Form 8939 Notice and Guidance

By Matthew J. Ahearn and Brian M. Malec

On Friday, August 5, 2011, the IRS issued Notice 2011-66 and Rev. Proc. 2011-41 to provide guidance concerning the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (TRUIRJCA). Under TRUIRJCA, an election may be made to opt out of the estate tax and into the carryover basis rules under Code section 1022. IRS Notice 2011-66 provides guidance with regard to the Code section 1022 election and filing requirements, the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax in 2010 as well as other collateral issues arising from the Code section 1022 election. Rev. Proc. 2011-41 provides optional safe harbor guidance when an election is made to have the carryover basis rules under Code section 1022 apply. We will be posting our commentary concerning the different aspects of the guidance provided by the IRS under Notice 2011-66 and Rev. Proc. 2011-41 over the next few days, so please check back here. For your reference, below are links to our commentary concerning TRUIRJCA:

Dean Mead Website:

Electronic Alert – Estate, Gift and GST Tax Relief in the 2010 Act

Presentation Outline – 2010 Tax Act

Procedural Issues for 2010 Decedents Under the 2010 Act

Blog Posts:

Portability of Estate Tax Exemptions: General Rules (January 17, 2011)

Tax Relief Act of 2010 (February 2, 2011)

The Tax Relief Act of 2010: Three Estate Planning Themes (February 7, 2011)

The Relief Act of 2010: Agricultural Businesses (February 14, 2010)

IRS Responds to ABA Comments to Draft Form 8939 (March 11, 2011)

IRS Publication 4895 (April 12, 2011)