Trusts are old entities and go as far back as the Crusades when we were an agrarian society, and the only asset of any value was the land and what was produced on the land. Therefore, dividing the benefit in a trust between income and principal was logical and worked efficiently for a long time. However, times have significantly changed, and trusts are often invested in assets that don't involve land, and these assets also have great value. Often the value lies in their growth and not the income they produce. New rules have developed in the fiduciary accounting area, that provide elections that often result in favorable benefits to the trust and the beneficiaries. This section of the 1041 Workshop will explore those elections.
Learning Objectives
• Determine the special accounting rules available to a fiduciary
• Recognize the flexibility inherent in the elections provided by the state statutory accounting rules
• Identify situations where the use of special accounting rules can benefit both the trust and the beneficiaries
Major Topics
• Analyze a Traditional Fiduciary Accounting Situation
• Determine the Use of the Reserve for Depreciation
• Become acquainted with the Special Accounting Rule for Business Assets
• Review the Accounting Treatment of Distributions from Entities
.png){kind=logo}
