What Does it Mean to Be a Beneficiary of a Trust?

Please note this post was updated on January 23, 2024 to include figures for 2024 for the 2023 tax season.

信托是一种法律安排，信托的创建者(被称为授予人或财产授予人)将财产的法定所有权转移给受托人，由受托人为个人或实体(如慈善机构)的利益进行管理。. The person(s) or entities for whom the property is managed are called “受益者”.

The trust may provide that a beneficiary receives a specific amount every year, or as is often the case, leaves the amount 和 timing of a distribution to the discretion of the trustee.

信托可以概述受托人应该考虑的具体事项，如何时分配和分配多少. 例如, the trust may provide that the trustee distributes cash amounts to pay for the health 和 welfare of the beneficiary; or to cover the costs of schooling or medical bills of a beneficiary that has “special needs”. There is no right or wrong here, it is up to the grantor/settlor to decide how the distribution provisions apply.

信托可以在赠与人/赠与人生前设立(技术上称为“生前信托”)，也可以在赠与人/赠与人的遗嘱中规定(技术上称为“遗嘱信托”).e. 会).

受益人的法定权利和受托人的法定义务由信托管辖地的法律规定. These rules will also determine who pays tax on the income 和 gains realized by the trust. It may be that the settlor/grantor or trustees are taxed on the trust income, or the beneficiaries are taxed on the distributions received. These rules are often very complex 和 differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Taxation of US domestic trusts

For US income tax purposes there are three basic types of trust:

• 设保人信托-设保人控制信托管理或设保人为信托受益人的信托. 授予人被视为拥有信托的所有资产，因此对信托的所有已实现收入和资本收益应纳税.
• Simple Trust – All the income is required to be paid to the beneficiary. 一般来说，信托受益人需要就分配给他们的收入纳税. The Trustee pays tax on realized capital gains.
• Complex Trust – Any trust that is not a Simple or Grantor Trust. 一般, the beneficiaries pay tax on all income or capital gains required or actually paid to them. (Tax is based on the beneficiaries’ individual tax brackets 和 rates.)信托保留的所有收入及利得，须按适用于信托的税率及等级向受托人课税(见下文).
  Note: Trusts 和 beneficiaries may also have to pay State 和 Local Taxes.In 2024, the federal government taxes trust income at four levels:10%: $0 – $3,100
  24%: $3,101 – $11,150
  35%: $11,151 – $15,200
  37%: $15,201 和 higherFor trusts in 2024 there are three long-term capital gains brackets:
  0%: $0 – $3,150
  15%: $3,151 – $15,450
  20%: $15,451 和 higher

  Note: the rates 和 tax b和s applicable to any US 2023 tax filings being made are below:

  所得税:
  10%: $0 – $2,900
  24%: $2,901 – $10,550
  35%: $10,551 – $14,450
  37%: $14,451 和 higher

  Tax on long-term capital gains:
  0%: $0 – $3,000
  15%: $3,001 – $14,650
  20%: $14,651 和 higher

Taxation of US beneficiaries of Foreign Non-Grantor Trusts (FNGT)

一般, US beneficiaries are taxed on distributions (和 sometimes deemed distributions). 在这种情况下, non-qualified loans from the trust, 而使用信托财产获得的补偿不足也被认为是信托分配.

根据收到的分配的性质，分配受到不同的美国税收待遇. All distributions consist of either:

• Distributable Net Income (“DNI”) which is current year income (e.g., interest, dividends, or capital gains),
• Undistributed Net Income (“UNI”) which is income 和 gains accumulated in prior years, 和
• Trust corpus/principal (tax-free).

Distributions are taxed as occurring in the order above.

For a US beneficiary, a distribution of DNI is taxed at marginal income tax rates, (2023年的最高税率为37%)，而由长期资本收益和合格股息组成的DNI的最高税率为20%. (Special rates may apply to real estate gains.) Net Income Investment Tax (NIIT) at 3.8%也适用.

未分配的DNI在其获得的年度成为UNI -也称为累积收入. 根据通常被称为“回拨规则”的规定，累积收入需要纳税，一旦信托持有累积收入，它将一直保存在信托中，直到分配. Under the throwback rules:

(i)积累分配的金额被“退回”到收入积累的前一个纳税年度, beginning with the earliest of such taxable years,

(ii)在所有UNI被视为分配之前，美国受益人被视为收到UNI，就像在以前的纳税年度中分配一样,

(iii)适用的税率是该收入被认为产生的前一年的税率(因此可以适用更高的适用税率)。,

(iv)受益人须对UNI支付利息，该利息在信托中保留的累积收入的时间长度上增加, 和

(v)任何由前几年的资本利得构成的统一收入在分配时被视为普通收入, 和 therefore subject to a higher tax rate.

退税规则确保美国政府收回因通过FNGT持有的收入递延而对美国受益人产生的任何税收. 这些规则可能使累积收入的分配对美国受益人来说非常“税收昂贵”.

Where DNI is distributed to multiple beneficiaries, 受益人总收入中可包括的DNI金额按比例在该纳税年度的信托DNI金额乘以一个比率之间进行分配, 分子等于适当支付或贷记给该受益人的金额，分母等于适当支付或贷记给所有受益人的金额. 此规则也适用于UNI的分摊分配，并平等地适用于美国和非美国受益人.

最后, 从FNGT到美国受益人的分配被归类为信托主体的分配，被视为对美国受益人的免税分配. These are still subject to reporting on the US tax forms.

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Article written by 助教Meghani