26 U.S.C. § 139G — Assignments to Alaska Native Settlement Trusts

This section lets Alaska Native Corporations shift certain settlement payments — and the tax on them — to a Settlement Trust. (a) In general. A Native Corporation does not count as taxable income the value of payments it would otherwise get under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (including Village Corporation payments under section 7(j) of that Act), as long as: (1) the payments are assigned in writing to a Settlement Trust; and (2) the Corporation had not already received them before the assignment. (b) Inclusion in gross income. Once a Settlement Trust receives payments assigned this way, the Trust must count them as taxable income, and they keep the same tax character they would have had if the Corporation had received them directly. (c) Amount and scope of assignment. The assignment must describe, with reasonable detail, either a percentage of one or more payments, or a fixed dollar amount. (d) Duration of assignment; revocability. Every assignment must state whether it lasts forever or for a set time, and whether it can be revoked. (e) Prohibition on deduction. Despite a separate deduction rule (section 247), the Native Corporation cannot deduct any amount described in subsection (a). (f) Definitions. "Native Corporation" and "Settlement Trust" have the meanings given in section 646(h).