Foreign Trust Reporting And Compliance, Part One

I. In General

The United States generally imposes an income tax filing requirement on all U.S. persons and certain foreign persons, including certain foreign trusts with U.S. owners or other U.S. nexus. For purposes of U.S. federal income tax and reporting, section 7701(a)(30) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code")¹ defines the term a "U.S. person" to mean a citizen or resident of the U.S., a domestic partnership, a domestic corporation, any estate other than a foreign estate and certain trusts. Section 7701(a)(31) defines the term a "foreign trust" broadly to mean any trust other than a trust treated as a U.S. person.

Section 6012 contains the requirements for when an individual or entity is required to file a U.S. federal income tax return. U.S. persons are generally required to file annually a Form 1040 to report their worldwide income, while foreign persons are generally required to file annually a Form 1040NR to report their fixed determinable and periodic