Taxation of Distributions from Accumulation Trusts: The Impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1976

Abstract

The complex rules governing the taxation of income from trusts and estates have at times been described as incomprehensible. Perhaps the most confusing of these are the accumulation distribution throwback rules. In an effort to alleviate some of this confusion, Congress included accumulation trusts within the purview of the Tax Reform Act of 1976. Though Congress claimed that the rules are now considerably simplified, it is not without some effort that one is able to translate the statutory language into a form useful to the practitioner. Given the complexity of the rules, it is necessary to begin with a caveat. This article is prepared with the assumption that the reader knows something of accumulation trusts and their income taxation. Only so much of the general theory and operation of the throwback rules will be explained as is necessary to introduce the changes made by the 1976 Act and to illustrate their effect. It is hoped that in this way the new rules may be succinctly presented without unnecessary forays into areas essentially unaffected by them