U.S. Estate Tax Return for Qualified Domestic Trusts

We ask for the information on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United States. You are required to give us the information. We need it to ensure that you are complying with these laws and to allow us to figure and collect the right amount of tax.

You are not required to provide the information requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and return information are confidential as required by section 6103.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances. The estimated average time is:

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler, we would be happy to hear from you. You can write to the Tax Forms Committee, Western Area Distribution Center, Rancho Cordova, CA 95743-0001. DO NOT send the tax form to this address. Instead, see Where To File on page one.

Purpose of Form

The trustee or designated filer of a qualified domestic trust (QDOT) uses Form 706-QDT to figure and report the estate tax due on:

• Certain distributions from the QDOT;
• The value of the property remaining in the QDOT on the date of the surviving spouse's death; and
• The corpus portion of certain annuity payments.

Under certain circumstances, the trustee/designated filer uses Form 706-QDT to notify the IRS that the trust is exempt from future filing because the surviving spouse has become a U.S. citizen and meets the requirements listed in the instructions for line 4 on page 3.

The qualified domestic trust rules apply only in those situations where a decedent's surviving spouse is NOT a U.S. citizen.

Who Must File

Either the trustee or the designated filer, as explained below, must file Form 706-QDT for any year in which the QDOT has a taxable event (as defined below) or makes a distribution on account of hardship.

Trustee

If the surviving spouse is the beneficiary of only one QDOT, the trustee of that QDOT is liable for filing Form 706-QDT and paying the tax.

The trustee must also file Form 706-QDT if the surviving spouse is the beneficiary of more than one QDOT, unless the decedent's executor designated one U.S. trustee as the designated filer.

If there is more than one trustee for any single trust, each trustee is liable for filing the return and paying the tax.

If there is a designated filer, the trustee must still complete a separate Schedule B of Form 706-QDT for each trust for which he or she is the trustee and provide the completed Schedule B to the designated filer at least 60 days before the due date for filing Form 706-QDT.

Designated filer

If the surviving spouse is the beneficiary of more than one QDOT from a single decedent, and the decedent's executor has made such a designation, then the designated filer selected by the executor is liable for filing the return and paying the tax for all QDTs. This designation can be made on either the decedent's estate tax return or the first Form 706-QDT that is timely filed.

In this case, the trustee of each QDOT is responsible for completing Schedule B of Form 706-QDT for his or her trust and giving it to the designated filer.

Definitions

Qualified domestic trust

A qualified domestic trust is any trust that qualifies for an estate tax marital deduction under section 2056 and also meets all of the following requirements:

• The trust instrument requires that at least one trustee be either a U.S. citizen or a domestic corporation;
• The trust instrument requires that no distribution of corpus from the trust may be made unless that trustee has the right to withhold from the distribution the QDOT tax imposed on the distribution;
• The QDOT election under section 2056A(d) has been made for the trust by the executor of the estate on the decedent's estate tax return; and
• The requirements of all applicable regulations have been met.

Taxable event

A taxable event is any of the following:

• Any distribution from a QDOT (and certain annuity payments) before the death of the surviving spouse, except:
• a. Distributions of income to the surviving spouse, and
• b. Any distributions made to the surviving spouse on account of hardship;
• The death of the surviving spouse; and
• The failure of the trust to qualify as a QDOT.

Decedent

In these instructions, decedent means the grantor of the QDOT on whose estate tax return the executor makes the QDOT election.

Surviving spouse

In these instructions, surviving spouse means the individual who is both the surviving spouse of the decedent and also the beneficiary of the decedent's QDOT.

When To File

Form 706-QDT is an annual return. Generally, the return to report distributions is due on or after January 1 but not later than April 15 of the year following any calendar year in which a taxable event occurred or a distribution was made on account of hardship.

However, if you are filing the return because of the death of the surviving spouse, you must file it within 9 months following the date of death. You must also report on that return all reportable distributions made during the calendar year in which the surviving spouse died. This rule may result in a return being due before April 15. For example, if the surviving spouse died on June 10, 1999, Form 706-QDT would be due March 10, 2000, and must include all reportable distributions made during 1999.

If the trust ceases to qualify as a QDOT, you must file Form 706-QDT within 9 months of the date on which the trust ceased to qualify. You must include on that return any reportable distributions made during the calendar year of the failure to qualify.

You can request an extension of time to file Form 706-QDT by writing to the District Director or Service Center for your filing location. You must explain the reason for the delay. Because there is no automatic extension of time to file Form 706-QDT, you must request the extension in sufficient time to allow the IRS to respond before the due date of the return.

An extension of time to file does not extend the time to pay the tax.

Where To File

File Form 706-QDT with the same Internal Revenue Service Center where the Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, or Form 706-NA, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, Estate of nonresident not a citizen of the United States, for the estate of the decedent was filed.

Paying the Tax

Generally, the QDOT estate tax is due by April 15 of the year following the calendar year in which taxable distributions were made. However, if the surviving spouse died during the year or if the trust ceased to qualify as a QDOT during the year, the tax on those events and on any taxable distributions occurring during that calendar year is due within 9 months following the date of death or the failure to qualify.

If the QDOT qualifies, you may elect under section 6166 to pay the tax in installments. You may make either a protective or final election by checking Yes on line 3 of Part II, Elections by the Trustee/Designated Filer, and attaching the required statements. See the instructions for line 3 on page 3 for additional information.

Make the check payable to United States Treasury. Write the surviving spouse's social security number and Form 706-QDT on the check to assist us in posting it to the proper account.

Signature

If the trustee is filing the return and there is more than one trustee listed, all listed trustees must verify and sign the return. All trustees are responsible for the return as filed and are liable for penalties provided for erroneous or false returns.

The trustee/designated filer who files the return must, in every case, sign the declaration on page 1 under penalties of perjury. If you pay someone to prepare the return, that person must also sign the return at the bottom of page 1.

Supplemental Documents

You must attach a copy of the trust instrument to the first Form 706-QDT filed for the trust. You do not need to attach a copy of the trust to any subsequent filings of Form 706-QDT.

If you are filing the return due to the death of the surviving spouse, attach a copy of the death certificate.

Penalties

Section 6651 provides penalties for both late filing and for late payment unless there is reasonable cause for the delay. The law also provides penalties for willful attempts to evade payment of tax.

Section 6662 provides penalties for underpayment of estate taxes of $5,000 or more that are attributable to valuation understatements.

Security for Payment of the Tax

Assets in Excess of $2 Million

If the estate tax value of the assets passing to the QDOT exceeds $2 million (determined without regard to any indebtedness), the trust instrument must require that the trust meet at least one of the following conditions at all times during the term of the QDOT:

• At least one U.S. trustee must be a bank as defined in section 581;
• The U.S. trustee must furnish a bond in favor of the Internal Revenue Service in an amount equal to 65% of the fair market value of the trust assets; or
• The U.S. trustee must furnish an irrevocable letter of credit issued by a bank in an amount equal to 65% of the fair market value of the trust assets.

The trust instrument may also meet this requirement by specific reference to the applicable paragraph of Regulations section 20.2056A-2(d).

The QDOT may alternate between any of these arrangements provided that one of the arrangements is operative at any given time. The QDOT may give the trustee the discretion to use any one of the security arrangements, or may limit the trustee to using only one or two of the arrangements.

Assets of $2 Million or Less

If the estate tax value of the assets passing to the QDOT is $2 million or less (determined without regard to any indebtedness), the trust instrument must require that the trust meet at least one of the following conditions at all times during the term of the QDOT:

• That no more than 35% of the fair market value of trust assets, determined annually on the last day of the taxable year of the trust, will consist of real property located outside the United States; or
• That the trust will meet the requirements described above for QDOTs with assets in excess of $2 million.

For this purpose, if more than one QDOT is established for the benefit of the surviving spouse, the value of all of the QDOTs is aggregated in determining whether the $2 million threshold is exceeded.

Personal Residence

For the purpose of (1) figuring the $2 million threshold, and (2) determining the amount of any bond or letter of credit, the executor of the decedent's estate can elect to exclude up to $600,000 in value of real property that meets the following requirements:

• It is used by or held for the use of the surviving spouse as a personal residence;
• It is owned directly by the QDOT; and
• It passed or was treated as passing to the QDOT under the rules for the marital deduction when the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen (section 2056(d)(2)(B)).

The $600,000 can include the value of any related furnishings.

Either election may have been made by the executor on the estate tax return for the decedent's estate. The election to exclude the personal residence amount from the amount of the bond or letter of credit can also be made prospectively by the U.S. trustee by attaching a statement to Form 706-QDT claiming the exclusion. You can also cancel this election whether made by the executor or by a trustee, by attaching such a statement to Form 706-QDT.

Filing a Bond or Letter of Credit

If the bond or letter of credit arrangement is selected, the executor must have filed the bond or letter of credit with the Form 706 or 706-NA on which the QDOT election is made.

The U.S. trustee must provide a written statement with the bond or letter of credit listing the assets that will fund the QDOT, the values of the assets, and whether any exclusions for a personal residence are being claimed.

Additional Information

For more information, including additional requirements for a bond and letter of credit, details on the exclusion of a personal residence, rules on the disallowance of the marital deduction for substantial undervaluation of QDOT property, rules regarding foreign real property, and certain annual reporting requirements (concerning ownership of foreign real property, cessation of use of a personal residence, and look-through rules applied to the ownership of foreign real property), see Regulations section 20.2056A-2(d).

How To Complete Form 706-QDT

Trustee Filing the Return

If the trustee is filing the complete return, prepare it in the following order:

1. Part I (page 1), General Information;
2. Part II (page 1), Elections by the Trustee/Designated Filer;
3. All of Schedule B (but only lines 1a and 1b of Part I);
4. Schedule A;
5. Part III (page 1), Tax Computation.

Enter only the totals from Parts II-VI of Schedule B in the corresponding Total lines of Schedule A.

Trustee Completing Schedule B Only

If a designated filer will file the return, the trustee must complete all applicable parts of Schedule B for his or her respective trust and provide it to the designated filer at least 60 days before the due date for filing Form 706-QDT.

Designated Filer Filing the Return

The designated filer must receive a completed Schedule B from the trustee of every QDOT that has had a reportable event or a hardship distribution during the tax year. The designated filer then summarizes these on Schedule A.

Complete the return in the following order:

1. Part I (page 1), General Information;
2. Part II (page 1), Elections by the Trustee/Designated Filer;
3. Schedule A;
4. Part III (page 1), Tax Computation.

Attach each Schedule B to the return when you file it.

If there is not enough space on a schedule to list all the items, attach an additional sheet of the same size to the back of the schedule.

Rounding off to Whole Dollars

You may show the money items on the return and accompanying schedules as whole dollars. To do so, drop any amount less than 50 cents and increase any amount from 50 cents through 99 cents to the next higher dollar.

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