10,000) $6,000
Gross income from investments in Country X (60 percent of $40,000) 24,000
Net long-term capital gain from U.S. sources (60 percent of $30,000) $18,000
Less: Net short-term capital loss from U.S. sources (60 percent of $5,000) 3,000
        15,000
Total     45,000
Less: Expenses allocable to income from investments in Country X (60 percent of $5,000) 3,000
Distributable net income 42,000
(3) The distributable net income for the taxable year 1964 of the portion of the entire foreign trust which does not constitute a foreign trust created by a U.S. person, determined under section 643(a), is $18,000, computed as follows:
Open Table
Interest on bonds of a U.S. corporation (40 percent of $10,000) $4,000
Gross income from investments in Country X (40 percent of $40,000) 16,000
Total 20,000
Less: Expenses allocable to income from investments in Country X (40 percent of $5,000) 2,000
Distributable net income 18,000
(4) The distributable net income of the entire foreign trust for the taxable year 1964 is $60,000, computed as follows:
Open Table
Distributable net income of the foreign trust created by a U.S. person $42,000
Distributable net income of that portion of the entire foreign trust which does not constitute a foreign trust created by a U.S. person 18,000
Distributable net income of the entire foreign trust 60,000

It should be noted that the difference between the $70,000 distributable net income of the foreign trust in example 1 and the $60,000 distributable net income of the entire foreign trust in this example is due to the $10,000 (40 percent of $25,000) net capital gain (capital gain net income for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1976) which under section 643(a)(3) is excluded from the distributable net income of that portion of the foreign trust in example 2 which does not constitute a foreign trust created by a U.S. person.

[T.D. 6989, 34 FR 731, Jan. 17, 1969, as amended by T.D. 7728, 45 FR 72650, Nov. 3, 1980]


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