26 CFR § 1.691(c)-2 Estates and trusts | Code of Federal Regulations | US Law

26 CFR § 1.691(c)-2

Estates and trusts

June 25, 2020

CFR

(a) In the case of an estate or trust, the deduction prescribed in section 691(c) is determined in the same manner as described in §1.691(c)-1, with the following exceptions:

(1) If any amount properly paid, credited, or required to be distributed by an estate or trust to a beneficiary consists of income in respect of a decedent received by the estate or trust during the taxable year:

(i) Such income shall be excluded in determining the income in respect of the decedent with respect to which the estate or trust is entitled to a deduction under section 691(c), and

(ii) Such income shall be considered income in respect of a decedent to such beneficiary for purposes of allowing the deduction under section 691(c) to such beneficiary.

(2) For determination of the amount of income in respect of a decedent received by the beneficiary, see sections 652 and 662, and §§1.652(b)-2 and 1.662(b)-2. However, for this purpose, distributable net income as defined in section 643 (a) and the regulations thereunder shall be computed without taking into account the estate tax deduction provided in section 691(c) and this section. Distributable net income as modified under the preceding sentence shall be applied for other relevant purposes of subchapter J, chapter 1 of the Code, such as the deduction provided by section 651 or 661, or subpart D, part I of subchapter J, relating to excess distributions by trusts.

(3) The rule stated in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph does not apply to income in respect of a decedent which is properly allocable to corpus by the fiduciary during the taxable year but which is distributed to a beneficiary in a subsequent year. The deduction provided by section 691(c) in such a case is allowable only to the estate or trust. If any amount properly paid, credited, or required to be distributed by a trust qualifies as a distribution under section 666, the fact that a portion thereof constitutes income in respect of a decedent shall be disregarded for the purposes of determining the deduction of the trust and of the beneficiaries under section 691(c) since the deduction for estate taxes was taken into consideration in computing the undistributed net income of the trust for the preceding taxable year.

(b) This section shall apply only to amounts properly paid, credited, or required to be distributed in taxable years of an estate or trust beginning after December 31, 1953, and ending after August 16, 1954, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) In the case of an estate or trust heretofore taxable under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, amounts paid, credited, or to be distributed during its first taxable year subject to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 which would have been treated as paid, credited, or to be distributed on the last day of the preceding taxable year if the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 were still applicable shall not be subject to the provisions of section 691(c)(1)(B) or this section. See section 683 and the regulations thereunder.

(d) The provisions of this section may be illustrated by the following example, in which it is assumed that the estate and the beneficiary make their returns on the calendar year basis:

Example. (1) The fiduciary of an estate receives taxable interest of $5,500 and income in respect of a decedent of $4,500 during the taxable year. Neither the will of the decedent nor local law requires the allocation to corpus of income in respect of a decedent. The estate tax attributable to the income in respect of a decedent is $1,500. In his discretion, the fiduciary distributes $2,000 (falling within sections 661(a) and 662(a)) to a beneficiary during that year. On these facts the fiduciary and beneficiary are respectively entitled to estate tax deductions of $1,200 and $300, computed as follows:

(2) Distributable net income computed under section 643(a) without regard to the estate tax deduction under section 691(c) is $10,000, computed as follows:

Open Table

Taxable interest		$5,500
Income in respect of a decedent		4,500
Total		10,000

(3) Inasmuch as the distributable net income of $10,000 exceeds the amount of $2,000 distributed to the beneficiary, the deduction allowable to the estate under section 661(a) and the amount taxable to the beneficiary under section 662(a) is $2,000.

(4) The character of the amounts distributed to the beneficiary under section 662 (b) is shown in the following table:

Open Table

	Taxable interest	Income in respect of a decedent	Total
Distributable net income	$5,500	$4,500	$10,000
Amount deemed distributed under section 662(b)	1,100	900	2,000

(5) Accordingly, the beneficiary will be entitled to an estate tax deduction of $300 (900/4,500 × $1,500) and the estate will be entitled to an estate tax deduction of $1,200 (3,600/4,500 × $1,500).

(6) The taxable income of the estate is $6,200, computed as follows:

Open Table

Gross income		$10,000
Less:
Distributions to the beneficiary	$2,000
Estate tax deduction under section 691(c)	1,200
Personal exemption	600
		3,800
Taxable income		6,200

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