(a) For the purpose of the application of subparts A through D (section 641 and following), part I, subchapter J, chapter 1 of the Code, the wife described in section 682 or section 71 who is entitled to receive payments attributable to property in trust is considered a beneficiary of the trust, whether or not the payments are made for the benefit of the husband in discharge of his obligations. A wife treated as a beneficiary of a trust under this section is also treated as the beneficiary of such trust for purposes of the tax imposed by section 56 (relating to the minimum tax for tax preferences). For rules relating to the treatment of items of tax preference with respect to a beneficiary of a trust, see § 1.58-3.

(b) A periodic payment includible in the wife's gross income under section 71 attributable to property in trust is included in full in her gross income in her taxable year in which any part is required to be included under section 652 or 662. Assume, for example, in a case in which both the wife and the trust file income tax returns on the calendar year basis, that an annuity of $5,000 is to be paid to the wife by the trustee every December 31 (out of trust income if possible and, if not, out of corpus) pursuant to the terms of a divorce decree. Of the $5,000 distributable on December 31, 1954, $4,000 is payable out of income and $1,000 out of corpus. The actual distribution is made in 1955. Although the periodic payment is received by the wife in 1955, since under section 662 the $4,000 income distributable on December 31, 1954, is to be included in the wife's income for 1954, the $1,000 payment out of corpus is also to be included in her income for 1954.