Deductibility of Investment Advisory Fees by Estates and Trusts

In the 2017 Tax Act, Miscellaneous itemized deductions were denied for years 2018 through 2025. This impacts Trusts and Estates in that investment expenses are miscellaneous itemized deductions under Section 67(e) of the Internal Revenue Code. Thus, they are no longer deductible. This creates phantom income to the Trust upon which the Trust will pay tax. The Supreme Court in Knight v. Commissioner (2008) ruled that these fees are miscellaneous itemized deductions. Thus, the new law makes them non-deductible. You may want to discuss with your investment advisor/broker about moving back to old commission based system. At least commissions are added to basis for the purpose of computing capital gains whereas investment advisory fees will be lost.

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