Charitable donations - unitrust or CRT

Here is some guidance on that subject.

Charitable Deduction for a  charitable remainder unitrust, (CRUT)

The rules for calculating the value of a remainder interest in a CRUT are in Regs. Sec. 1.664-4. Generally, the present value of the remainder interest (i.e., the charitable deduction) in a CRUT is determined by finding the present-value factor that corresponds to the trust’s adjusted payout rate. The present-value factor for a CRUT with an income interest payable for a term of years is in Table D, Term Certain Factors, of Publication 1458. The present-value factor for a CRUT with an income interest payable for the life of the noncharitable beneficiary is in Table U(1), Single Life Factors, of Publication 1458. Most of both tables is reproduced in Regs. Sec. 1.664-4(e)(6). If the income interest is payable for the lives of two individuals, use Table U(2), Last-to-Die Factors, in Publication 1458, which is available here.

The Tax Advisor

Robert, thanks for the reply, but I know the amount available for a deduction on my taxes. What I don't know is how to enter this in turbo tax. Entering a stock gift simply asks for the amount, basis and dates.... where and how do I enter the calculated charitable deduction?  thanks

You just report it as a contribution of property.

See IRS publication 526: Contributions of Property

Where in TT do you input the information for a CRUT donation? I added the information I received from my CRUT accountant in the donation section but see no place to add the Present value of remainder interest which provides the actual value of my donation. How do I do this in TT?

Thanks

You would just enter the value of your donation, period..  Did you enter this as a donated good or in the money section?  When you enter donated goods, there is a place to enter the present value of your donation. 

It was entered as a Noncash Charitable Contribution. When I looked at a previous tax return, prepared by my accountant, on the 8283 form, Part II, 2b (1) it details the amount claimed as a deduction. In TT, there is nothing in this field and when I tried to enter it, nothing happened. When does this get filled it? Also, I tried to complete the form with the Trust information and that could not be entered.  Is there a worksheet that I should be using to fill in this information?

 The problem is, the trust may not follow under the guideline of a qualifying Charitable Organization to make charitable contributions. please review this IRS link, for further details. Also i suggest you delete your previous entries and start from scratch. Then:

1. On the left had side of your program, go to tax tools>tools>topic search
2. Type in 8283.  This will begin the process.  Answer each question carefully
3. When it asks for the Organization, type in the name of the trust.  it will also ask for an address and other details about the organization that you contributed to.
4. Be.fore you do this, review the IRS link to see if your trust falls under the guidelines of a Qualifying Charitable Organization.

Thanks for the response. I will try what you suggest. And yes this CRUT qualifies. We have donated to it before and was trying to follow what my account had done. I will try again and let you know.

Thanks

I followed your instructions but stumbled on step 1. I assume you meant tools and not tax tools. Also, there was no tools or topic search.  There was a topic list. So I don't know if I was in the wrong place.

I filled out the Charitable Organization Worksheet and the Noncash Contributions Worksheet.  On the 8283 worksheet  in Part II, 2a - I was able to put in the line number of the contribution and in 2b (1) the form won't allow me to put in the amount allowed for the deduction for this tax year. I get a blue space and nothing can be typed into  the field. Is there a chance the form is incorrect? How do I pursue that possibility? Is there a way to send the form to someone to check? 

Everything was going smoothly with this year's form until this stumbling block landed in my path.

Thanks for your assistance.

If you are using Turbo Tax software, go to charitable contributions in step by step instead of the forms and see if you can enter the amount here for that contribution

At this point you may wish to contact a specialist that can work through that section of the return with you. The specialists can look at your return on their screen to find out exactly what is causing this issue and take corrective action if needed if you are still experiencing problems. 

I am having the same problem as other people posted, how do I enter my Charitable Remainder Unitrust data on form 8283??????????

TT does not allow that on one step or any other way? 

The info has to go into Part 1 Section B and TT does not allow that????

How can I get Form 8283 into TT so I can fill in manually????

Thanks

Here I am in 2021 trying to report contributions to a unitrust. Can it be done in turbo tax?

 Yes, it would be reported as a contribution of property.  See IRS publication 526: Contributions of Property. When you report it in the charitable contribution section, it will be reported as an item. According to the link, it is reported at the Fair Market Value of the trust.

Dave, yes you are correct. Here's the issue: It has to be reported on form 8283 under Part II "Partial Interests and Restricted Use Property". I've called the Turbotax help line and the person did not understand the issue and tried to tell me that form 8283 isn't used with a 1040 form. That shows the people working the phones don't understand how taxes work.

My only question is, can "Turbotax Home & Business" actually allow someone to report it in Part II "Partial Interests and Restricted Use Property" on form 8283? I've read other conversations from last year here in intuit turbotax and no one has accurately explained 1) that it can be entered in Part II and 2) how to do it. This version of Turbotax clearly has limitations in what you can enter. If you think that it's possible, can you open up "Turbotax Home & Business" and enter a hypothetical unitrust example and get it to show up correctly in Part II? If it shows up in Part I then the IRS will not accept it as filed correctly.  Thanks in advance for your help.

I actually worked out a scenario and got this to appear correctly in part 11 of the 8283. Now let me list the steps. I did this with you in mind. 

1. Keep in mind, the only way this will be populated on the 8283 is that you indicate that you gave away less than an entire interest  listed in Section B part 1.
2. OR if there were conditions you place on the Section B part 1 contribution.
3. If the answer is yes to both, then let's proceed.
4. Now go to the charitable contribution section of your return.
5. in choosing the category, I chose other intangible property.
6. When it ask what the method of determining value, I said present value.
7. Next screen asks purchase info, I put in created as the method of purchase.
8. Then scrolled through the screen until it asked for the name and address of the charity.
9. On the next screen, it asks if either you retained partial ownership of the donation or
10. If you attached conditions. If you say none of the above on this screen, the information will not populate in Part 11 of the 8283. So let's say yes to this particular example.
11. Next screen will ask if you retained partial ownership, say yes.
12. Next screen will ask if you contributed in a prior year.  If yes, then it will ask you the name of the charity you contributed to in prior years.
13. Next question will ask if you placed special conditions on the contribution. if so, what were they?
14. You can also edit the information in the form entitled additional info(XXX) underneath the Charitable Org (XXXX) form in your list of forms.
15. Remember the two requirements for the information to populate in Part11 of he 8283.

When I tried that method it stopped and said Contact a Pro to do this, would not go on from there??

The CPA that set up my Charitable Remainder Trust said that stock goes on Form 8283 Section B Part 1.

How can I get it in there with TT Deluxe???

Thank you

Yes.  here is how you will report this.

1. Log into Turbo Tax.
2. Go to federal>deductions and credits>Charitable Donations>show more
3. Donations to Charity in 2020>stat or revisit
4. You will report it as a donation to property so you will pick items after you list the name of the charity
5. Now you will answer the questions over the next few screens
6. in choosing the category, choose other intangible property.
7. When it ask what the description, value and method of determining value, select present value. the description would be the Unitrust- Charitable Remainder Trust
8. Next screen asks purchase info, select created as the method of purchase.
9. Finish out the interview. If done correctly, the information will populate into Section B-part 1 of the 8283.

Hey that is the best answer yet, thank you Dave.

It put the stock donation  in the correct place on the 8283, however it  did not carry over from the work sheet that it was a Stock donation.

I changed the checked box on the work sheet to Stock and it dropped everything from the 8283 form.

Do you think it is OK to file the 8283 Form with the Other box checked instead of the Stock box?

I just went through the process of figuring out how to enter the information for a CRT/CRUT created from donating real property to the trust, using the TurboTax Home and Business edition, with a lot of help from TurboTax support.  The steps are a little different from what DaveF1006 described in my case.

I admit this approach DOES NOT fill in Part II (Partial Interests and Restricted Use Property) of Form 8283.   I honestly don't know if that is an issue or not for the IRS.  Since you're going to file a signed paper copy of the 8283 after filing electronically, you could possibly check the appropriate box on the paper form.

Note:  You MUST enter all information in Step-By-Step mode only!

1. Start with Add Another Charity on the Charities screen, and fill in the charity name, which would be the name of your trust

2. Select "Items" for What Did You Donate?

3. Choose I'll Value Them on the next screen

4. For Date of Donation, enter the date the real property was transferred to the trust

5. For Choose a Category for This Donation, select "Other intangible property"

6. For Tell us about the items you gave to <charity name>, enter a Description; enter the calculated value of your deduction (not the appraised value) for Value, and select "Present value" for Method Used to Determine Value

7. For Purchase Price, enter 0.  The reason for this is that if you enter the actual basis of the property you donated, it will typically be larger than the deduction value entered in step 6, which will confuse TurboTax because then it won't look like a Capital Gain

8. For How Acquired, select "Created"

9. For Will your donation be used in direct association with the charity's function?, select No

10. Click DONE.  This takes you back to the Review All Your Charities screen.

11. Important:  You must select CONTINUE at this point!

12. On the next screen, it will ask you Were any of your donations to a fraternal order, veteran's group, nonprofit cemetery, or other 30% charity?  You must select No (unless of course you also contributed to one of these types of organizations as well).  At this point it will pop up some helpful text, which it turns out is incorrect:  "This means we'll treat all of your donations, up to 100% of your AGI, as eligible." Do not get fooled by this bug in the software; leave your answer No.

13. Click through and enter the address of the Trust

14. On the "One more question" screen, select None of the above.   Do this even though it might seem right to select some other options.

15. You can click through and enter the information about your Qualified Appraisal

16. Skip past the questions about Group and Bargain Sale donations

This should do it.  You can go to Forms mode and double check your 8283 and Charity Limit 1 forms.  On the Charity Limit 1 form, make sure your donation appears in section D of Step 2.

I got real far inputing a CRUT donation into Turbotax 2021, BUT, I do not see any option to show that I gave away less than a full interest.  As long as I only put the calculated donation value and the prorated tax basis, my numbers look fine.

Am I do something wrong, or is this a change with the 2021 version?

Not clear if you have donated appreciated real property, or something else.  I also wonder what "less than a full interest" means in your particular case; I'm no expert, but I seem to recall a checkbox for such a situation.

I am donating appreciated real estate and my donation present value is 10.011%.  So I am entitled to that percent of the appraised value as a donation.  I did not see any place where you can check a box etc to describe such a partial interest.  In rereading this thread it does sound like such an option does not exist.  Worst case, since the return has to be mailed in I can just do 8283 manually.  AS long as the correct info gets to the other forms.  

As I mentioned in the list of steps I used, earlier in this thread:

- enter the calculated value of your deduction (not the appraised value) for Value, and select "Present value" for Method Used to Determine Value

Thus, you'd enter your 10.011% value here.

Yup that’s what I am doing. I assume you put the 10.011% of the cost basis for the purchase price, or do you put 10.011% of the original purchase price?

is there anyway, other than manually, to reflect that this is a partial interest for part II?