§ 685 — Treatment Of Funeral Trusts

(a) In the case of a qualified funeral trust— (1) subparts B, C, D, and E shall not apply, and (2) no deduction shall be allowed by section 642(b). (b) For purposes of this subsection, the term “qualified funeral trust” means any trust (other than a foreign trust) if— (1) the trust arises as a result of a contract with a person engaged in the trade or business of providing funeral or burial services or property necessary to provide such services, (2) the sole purpose of the trust is to hold, invest, and reinvest funds in the trust and to use such funds solely to make payments for such services or property for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the trust, (3) the only beneficiaries of such trust are individuals with respect to whom such services or property are to be provided at their death under contracts described in paragraph (1), (4) the only contributions to the trust are contributions by or for the benefit of such beneficiaries, (5) the trustee elects the application of this subsection, and (6) the trust would (but for the election described in paragraph (5)) be treated as owned under subpart E by the purchasers of the contracts described in paragraph (1). (c) Section 1(e) shall be applied to each qualified funeral trust by treating each beneficiary’s interest in each such trust as a separate trust. (d) No gain or loss shall be recognized to a purchaser of a contract described in subsection (b)(1) by reason of any payment from such trust to such purchaser by reason of cancellation of such contract. If any payment referred to in the preceding sentence consists of property other than money, the basis of such property in the hands of such purchaser shall be the same as the trust’s basis in such property immediately before the payment. (e) The Secretary may prescribe rules for simplified reporting of all trusts having a single trustee and of trusts terminated during the year.