Turning Theory into Practice
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Course Content
Course Description
This course from October 30, 2025 moves beyond 1041 mechanics and shows how common trusts-and-estates concepts play out in real client planning and administration.
You will connect fiduciary accounting income (FAI), distributable net income (DNI), and distribution decisions to practical filing outcomes, beneficiary reporting (K-1s), and planning tools used in post-mortem and lifetime wealth transfer.
Topics Covered:
- Fiduciary accounting income (FAI) vs. fiduciary taxable income: why they differ and why it matters
- DNI and the income distribution deduction: practical limits and planning outcomes
- Simple vs. complex vs. grantor trusts: classification and filing impacts
- Capital gains, principal vs. income allocations, and when gains may (or may not) carry out
- Section 663(b) 65-day rule election: timing distributions for year-end results
- Section 645 election for qualified revocable trusts (QRTs): simplifying administration and tax-year planning
- Estate vs. trust tax years: calendar year vs. fiscal year considerations during administration
- Portability (DSUE) overview and why filing Form 706 can matter even for smaller estates
- Insurance planning with ILITs (including the 3-year rule) and liquidity strategies
- Dynasty trusts and GST exemption allocation: inclusion ratio concepts and practical administration issues
- Split-interest and transfer techniques: CLATs/CRTs, GRATs, and QPRTs (and why interest rates matter)
- Step-up in basis planning and how it can affect capital gains and NIIT exposure
Learning Objectives
- Explain why fiduciary accounting income (FAI) can differ from fiduciary taxable income and how that affects distribution decisions.
- Apply DNI concepts to determine when income can be shifted to beneficiaries and when it stays taxable to the trust or estate.
- Distinguish simple, complex, and grantor trusts and identify the practical reporting consequences.
- Recognize when capital gains are treated as principal versus when they may be carried out to beneficiaries under governing-instrument/state-law approaches.
- Identify timing and election tools that affect fiduciary reporting, including the §663(b) 65-day rule and the §645 election for qualified revocable trusts.
- Evaluate common post-mortem and lifetime planning techniques (portability, ILITs, dynasty trusts/GST, GRATs, QPRTs, charitable split-interest trusts) at a practical level.
- Spot common administration and compliance issues that drive K-1 volume, estimated tax needs, and client communication points.
About The Presenter:
Michael R. Miranda, CPA, QKA, NQPC, AEP
Bringing 48 years of experience in tax consulting, estate planning, and employee benefits to his work as an independent consultant, Michael is the owner of MIRANDA CPA & Consulting LLC in Sioux Falls, SD. His tax practice focuses on corporate, individual, estate and gift, and tax accounting. He also provides employee benefit planning and consultation services for qualified, non-qualified, and health and welfare benefit plans. As part of his IRS representation practice, Michael has worked with the National Office to obtain private letter rulings for clients, in addition to numerous EPCRS submissions and audits. As a nationally recognized tax speaker, he maintains an active schedule presenting webinars and seminars on tax law, employee benefit planning, and estate planning.
Michael spent 27 years as a senior manager and shareholder at a regional CPA firm in Northwestern Iowa before retiring. He began his career as a Tax Specialist with a Big 8 firm, working in South Bend and Minneapolis, focusing on tax and estate planning for individuals and small to mid-sized businesses. He holds CPA, QKA, NQPC, and AEP designations and is a member of AICPA, ASPPA, NAEA, and NAEPC. In spring 2025, Michael performed as a cellist in the Des Moines Metro Opera’s production of Carmen to great acclaim.
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