Review of Reviews: “The U.S. Supreme Court in Kaestner: Deciphering the Constitutionally Required Minimum Contacts Necessary for State Taxation of Trust Income,” Virginia Law & Business Review (Spring 2021)Review of Reviews: “The U.S. Supreme Court in Kaestner: Deciphering the Constitutionally Required Minimum Contacts Necessary for State Taxation of Trust Income,” Virginia Law & Business Review (Spring 2021)

In North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust,¹ the U.S. Supreme Court provided guidance as to the minimum contacts required to protect a state’s taxation of a trust’s income against a due process challenge. The article by Beckett G. Cantley and Geoffrey C. Dietrich provides an excellent description of the limited nature of that guidance and a helpful set of planning principles which, if followed, could minimize the exposure of a trust to state income tax. 

State income taxes are an important source of revenue for most states. Forty-two states and the District of Columbia impose a tax on the income of their resident individuals and resident trusts, with rates ranging from a low of 2.9% in North Dakot...