DO LIVING TRUSTS NEED TO FILE THEIR OWN TAX RETURNS?

One of the many advantages of a living trust is its simplicity at tax time. Before 1981, a revocable living trust had to file its own tax return (Federal Form 1041) and apply for and use its own Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). In 1981, however, the Internal Revenue Service issued new regulations that not only permit the creator (grantor) of a revocable living trust to use his or her own Social Security number and file Form 1040 only but also specifically encourage them to do so.

Prior to 1981 any trust was required to apply for and use its own TIN and report income on Form 1041. The IRS wisely figured out that while it was processing tens of thousands of Form 1041's for revocable living trusts, it wasn't bringing in any more revenue to the Treasury. These extra 1041's instead were costing the IRS more money to process so it eliminated the requirement.

In order to avoid the requirement for filing Form 1041 or obtaining a new TIN the trust must be what is called a "Grantor" trust. This means the creator of the trust is also the donor of the funds in trust and the recipient of all income generated by the trust. When you think about it this makes perfect sense. You create a revocable living trust, act as sole trustee, transfer your assets into the trust under your own Social Security number, manage the assets in the trust, and receive all income under the trust. Using Form 1040 is the only reasonable thing to do.

Occasionally you may find that a bank or other financial institution tells you that in order to put an asset owned by you that is held in their institution into your trust you must get a new TIN for the trust. The financial institution may tell you that this is "their policy." Not only is this not required, it is clearly wrong. The IRS requirements for tax returns and TIN's for grantor trusts are found in Internal Revenue Code Regulation sections 1.671-4 and 301.6109-1. If you run into this situation, ask the financial institution to look up these regulations so that you can use your own Social Security number.