@Debra56
You don't have to use the Trust tax rates if the parents' tax bracket are more favorable, as they are in the case of most "gold star" children (who receive money in partial compensation for parents killed in line of duty) and many college students (whose grandparents may have gifted assets to them as they were growing up). In a typical case, parents' capital gains are taxed at zero up to $39,375 - $78,750 depending on filing status, whereas the zero rate is limited to $2,650 in the Trust rates. Now think of the tax hit on a young woman who sells enough stock to pay for a year of college!
The 2019 TurboTax has been updated to provide the alternative and in many cases more favorable method of filling out Form 8615, but the 2018 edition has not.
