Genre: Instruction

Trusts and estates: Explaining the important concepts Tax losses of trusts Generally, if a trust's expenses are greater than its income it will have a loss for tax purposes. This tax loss will be a loss of the trustee and can not be passed to beneficiaries to offset against their income, except in limited circumstances. Losses can be passed to beneficiaries if they have a vested interest in the trust property from which the loss arises. If a trustee suffers a tax loss in an income year, they can use it to reduce their taxable income in the next year. How to claim tax losses To claim the loss the next year the trustee will have to file an IR6 return. There are boxes in the IR6 form to disclose the loss and the amount claimed. After a trust files an IR6 return reporting a loss we will send the trustees a letter which tells them the amount of the loss that can be brought forward. Generally this is the amount that should be entered in the IR6 return the next year. However, this amount may have to be adjusted if the trust has: ad an audit or made a voluntary disclosure which changed the amount of loss available; or used part or all of its loss to pay tax debts or shortfall penalties. Losses can be carried forward by trusts from tax year to tax year until the loss is fully used or the trust is wound up.