When To File

Form 708 is an annual return, and you pay the section 2801 tax on an annual basis for any calendar year during which you receive covered gifts or covered bequests totaling an amount exceeding the section 2801(c) amount.

General rule. You must file Form 708 on or before the 15th day of the eighteenth month following the close of the calendar year in which you received the covered gift or covered bequest. But see additional rules in When to file for certain covered bequests, When to file for migrated foreign trusts, and When to file for a foreign trust electing to be treated as domestic trust in year during which no covered gift or covered bequest is received, below.

Example. The Form 708 for the 2025 calendar year, reporting the receipt of covered gifts and covered bequests during 2025, is due on or before June 15, 2027.

When to file for certain covered bequests. Regardless of the general rule, the due date of Form 708 reporting a covered bequest with a date of receipt, other than the covered expatriate’s date of death, is the later of:

• The 15th day of the 18th month following the close of the calendar year in which the covered expatriate died, or

• The 15th day of the sixth month of the calendar year following the close of the calendar year in which the covered bequest was received.

For example, if the covered expatriate dies in 2025 and the date of receipt of your bequest under the covered expatriate’s will occurs in calendar year 2026, the Form 708 for the 2026 calendar year is due on or before June 15, 2027. If instead

you received the covered bequest in calendar year 2027, the Form 708 for the 2027 calendar year is due on or before June 15, 2028.

When to file for migrated foreign trust. The due date of Form 708 for the calendar year in which a foreign trust migrated into a domestic trust is fifteenth date of the sixth month of the calendar year following the close of the calendar year in which the foreign trust becomes a domestic trust.

For example, if during calendar year 2025, a foreign trust becomes a domestic trust, the Form 708 for the 2025 calendar year is due on or before June 15, 2026.

When to file for a foreign trust electing to be treated as domestic trust in year during which no covered gift or covered bequest is received. A foreign trust electing to be treated as a domestic trust for a calendar year in which the foreign trust did not receive any covered gifts or covered bequests must file Form 708 on or before the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the calendar year following the close of the first calendar year for which the election is being made.

Note: A foreign trust electing to be treated as a domestic trust for a calendar year in which the foreign trust receives one or more covered gifts or covered bequests follows the general rule and must file Form 708 on or before the fifteenth day of the eighteenth month of the calendar year following the close of the first calendar year for which the election is being made.

For example, if a foreign trust receives no covered gifts or covered bequests during calendar year 2025 and elects to be treated as a domestic trust as of January 1, 2025, the Form 708 for the 2025 calendar year is due on or before June 15, 2026. If the foreign trust received one or more covered gifts or covered bequests in calendar year 2025 and is electing to be treated as a domestic trust as of January 1, 2025, the Form 708 for the 2025 calendar year is due on or before June 15, 2027.

Due date falls on Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, Form 708 will be due on the next business day. See section 7503.