Schedule K-1 not coming

[Bret3]

Good morning.  I am a beneficiary of dividends from a trust fund set up by my mother.  In the past, I've always received a Schedule K-1 from my father's accounting firm (he is the trustee, and my father, my brother and I are all beneficiaries).  Yesterday, I find out that he has changed accounting firms this year, and plans to report his third of the dividend income under 1099-Div by just dividing the total amount listed on the Investment firm's Consolidated Management Page sent in Dec 24.  I'm pretty sure the IRS wants this income processed through a pass-through entity (his accounting firm) to generate the appropriate Schedule K-1's for each of us.   Unfortunately, I don't believe I have any control since I'm not the trustee.  What are my options to resolve this?  Is it better to file an extension, or to submit a inaccurate tax form knowing the IRS will audit and request an explanation?

[ThomasM125]

I believe you mean in the past there was a trust tax return prepared and you, as a beneficiary, received a schedule K-1 from it reporting your share of trust dividend income. However, for this year there is no such schedule created so it is up to you to report your share of dividends from the trust without the schedule K-1. If so, on a personal level you should be OK as long as you report the correct amount of dividend income on your tax return. The executor of the trust could be in trouble however, for not filing a trust tax return and also the trust could be subject to penalties for not filing a tax return, or filing it incorrectly if that is the case.

You mention filing an inaccurate tax return. It would only be inaccurate if you didn't know what your share of the dividends were. If that is the case, it may be prudent to file an extension so you don't file an inaccurate tax return.