CORAA

Private (Non-Charitable) Family Trust Taxation Working Paper

Specific vs. discretionary trust classification, the beneficiary-share determinability test, and the maximum-marginal-rate triggers that decide how a private family trust is actually taxed.

Free · CORAA original — SA-aligned
Updated 28 Jul 2026
Governing sections
Sec 160–164, Income-tax Act 1961
Specific trust
Taxed as beneficiary would be (Sec 161(1))
Discretionary trust
Taxed at Maximum Marginal Rate (Sec 164), subject to exceptions
Not to confuse with
Charitable trust taxation under Sec 11/12/12AB (different regime entirely)
Share this template
Your firm — letterhead
Appears at the top of the document as the audit firm letterhead.
Used as the letterhead block.
Engagement details
The client and period this document is for.
Auto-printed in the audit report and annexure header.
The 12A / 12AB / 10(23C) registration / URN issued by Income-tax department.
The previous year for which Form 10B is being filed.
AY corresponding to the previous year above.
What’s inside

An excerpt from the template.

PRIVATE (NON-CHARITABLE) FAMILY TRUST TAXATION WORKING PAPER

Trust: ___ · PAN: ___ · Year ended: ___ · Assessment Year: ___

A private (non-charitable) family trust — typically set up for succession or asset-holding purposes rather than public charity — is taxed under Sections 160 to 164 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, in the hands of the trustee AS A REPRESENTATIVE ASSESSEE, but the applicable rate and computation depend entirely on whether the trust is "specific" or "discretionary" and whether the beneficiaries' shares are determinate. This working paper documents that classification and its tax consequence, in place of a boilerplate assumption either way.

A. Trust Classification Test

↑ Excerpt only — the full template is what you download as Word
About this template

What you’re downloading, and when to use it.

This template follows the format published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in the AASB Audit Working Paper Templates (June 2023), the authoritative reference for Indian statutory-audit documentation. Fill in your firm’s letterhead and the engagement details on the form above, click Download Word file, and you’ll get a fully formatted .docx ready to use.

Everything is generated in your browser and on a stateless API endpoint — no account, nothing stored on our servers. We’ll ask for a work email once before your first download so we can send you the file and the occasional relevant update; after that, downloads on this device are instant. Edit freely in Word, Google Docs or Pages before sending to your client.

Common questions

FAQs.

What is the difference between a specific trust and a discretionary trust for tax purposes?
A specific trust names its beneficiaries and their shares explicitly (or in a way objectively determinable), so the tax law looks through the trust and taxes the trustee exactly as if that beneficiary had received the income directly — at that beneficiary's own slab rate. A discretionary trust leaves the trustee free to decide how much goes to which beneficiary, so there is no determinate "share" to attribute — the law instead taxes the whole income at a single flat Maximum Marginal Rate under Section 164, regardless of the beneficiaries' individual tax positions, unless one of the specific statutory exceptions applies.
Is this the same tax regime as a charitable trust registered under Section 12AB?
No — this working paper is for a private, non-charitable family trust (a succession/asset-holding vehicle), taxed under Sections 160-164 as a representative-assessee arrangement. A charitable or religious trust registered under Section 12A/12AB is taxed under an entirely different regime — Sections 11, 12, and 13 — based on application of income for charitable purposes, not on beneficiary determinability. Don't apply this working paper's logic to a 12AB-registered trust, or vice versa.
Can a trust be partly specific and partly discretionary?
Yes, and it happens often in family settlements — a deed might name specific beneficiaries for part of the income (e.g. a fixed allowance) while leaving the trustee discretion over the balance. In that case, the specific portion is taxed under Sec 161(1) at the relevant beneficiary's rate, and the discretionary portion is separately tested under Sec 164 for MMR applicability. Test and compute each portion separately rather than forcing the whole trust into one classification.
Related templates

You might also need.

Trust Audit Report Format
Free Trust audit report format — Form 10B / Form 10BB compliant under Section 12A, 12AB and 10(23C) of the Inc
Net Worth Certificate Format — CA Issued Template
Free CA-issued net worth certificate template for Indian individuals and entities. Assets, liabilities, net wo
Capital Gains Computation Working Paper — Asset-wise, with Gain/Loss Computed
Free capital gains computation working paper — asset-wise gain/loss computed automatically, up to 6 transactio