The Internal Revenue Service has released a
The draft form includes, for the first time, a check box that enables an executor to opt out of electing portability of the unused portion of a deceased spouse’s estate and gift tax exclusion amount, according to the
A new Portability Election section of the IRS draft form says, “A decedent with a surviving spouse elects portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount, if any, by completing and timely-filing this return. No further action is required to elect portability of the DSUE amount to allow the surviving spouse to use the decedent’s DSUE amount.” Below that, the form provides a checkbox where the estate of a decedent with a surviving spouse may opt out of electing portability of the DSUE amount.
If the box is checked, the taxpayer does not need to fill out two other sections of the form, in which the taxpayer is asked whether any assets of the estate are being transferred to a qualified domestic trust, and in which the amount of the deceased spousal unused exclusion that is portable to the surviving spouse is calculated.
