Davis Tax Committee and taxation of trusts

[Dave A]

Tax Committee proposes overhaul of trusts

That's not looking good for the future of the conduit principle!

[wynn]

So this probably means that you show absolutely no income to the trust, it all accrues to """Services""" provided by the various beneficiaries, or what???

[Dave A]

I get the feeling that in their pursuit of taxes NOW, the Davis Tax Committee has lost the plot somewhat in the estate planning space. Take this for example:

The committee was critical of the usage of estate duty measures in tax planning, saying the present system contained generous allowances that enabled most estates to be subject to both capital gains tax and estate duty only after the death of both spouses. "This defers estate duty collection for many years."

For good bloody reason! This is to prevent the surviving spouse from being placed in poverty as a result of the state's collection of death taxes, which have to be paid in cash and can easily invoke untimely (and thereby severely prejudicial) liquidation of illiquid assets.

In similar fashion, it seems the DTC has also lost sight of why the income tax rate on inter vivos trusts is so ridiculously high in the first place - to encourage use of the conduit principle so that income didn't easily transition to capital within the trust...

[Dave A]

Taxation of trusts revisited.

Wynn, that looks like it might blow your idea out the water too.