Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign
Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts

U.S. Beneficiary

A U.S. beneficiary generally includes any person that could possibly benefit (directly or indirectly) from the trust (including an amended trust) at any time, whether or not the person is named in the trust instrument as a beneficiary and whether or not the person can receive a distribution from the trust in the current year. In addition, a U.S. beneficiary includes:

• A foreign corporation that is a controlled foreign corporation (as defined in section 957(a)),
• A foreign partnership if a U.S. person is a partner of the partnership, and
• A foreign estate or trust if the estate or trust has a U.S. beneficiary.

A foreign trust will be treated as having a U.S. beneficiary unless the terms of the trust instrument specifically prohibit any distributin of income or corpus to a U.S. person at any time, even after the death of the U.S. transferor, and the trust cannot be amended or revised to allow such a distribution.

U.S. Person

A U.S. person is:

• A citizen or resident alien of the United States (see Pub. 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, for guidance on determining resident alien status),
• A domestic partnership,
• A domestic corporation,
• Any estate (other than a foreign estate, within the meaning of section 7701(a)(31)), and
• Any trust if it is not a foreign trust (defined on page 2).

U.S. Transferor

A U.S. transferor is any U.S. person who:

1. Creates or settles a foreign trust.
2. Directly or indirectly transfers money or property to a foreign trust. This includes a U.S. citizen or resident who has made a deemed transfer under section 679(a)(4) or a U.S. resident who has made a deemed transfer under section 679(a)(5).
3. Makes a sale to a foreign trust if the sale was at other than arm's-length terms or was to a related foreign trust, or makes (or guarantees) a loan to a related foreign trust.
4. Is the executor of the estate of a U.S. person and:
   1. The decedent made a testamentary transfer (a transfer by reason of death) to a foreign trust,
   2. Immediately prior to death, the decedent was treated as the owner of any portion of a foreign trust under the grantor trust rules, or
   3. Any portion of a foreign trust's assets were included in the estate of the decedent.

Generally, the person defined as the transferor is the responsible party (defined above) who must ensure that required information be provided or pay appropriate penalties.

Period Covered

File the 2001 return for calendar year 2001 and fiscal years that begin in 2001 and end in 2002. For a fiscal year, fill in the tax year space at the top of the form.

Item A - Initial Return, Final Return, Amended Return

Initial return. If this is the first return you are filing concerning the foreign trust identified, check the Initial return box.

Final return. If no further returns for transactions with the foreign trust are required, check the Final return box.

Example. If you annually filed Part II, Form 3520, because you were the owner of the trust for U.S. income tax purposes and the trust has terminated within the tax year, that year's return would be a final return with respect to that foreign trust.

Amended return. If this Form 3520 is filed to amend a Form 3520 that you previously filed, check the Amended return box.

Identifying Information

Identification numbers. Use social security numbers or individual taxpayer identification numbers to identify individuals. Use employer identification numbers to identify estates, trusts, partnerships, and corporations.

Address. Include the suite, room, or other unit number after the street address. If the post office does not deliver mail to the street address and the U.S. person has a P.O. box, show the box number instead.

Foreign address. Enter the information in the following order: city, province or state, and country. Follow the country's practice for entering the postal code, if any. Please do not abbreviate the country name.

Line 1. This line identifies the U.S. person that is filing Form 3520. If you and your spouse are both making transfers to the same trust and you file joint returns, you may file only one Form 3520. Put the names and taxpayer identification numbers in the same order as they appear on your Form 1040.

Line 4. If you are the executor of the estate of a U.S. citizen or resident, you must identify the decedent on this line.

Part I - Transfers by U.S. Persons to a Foreign Trust During the Current Tax Year

Complete Part I for information on a reportable event (defined on page 4).

Line 5. If you are not the trust creator, enter the name of the person that created or originally settled the foreign trust.

Line 6. See the list of country codes on pages 11 and 12 of these instructions. If the country is not included in the list, enter OC for other country and enter the country's name.

Lines 7, 8, and 10. If you are reporting multiple transfers to a single foreign trust and the answers to lines 7, 8, or 10 are different for various transfers, complete a separate line for each transfer on duplicate copies of the relevant pages of the form.

Line 7a. If Yes, you must comply with the reporting requirements that would apply to a direct transfer to that other person. For example, if that other person is a foreign partnership, you must comply with the reporting requirements for transfers to foreign partnerships (see Form 8865, Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships).

Line 8. If the transfer was a completed gift (see Regulations section 25.2511-2) or bequest, you may have to file Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, or Form 709, United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return.

Line 9. See definition of U.S. beneficiary on page 4.

Line 10. If you are treated as the owner of any portion of the foreign trust under the grantor trust rules, answer Yes to this question and complete Part II.

Schedule A - Obligations of a Related Trust

Line 11a. The FMV of an obligation of the trust (or an obligation of another person related to the trust) that you receive in exchange for the transferred property equals zero, unless the obligation meets the requirements of a qualified obligation. See page 3 for the definitions of obligation and qualified obligation. See page 4 for the definition of person related to a foreign trust.

Lines 12 and 26. If you answered Yes to the question on line 11b (line 25, column (e)) with respect to any obligation, you generally must answer Yes to the question on line 12 (line 26). By so doing, you agree to extend the period of assessment of any income or transfer tax attributable to the transfer and any consequential income tax changes for each year that the obligation is outstanding. This form will be deemed to be consented to and signed by the Service Center Director or the Director, International for purposes of Regulations section 301.6501(c)-1(d).

If you answer No to the question on line 12 (line 26), you generally may not treat an obligation as a qualified obligation on line 11b (line 25, column (e)). The one exception to this is if the maturity date of the obligation does not extend beyond the end of your tax year for which you are reporting and such obligation is paid within that tax year.

Schedule B - Gratuitous Transfers

Complete the applicable portions of Schedule B with respect to all reportable events (as defined on page 4) that took place during the current tax year.

Line 13

• In your description, indicate whether the property is tangible or intangible.
• You may aggregate transfers of cash during the year on a single line of line 13.
• If there is not enough space on the form, please attach a statement.
• For transfers reported on attachments, you must enter Attachment on one of the lines in column (b), and enter the total amount of transfers reported on the attachment on line 13, columns (c), (d), (e), (f), (h), and (i).

Note: Penalties may be imposed for failure to report all required information. See Item 1 of Penalties on page 2.

Line 13, column (e). Only include gain that is immediately recognized at the time of the transfer.

Note: For any transfer by a U.S. person to a foreign nongrantor trust after August 4, 1997, the transfer is treated as a sale or exchange and the transferor must recognize as a gain the excess of the FMV of the transferred property over its adjusted basis. Although the gain is not recognized on Form 3520, it must be reported on the appropriate form or schedule of the transferor's income tax return. See section 684.

Line 13, column (f). Generally, if the reported transaction is a sale, you should report the gain on the appropriate form or schedule of your income tax return.

Line 15. Enter the name, address, whether the person is a U.S. beneficiary (defined on page 4), and taxpayer identification number, if any, of all reportable beneficiaries. Include specified beneficiaries, classes of discretionary beneficiaries, and names or classes of any beneficiaries that could be named as additional beneficiaries. If there is not enough space on the form, please attach a statement.

Line 17. Enter the name, address, and taxpayer identification number (if any) of any person, other than those listed on line 16, that has significant powers over the trust (e.g., protectors, enforcers, any person that must approve of trustee decisions, or otherwise direct trustees, any person with a power of appointment, any person with powers to remove or appoint trustees, etc.). Include a description of each person's powers. If there is not enough space, please attach a statement.

Line 18. If you checked No on line 3 (or you did not complete lines 3a through 3g) attach:

• A summary of the terms of the trust that includes a summary of any oral agreements or understandings you have with the trustee, whether or not legally enforceable.
• A copy of all trust documents (and any revisions), including the trust instrument, any memoranda of wishes prepared by the trustees summarizing the settlor's wishes, any letter of wishes prepared by the settlor summarizing his or her wishes, and any similar documents.
• A copy of the trust's financial statements, including a balance sheet and an income statement similar to those shown on Form 3520-A. These financial statements must reasonably reflect the trust's accumulated income under U.S. income tax principles. For example, the statements must not treat capital gains as additions to trust corpus.

Schedule C - Qualified Obligations Outstanding in the Current Tax Year

Line 19. Provide information on the status of outstanding obligations of the foreign trust (or person related to the foreign trust) that you reported as a qualified obligation in the current tax year. This information is required in order to retain the obligation's status as a qualified obligation. If relevant, attach a statement describing any changes in the terms of the qualified obligation.

If the obligation fails to retain the status of a qualified obligation, you will be treated as having made a gratuitous transfer to the foreign trust, which must be reported on Schedule B, Part I. See Section III(C)(2) of Notice 97-34.

Part II - U.S. Owner of a Foreign Trust

Complete Part II if you are considered the owner of any assets of a foreign trust under the grantor trust rules during the tax year. You are required to enter a taxpayer identification number for such foreign trust on line 2b.

Line 20. Enter information regarding any person other than yourself who is considered the owner of any portion of the trust under the grantor trust rules. Also, enter in column (e) the specific Code section that causes that person to be considered an owner for U.S. income tax purposes. See the grantor trust rules under sections 671 through 679.

Line 21. See the list of country codes on pages 11 and 12 of these instructions. If the country is not included in the list, enter OC for other country and the country's name.

Line 22. If Yes, the copy of the Foreign Grantor Trust Owner Statement (page 3, Form 3520-A) should show the amount of the foreign trust's income that is attributable to you for U.S. income tax purposes. See Section IV of Notice 97-34.

If No, you may be liable for a penalty of 5% of the trust assets that you are treated as owning, plus additional penalties for continuing failure to file after notice by the IRS. See section 6677.

Line 23. Enter the FMV of the trust assets that you are treated as owning. Include all assets at FMV as of the end of the tax year. For this purpose, disregard all liabilities. The trust should send you this information in connection with its Form 3520-A. If you did not receive such information (line 9 of the Foreign Grantor Trust Owner Statement) from the trust, complete line 23 to the best of your ability. At a minimum, include the value of all assets that you have transferred to the trust. Also use Form 8082 to notify the IRS that you did not receive a Foreign Grantor Trust Owner Statement. However, filing Form 8082 does not relieve you of any penalties that may be imposed under section 6677. See Penalties on page 2.

Part III - Distributions to a U.S. Person From a Foreign Trust During the Current Tax Year

If you received an amount from a portion of a foreign trust of which you are treated as the owner and you have correctly reported any information required on Part II and the trust has filed a Form 3520-A with the IRS, do not separately disclose distributions again in Part III. If you received an amount from a foreign trust that would require a report under both Parts III and IV (gifts and bequests) of Form 3520, report the amount only in Part III.

Line 24. Report any cash or other property that you received (actually or constructively, directly or indirectly) during the current tax year, from a foreign trust, whether or not taxable, unless the amount is a loan to you from the trust that must be reported on line 25. For example, if you are a partner in a foreign partnership that receives a distribution from a foreign trust, you must report your allocable share of such payment as an indirect distribution from the trust.

Line 25. If you, or a person related to you, received a loan from a related foreign trust, it will be treated as a distribution to you unless the obligation you issued in exchange is a qualified obligation.

For this purpose, a loan to you by an unrelated third party that is guaranteed by a foreign trust is generally treated as a loan from the trust.

Line 25, column (e). Answer Yes if your obligation given in exchange for the loan is a qualified obligation (defined on page 3).

Line 26. See Lines 12 and 26 on page 5.

Line 27. Penalties may be imposed for failure to accurately report all distributions received during the current tax year. See item 2 of Penalties on page 2.

Line 28. Provide information on the status of any outstanding obligation to the foreign trust that you reported as a qualified obligation in the current tax year. This information is required in order to retain the obligation's status as a qualified obligation. If relevant, attach a statement describing any changes to the terms of the qualified obligation. If the obligation fails to retain the status of a qualified obligation, you will be treated as having received a distribution from the foreign trust, which must be reported as such on line 25. See Section V(A) of Notice 97-34.

Lines 29 and 30. If any of the six items required for the Foreign Grantor Trust Beneficiary Statement (see Line 29 below) or for the Foreign Nongrantor Trust Beneficiary Statement (see Line 30 below) is missing, you must check No on line 29 or line 30, as applicable.

Also, if you answer Yes to line 29 or line 30, and the foreign trust or U.S. agent does not produce records or testimony when requested or summoned by the IRS, the IRS may redetermine the tax consequences of your transactions with the trust and impose appropriate penalties under section 6677.

Line 29. If Yes, attach the Foreign Grantor Trust Beneficiary Statement (page 4 of Form 3520-A) from the foreign trust and do not complete the rest of Part III with respect to the distribution. If a U.S. beneficiary receives a complete Foreign Grantor Trust Beneficiary Statement with respect to a distribution during the tax year, the beneficiary should treat the distribution for income tax purposes as if it came directly from the owner. For example, if the distribution is a gift, the beneficiary should not include the distribution in gross income.

In addition to basic identifying information (i.e., name, address, TIN, etc.) about the foreign trust and its trustee, this statement must contain these items:

1. The first and last day of the tax year of the foreign trust to which this statement applies.
2. An explanation of the facts necessary to establish that the foreign trust should be treated for U.S. tax purposes as owned by another person. (The explanation should identify the Code section that treats the trust as owned by another person.)
3. A statement identifying whether the owner of the trust is an individual, corporation, or partnership.
4. A description of property (including cash) distributed or deemed distributed to the U.S. person during the tax year, and the FMV of the property distributed.
5. A statement that the trust will permit either the IRS or the U.S. beneficiary to inspect and copy the trust's permanent books of account, records, and such other documents that are necessary to establish that the trust should be treated for U.S. tax purposes as owned by another person. This statement is not necessary if the trust has appointed a U.S. agent.
6. A statement as to whether the foreign trust has appointed a U.S. agent (defined on page 4). If the trust has a U.S. agent, include the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of the agent.

Line 30. If Yes, attach the Foreign Nongrantor Trust Beneficiary Statement from the foreign trust. A Foreign Nongrantor Trust Beneficiary Statement must include the following items:

1. An explanation of the appropriate U.S. tax treatment of any distribution or deemed distribution for U.S. tax purposes, or sufficient information to enable the U.S. beneficiary to establish the appropriate treatment of any distribution or deemed distribution for U.S. tax purposes.
2. A statement identifying whether any grantor of the trust is a foreign partnership or a foreign corporation.
3. A statement that the trust will permit either the IRS or the U.S. beneficiary to inspect and copy the trust's permanent books of account, records, and such other documents that are necessary to establish the appropriate treatment of any distribution or deemed distribution for U.S. tax purposes. This statement is not necessary if the trust has appointed a U.S. agent.
4. The Foreign Nongrantor Trust Beneficiary Statement must also include items 1, 4, and 6, as listed for line 29 on page 7.

Schedule A - Default Calculation of Trust Distributions

If you answered Yes to line 30, you may complete either Schedule A or Schedule B. Generally, however, if you complete Schedule A in the current year (or did so in the prior years), you must continue to complete Schedule A for all future years, even if you are able to answer Yes to line 30 in that future year. (The only exception to this consistency rule is that you may use Schedule B in the year that a trust terminates, but only if you are able to answer Yes to line 30 in the year of termination.)

Line 32. To the best of your knowledge, state the number of years the trust has been in existence as a foreign trust and attach an explanation of your basis for this statement. Consider any portion of a year to be a complete year. If this is the first year that the trust has been a foreign trust, do not complete the rest of Part III (you do not have an accumulation distribution).

Line 33. Enter the total amount of distributions that you received during the 3 preceding tax years (or the number of years the trust has been a foreign trust, if less than 3). For example, if a trust distributed $50 in year 1, $120 in year 2, and $150 in year 3, the amount reported on line 33 would be $320 ($50 + $120 + $150).

Line 35. Divide line 34 by 3 (or the number of years the trust has been a foreign trust if less than 3). Consider any portion of a year to be a complete year. For example, a foreign trust created on July 1, 2000, would be treated on a 2002 calendar year return as having 2 preceding years (2000 and 2001). In this case, you would calculate the amount on line 35 by dividing line 34 by 2. Do not disregard tax years in which no distributions were made. The IRS will consider your proof of these prior distributions as adequate records to demonstrate that any distribution up to the amount on line 31 is not an accumulation distribution in the current tax year.

Line 36. Enter this amount as ordinary income on your tax return. Report this amount on the appropriate schedule of your tax return (e.g., Schedule E (Form 1040), Part III).

Note: If there is an amount on line 37, you must also complete line 38 and Schedule C - Calculation of Interest Charge, to determine the amount of any interest charge you may owe.

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