Electing Small Business Trust

This document contains final regulations relating to the qualification and treatment of electing small business trusts (ESBTs). The final regulations interpret the rules added to the Internal Revenue Code (Code) by section 1302 of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, section 1601 of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, and section 316 of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. In addition, the final regulations provide that an ESBT, or a trust described in section 401(a) of the Code or section 501(c)(3) of the Code and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Code, is not treated as a deferral entity for purposes of Sec. 1.444-2T. The final regulations affect S corporations and certain trusts that own S corporation stock.