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On a 1041 trust return are tax preparation fees subject to 2% and therefore no longer deductible or are they deductible in full on line 14?

LSTAX
Level 4

Lacerte has screen 32 Other Deductions where we entered investment advisory fees, and selected 2% of AGI limitation applied.  As of 2018 and TCJA these fees are no longer deductible. In the past I  have seen Tax Prep fees entered here as well subject to 2% but there is also screen 31 Taxes and Fees that will populate 1041 line 14, fully deductible. Also, screen 31 has two fields, Tax Preparation fees allocable to taxable income and another for allocable to taxable and tax-exempt income (even if I enter under tax prep in the second field, it does not allocate, it shows the entire amount on line 14).

Also, what about ADR fees, were they ever deductible albeit subject to 2% on a trust return? After TCJA they would not be, but should they still be entered like advisory fees for states like CA?

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sjrcpa
Level 15
Attorney and accountant fees are fully deductible, same as before.

Ex-AllStar

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5 Comments 5
sjrcpa
Level 15
Attorney and accountant fees are fully deductible, same as before.

Ex-AllStar
TaxGuyBill
Level 15

I'm not well versed in Trusts, but here are a few things to get you going.  If you have any followup questions, somebody else may be able to help you further.


This means that the Supreme Court decision in Knight, 552 U.S. 181 (2008), is now even more important than before. This decision confirmed the deductibility of all investment advisory fees paid by a trust or estate (that would have not have been incurred if the taxpayer were not a trust or estate) without the 2%-of-AGI limitation. In Notice 2018-61, the IRS clarified this point as well.

https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2019/mar/trust-estate-income-tax-returns-under-tcja.html

https://home.kpmg/us/en/home/insights/2018/07/tnf-notice-2018-61-section-67-trusts-estates.html

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-18-61.pdf

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/552/181/


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LSTAX
Level 4
Thanks TaxGuyBill.  It looks like advisory fees were never fully deductible, always subject to 2% .  I'm still not sure about tax preparation fee.  There would be no tax preparation charge if there was no trust.
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LSTAX
Level 4
I inherited some trust returns pre-TCJA and the prior CPA was putting his tax prep fee as subject to 2% limitation but my interpretation is tax prep fee belongs on 1041 page 1, deductions line 14, there would not be a tax prep fee for the trust if there was no trust.  Thank you for your reply!
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sjrcpa
Level 15
You're welcome.

Ex-AllStar
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