Kiddie Tax on LT Cap gains

Mar 23, 2018 5 Replies

TL;DR - Do long term cap gains in a child's account get LT treatment, or are they taxed at Trust rates?



I have a daughter in college, and did a good job saving for her. I am looking at the new tax code and see that the "Kiddie Tax" no longer looks at the parent tax rate, but it taxes the child's income under the same table as trusts. The one thing I am not seeing is whether the long term cap gains would still be taxed at a 15% maximum. It seems to me, that if the trust rate applies to the gain, she can gift me back the shares, and the gain taxed at my rate to them pay her college bills.


This small article from Kiplinger answers your question.

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"Long-term gains and qualified dividends are taxed at 0% when income (including the gains and dividends) is under $2,600 and 20% when income exceeds $12,700. In between those amounts, the rate is 15%. Also, note that for kiddie tax purposes, the 3.8% surtax on net investment income hits income over $12,700."

And the question remains, since the money is being transferred to my account to pay the tuition, would I run afoul of the IRS if we transferred stock, and took the cap gain under my name?

The college account wasn't meant to be a tax dodge, for 19 years, I knew the gains were taxed under my rate. Seems crazy that I got this far only to find a 20% potential rate, if read this correctly. Given the time, nearly 2/3 of the value is gains.

IMHO, I see no reason why a child who has reached the age of majority can not make gifts to parents even if that adult child is still a dependent for tax purposes. However, somewhere in the back of mind, I recall that the holding period for property that is gifted between related parties starts on the date of the gift. I could be wrong.

Thanks.

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implies cost basis (and purchase date) follow the gift. One can't gift a loss, though. If the stock is worth less than the cost, it shouldn't be gifted.

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