Charitable remainder trust

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A  is a trust that provides for a specified distribution, at least annually, to one or more beneficiaries, at least one of which is not a charity.

The distribution must be paid at least annually for life or for a term of years, with an irrevocable remainder interest to be held for the benefit of, or paid over to, one or more qualified charities.

The specified distribution must be either a sum certain, which is not less than five percent and not more than fifty percent of the initial net fair market value of all property placed in trust (a charitable remainder annuity trust), or a fixed percentage, which is not less than five percent and not more than fifty percent, of the net fair market value of the trust assets, valued annually (a charitable remainder unitrust).

Taxation
The tax treatment of Charitable Remainder Trust distributions to income recipients is determined according to the rules established in  U.S.C. § 664 : US Code - Section 664: Charitable remainder trusts. A charitable remainder trust assumes the holding period and cost basis of assets transferred to it and will ordinarily pay no tax on income realized through the holding and sale of trust assets. Distributions made to income recipients are considered taxable according to the four-tier system set out in Reg. §1.664-1(d)(1)(i). Generally all income from one tier must be reported and exhausted before income from the next tier down can be reported. States may also have additional tax rules on distributions. The four tiers are as follows:


 * 1) Ordinary income. This includes interest income, dividend income, and rent income from real estate.
 * 2) Capital Gains. Income from the sale of appreciated assets such as stocks, bonds, and real estate.
 * 3) Tax Exempt Income. This mainly includes income from municipal tax-exempt bonds.
 * 4) Return of Principal (Corpus). Income taken from principal.

Articles

 * Charitable Remainder Trusts
 * CRTs by the Numbers Barlow Mann (January 2007)