Investors & landlords

@HomelandH You might want to seek an in-person consultation with a tax professional for this scenario (particularly a tax professional who has some experience with trusts and estates).

 

The typical grantor trust is considered a disregarded entity for federal income tax purposes and has several options with respect to filing an income tax return. Primarily, the trustee of the trust may use one of the optional filing methods delineated in the link below thereby avoiding having to file Form 1041 (i.e., the income, deductions, gain, et al, can be reported directly on the grantor's individual income tax return).

 

See https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1041#idm140366310222736

 

Therefore, if your father is the sole owner of the rental property and placed the property in a revocable (living) trust naming himself as trustee and beneficiary, then nothing much has changed with respect to how you reported in previous years. However, if the foregoing is not the case, then you need to provide more details regarding exactly how the transfer was structured and the specific language in the trust as it relates to the rental property.

 

Your reference to an "operating statement" also requires more details as it might pertain to any agreement between you and your father as to how profits and losses are to be shared. Typically, operating agreements are drafted when the parties thereto intend to form a partnership and that would complicate matters somewhat in this instance.