Understanding 8621 Exemptions

[ethanpurdy]

Hi all,

I'm trying to determine if I will be exempted from filing 8621. Here's the situation:

1. December 2015 - purchased shares in 8 funds. Value purchased varied from $150 - $2000. Total value purchased was about $8,000. Hence, I fall under the $25,000 de minimis.

2. January 5, 2016 - received distribution on funds. This is the first time I received distribution on this funds. From 8621 instructions it seems like since this was not technically the first year I owned the funds (as I held in 2015) these distributions are considered excessive distributions. Is that right?

3. Various 2016 - sold 3 funds at a capital loss. Sold 5 funds at a small (<$100) capital gain. End of 2016 I no longer hold any of the 8 funds.


I understand that the 5 sold at a capital gain will almost certainly need an 8621. What about the three sold at a capital loss? Because 2016 was the first year receiving distributions but doesn't seem to be the first year holding the fund (2015 was?) are those considered to have excess distributions as well?

[ethanpurdy]

One additional item:

I used Serbinski to file my taxes for 2015 and no 8621s were done for these funds. I think this was because I fell under the $25K de minimis and had no distributions (excess or otherwise).