I turned 18 in 2019. My tribe had a trust fund set up for me. Am i getting taxed on the 12,000 dollars that was held for me for the years that I was underage?

[SusanY1 · Accepted solution]

Maybe.  Did you receive any type of trust income document from your tribe such as Form K-1 or Form 1099? 

Generally, what you will pay tax on is the income from the body of the trust - or the trust's principal - but a lot will depend on precisely what kind of distribution was made to you and how it was made.

If you don't already have some sort of document, ask the tribe elder who was responsible for managing your funds or the institution that holds the funds if there is any document that accompanies your funds or if they have any "tax reporting documents" for you.  

Feel free to come back with additional questions once you have documents or more information. 

If you just turned 18 recently (in 2020), you may not receive these documents until early 2021, and you would not have any tax concerns until next year.  However, you are smart to be thinking about the taxes now, and we are happy to answer your questions as you think of them!