Form 1041: Tax Compliance, Review and Planning Series (2025)

Over the coming months you will be preparing many Form 1041 returns and even the experienced practitioners will benefit from a review while newer professionals will want to establish a good foundation of fiduciary tax principles. Over the years clients have learned the importance of using a trust to meet their financial, tax and estate planning goals. Trusts often function in a variety of ways to meet these planning goals. Join us as we get you up to speed on all the vital fiduciary income tax issues. The course will cover both the Form 1041 and theory and tax law behind these concepts.

This course will walk you through the preparation of a current year Form 1041 return, that includes income, expense, distributable net income (DNI), tax computations, and the various return questions that are unique to trusts and estates. With the elimination of the 2% itemized deduction (under the Tax Cut Jobs Acts), the IRS and Treasury developed a new taxation regime to handle any excess deductions upon the termination of a Trust or Estate. We will explore these changes, how it is handled by the Trust and how it is ultimately handled by the beneficiaries. We will explore the trust features of a Charitable Remainder trust and why a client might utilize such a planning vehicle in their estate plan. The course will include a discussion of the Grantor Trusts and highlight the unique tax law provisions associated with this type of Trust. We will close the course with a discussion of several post-mortem planning opportunities and a case study that utilizes an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDIT) to transfer assets to a client’s heirs.