Member Payments

Minor Trust Claims

The deadline to claim the FY2023 Minors Trust Distribution is July 1, 2023, at 4:30 p.m.  If you are required to submit proof of education, the deadline to submit a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent is September 8, 2023, 4:30 PM (central time zone). The Trust Enrollment Department can only accept an original education document or a notarized photocopy of the original. Originals will be returned via certified mail; notarized photocopies will not be returned.

You are required to submit proof of education if you are between the ages eighteen (18) and twenty (20) if this is your first time claiming your Minors Trust Fund.

You are not required to submit proof of education if you are first time eligible to claim at age 21 or if you have successfully previously deferred your Minors Trust Fund. (See “Deferral Information” below).

Reporting and Taxation of Membership Distributions:

All payments are subject to federal income tax and may be subject to state or other applicable taxes.

[ATTENTION]: Last year, the Oneida Trust Enrollment Department noticed recipients of Minors Trust Distributions that the “2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” changed the tax brackets of the Kiddie Tax which was up to 37% and applicable to a member’s Minors Trust and Per Capita Distribution. While the Trust Enrollment Department worked on informational outreach, we have also worked with other resources within the Oneida Nation to lobby the Federal U.S. Government to remove these unfairly large taxes to Native youths.

In December 2019 the Federal U.S. Government adopted the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act” which had provisions repealing the Kiddie Tax brackets.  Instead of applying the Kiddie Tax rates based solely on an individual’s unearned income, the rates reverted back to pre-“Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” rates, which means they apply to unearned income based on your parents’/legal guardians’ marginal income. Please click on the “FY22 Kiddie Tax Update” below to learn more about the Kiddie Tax and how it may affect your Minors Trust Fund distribution.

FY22 Kiddie Tax Update

All payments must be reported as income and may affect eligibility for entitlement programs. The Trust Enrollment Department cannot give tax advice. Please contact your tax preparer, tax consultant, or case worker with any questions concerning your personal finances.

Mandatory Federal Income Tax Withholding is required on:

• Payments as indicated on page 62 & 63 of IRS Publication 15-T
• Members who do not have a Social Security Number or Non-citizenry information on record with the Trust Enrollment Department

*A 1099-MISC TAX FORM will be mailed to you by February 2024 for any minor trust distributions issued in 2023. 

Deferral Information: 

Instead of receiving all of their Minors Trust Fund, Majority Aged beneficiaries may request to leave all or a portion of their Minors Trust Fund invested for one year. This is called a “deferral agreement”.  In accordance with the Deferral Agreement, deferral requests are only good for one (1) year. Taxes do not apply to the funds that are deferred. There are two different opportunities to enter into a deferral agreement.

• • The first opportunity is when you are first time eligible to claim. This means either:
    • between the ages eighteen (18) and twenty (20) as of September 1^st of a distribution year and you meet the educational requirements outlined under section 123.6-1(d)(1) of Per Capita law, or
    • you are age twenty-one (21) as of September 1^st of a distribution year (educational requirements do not apply at this age)
  • The second opportunity is if you submitted a Minors Trust Payment/Deferral form the previous year and successfully deferred all or a portion of your Minor’s Trust Fund monies.
    • Educational requirements do not apply if you are renewing a deferral agreement.
    • A new Minor Trust Payment Deferral form must be resubmitted every year by the deadline indicated on the form. 

Deferral agreements are established by submitting a Minor Trust Payment/Deferral form:

• • Indicate your intention under “Section 2” of the Minor’s Trust Payment/Deferral form.
    • Write the percent (%) amount of your Minors Trust Fund Account on the form. Please use whole numbers. Decimals will be rounded to the nearest whole number. If you leave sections blank, we will assume you want to defer 0%.  
    • Minor Trust Payment Deferral forms must be received by the deadline specified on form. (By law all deferral requests must be received by July 1 of the distribution year.)
• Deferral requests are valid for one year.
  • For every year you have a Minor Trust Account and are eligible to claim or defer, you must submit a new Minor Trust Payment Deferral form.
  • If you have entered into a deferral agreement a previous year and fail to submit the FY2022 Minors Trust Payment/Deferral form by the deadline, you will be ineligible to enter into a new deferral agreement. Your Minors Trust Fund will automatically be liquidated and made available for you to claim. (See Constructive Receipt)
• You may continue to defer your Minors Trust Fund only UP TO age thirty (30).
  • In the calendar year you turn age thirty (30) you are no longer eligible to defer your trust account funds. Trust account funds must be claimed by submitting a Minors Trust Payment/Deferral form by the July 1^st deadline.   
    • Failure to claim deferred trust account funds by the July 1^st deadline of the distribution year by competent adults will result in the funds reverting to the Nation.
    • Deferred trust account funds for Incompetent Adults will be liquidated and deposited in an established legally incompetent adult trust account in accordance with section 123.6-2 of Per Capita law.

Constructive Receipt

Important information on how Constructive Receipt affects the FY2020 Minor Trust Accounts

Constructive Receipt is a situation where a Majority Age Beneficiary (member) has met the eligibility requirements to claim their Minors Trust Fund but fails to submit their Minors Trust Payment/Deferral Form by a published deadline. In these situations, there is a chance the Internal Revenue Service may believe a member has received their Minors Trust Fund and may apply income taxes. To ensure the member has the monies to pay these taxes, the Trust Enrollment Department liquidates the Minors Trust Fund account considered constructively receipted and makes them available for the member to claim.

Your Minors Trust Fund is determined to be constructively receipted if you meet one (1) of the following criteria:

Constructive Receipt Criteria

• Enrolled, first time eligible age 18 to 20 years:
  • who met the *proof of education requirements by September 1^st  in the calendar year that they turned age 18, 19 or 20, and
  • who did not submit a Minor Trust Payment/Deferral Form by the scheduled Payment/Deferral form deadline for a specific distribution year.
• Enrolled, age 19 to 30 years:
  • who previously submitted a Minor Trust Claim/Deferral form in 2021, and
  • who does not submit a Minor Trust Payment Form by July 1, 2022.
• Enrolled, first time eligible, age 21 years by September 1, 2022:
  • who does not submit a Minor Trust Claim/Deferral Form by July 1, 2022.

Member’s who are determined to be in Constructive Receipt will be responsible for the appropriate tax payments on their entire Trust Account Fund. 

The Trust Enrollment Department mails out notification letters to the members impacted by Constructive Receipt criteria. These notification letters are certified mailed restricted delivery to the member’s address on record.

If you feel you fit any of the bulleted criteria listed above and did not receive a notification letter, or if you did receive a notification letter and have not yet responded, please contact the Trust Enrollment Department immediately.

The IRS will be notified of your trust distribution for calendar year 2023 and a 1099 MISC Form will be mailed to you early February 2024 for your tax reporting or filing.

*Proof of Education is defined in Per Capita Trust Agreement and currently reads as follows:

Article III. Section A. (2):

“Age 18/Minimum Education Requirements:  Except for those accounts subject to a deferred election or an automatic deferral as set forth in Article III(B), each majority age beneficiary may request one trust account maturity payment of the monies accumulated in the “Minors Trust Fund,” including earnings, for that particular beneficiary as of the Uniform Distribution Date on or immediately after reaching the age of eighteen (18).  In order for the request to be granted, the majority age beneficiary must submit a Trust Payment/Deferral Form by July 1 requesting to receive all or a portion of the distribution and either (1) provide the Trust Enrollment Department with an original or notarized copy of his/her high school diploma, a high school equivalency diploma or a general equivalency diploma on or before September 1, or (2) request his/her school or academic institution provide an original or notarized copy of his/her high school diploma, a high school equivalency diploma or a general equivalency diploma directly to the Trust Enrollment Department.  It is the majority age beneficiary’s responsibility to make all arrangements with his/her school or academic institution to ensure proof of education is received by the Trust Enrollment Department no later than September 1.  If the foregoing requirements are not met within the prescribed time frames, the beneficiary’s trust funds shall not be eligible for disbursement until the next Uniform Distribution Date, unless the beneficiary meets the requirements for a health, education and welfare distribution for an unforeseeable emergency in accordance with Article III(C).  Notwithstanding the foregoing general education requirements, the trust shall recognize the following exceptions: (1) the accounts of a majority age beneficiary declared legally incompetent shall be placed into a trust account for the legally incompetent adult and administered and distributed in accordance with the Nation’s Per Capita law, Section 123.6-2; and (2) a majority age beneficiary who has documentation of a learning or other disability from a professional qualified to make such a diagnosis is deemed to satisfy the foregoing education requirements by providing a certificate of twelve (12) years of school attendance.  A majority age beneficiary who provides fraudulent proof of education is subject to the remedies provided in the Nation’s Per Capita law, Section 123.6-1(d)(1)(D).”

Minor Trust Accounts

Trust Account Beneficiary Designation: Pursuant to section 123.5-3(b) of Per Capita law, trust account holders (minors and legally incompetent adults) can now designate people to receive their trust accounts in the event of their death. By filling out a Trust Account Beneficiary Designation Form, a lengthy probate process can be avoided.

Legal guardians are able to designate beneficiaries on the trust account holder’s behalf, and you can update your beneficiaries any time prior to trust account distribution or the trust account holder’s death. Certain restrictions apply. See section 123.5-3 of the Per Capita law for more information.

Minor Trust Accounts are established for enrolled Tribal Members under the age of 18 who are eligible to receive per capita payments in accordance with the Per Capita law.

After a Minor Trust Account is established, statements are mailed quarterly to the address on record for the minor.

It is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to keep enrolled minor children’s address and other information current with the Trust Enrollment Department.

Per Capita Trust Agreement

Quarterly Performance

ONEIDA 0.14 Fact Sheet Q2 2023

ONEIDA 15+ Fact Sheet Q2 2023

GTC Stipends

GTC Meeting Stipend Payments

The Trust Enrollment Department has up to 15 business days to process payments after the meeting is held. 

We appreciate your patience with the distribution of this payment. Yaw^ko