Ronald Finkelstein, Tax & Business Services Partner, Quoted in Reuters Article "Getting Ready for the Medicare Tax on Investment Income"
Reuters
Excerpt:
Medicare surcharge strategies get more complex for those who have trusts. Trusts are subject to the Medicare tax on the lesser of their undistributed net investment income for the year or the excess of their adjusted gross income over a threshold, currently $11,650. The result is that most trusts – with the exception of charitable trusts, which are exempt – will be affected by the new Medicare tax.
“The threshold is very low on trusts,” says Ron Finkelstein, a tax partner at Marcum LLP in Melville, N.Y. “The threshold for trusts is much lower than for individuals.”
One possible strategy for trusts: They may be able to reduce or eliminate the Medicare tax by distributing income to beneficiaries – especially if those recipients have income levels that put them below the cut-off for the Medicare tax.
