THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, January 21, 2026 Page 11 Malden, Everett and Medford high school students can have their voice heard and win cash prizes T he Immigrant Learning Center (The ILC) is now seeking art and essays from teens at Malden, Everett and Medford public high schools for their fifth annual Teen Perspectives Contest. Students are invited to submit original work on the topic “How Immigration Benefits My Community” now through Monday, February 9, 2026. Cash prizes up to $300 will be awarded for first-, second-, third-place and honorable mentions. Now in its fifth year, Teen Perspectives is a great opportunity for high school students to express themselves on such an important and timely topic, whether they come from immigrant communities or were born in the United States. “The Immigrant Learning Center has been a generous partner to Malden High School. They have become an annual tradition within our school through their Teen Perspectives Contest,” said Malden Public Schools Director of History and the Arts Gerard Tannetta. “Our students excitingly participate through essay writing, art projects, and videos. As the most diverse high school in the state of Massachusetts, Malden High School is always looking for ways to honor our students’ diverse cultures and identities. The Teen Perspectives Contests allows our students to tell their stories through their lens and provides a wonderful opportunity to amplify their voice.” Winners will be notified the week of March 23, 2026. There will be a ceremony for the students, their families and teachers on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Malden High School. Learn more about how to enTRUST INCOME TAX RETURNS FOR 2025 TAX YEAR have to file for a federal ID number for the Trust with the IRS. If the Trust does not distribute F or this upcoming tax season, whether you have previously executed a revocable trust or irrevocable trust, it is important to know the Trust income tax return filing requirements. If you have executed a revocable Trust, it will be treated as a grantor-type Trust and therefore no separate tax return will be required to be filed for the Trust. If you were to open a stock brokerage account or money market account in the name of such a trust, for example, you can have the bank or financial institution simply use your social security number for IRS 1099 reporting purposes. Upon your death as the Settlor of such a revocable Trust, the Trust would then become irrevocable and would no longer be classified as a grantor-type trust. In such an event, if the Trust generates income, whether interest, dividend, capital gain income, or net rental income from rental real estate, then a separate Trust tax return would need to be filed. Furthermore, the Trustee would its income, it will have to pay taxes at the Trust level. The highest tax bracket for Trusts of 37 percent starts at only $15,650 in taxable income. Therefore, it is often more desirable to distribute the income to the income beneficiaries in order to claim an income distribution deduction at the Trust level to zero out the Trust’s taxable income. The income will then be taxed to the income beneficiaries who actually receive the distribution on their individual income tax returns. For the 2025 calendar year, the 22 percent tax bracket for a married couple does not begin until taxable income reaches $96,950. The 37 percent tax bracket for the same couple does not begin until taxable income reaches $751,600. With a Medicaid irrevocable Trust executed for asset protection purposes, a tax return would have to be filed by the Trust under its federal ID number in the event it generates taxable income. The Trust should be drafted in such a way as to be treated as a grantor-type Trust. If this Trust is generating taxable income, there would then be a grantor letter issued to the Settlor/Grantor/Trustor of the Trust in order for that person to report the items of income on his or her individual income tax return. There are several Trust provisions that would need to be included in the irrevocable Trust in order for it to be treated as a grantor-type Trust for tax purposes. Since the irrevocable Trust is drafted to be treated as a grantor-type Trust, it does not matter if interest income, dividend income, capital gain income or net rental income is actually distributed to the Grantor. Those items of income will pass through to the Grantor of the Trust via the grantor letter and will be reported on his or her Form 1040. The Trust will not be paying the income taxes on the income it generates. Upon the death of the Settlor of the irrevocable Trust, the Trust will no longer be treated as a grantor-type Trust. Consequently, any net income generated by the Trust will be taxed at higher Trust income tax rates unless the net income is actually distributed to the income beneficiaries or remainder beneficiaries. For this upcoming tax season, be aware of the income tax rules pertaining to revocable and irrevocable Trusts when determining whether or not a tax return needs to be filed, and if so, which type of Trust income tax return. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a master’s degree in taxation. ter this year’s contest and view last year’s entries on The ILC’s website at https://www.ilctr.org/ for-teachers/teen-perspectives. The 2026 Teen Perspective’s Contest is sponsored in part through a grant from the Malden Cultural Council. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Those interested in contributing can reach out to Director of Development Mark Correia at mcorreia@ilctr.org. About The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. The ILC, which is located in Malden, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization that gives immigrants a voice in three ways. The English Language Program provides free, year-round English for Speakers of Other Languages classes to help immigrant and refugee adults in Greater Boston become successful workers, parents and community members. The Public Education Institute informs Americans about immigrants and immigration in the United States, and the Institute for Immigration Research, a joint venture with George Mason University, produces valid, reliable and objective multidisciplinary research on immigrants and immigration to the United States. Local student named to Bucknell University Dean’s List B ucknell University, which is located in Lewisburg, Pa., has released the Dean’s List for outstanding academic achievement during the fall semester of the 2025-26 academic year. A student must earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a scale of 4.0 to receive Dean’s List recognition. Addison McWayne, 2029, of Malden, Mass., has earned this honor. FURNISHED ROOM FOR RENT EVERETT 1 bedroom, 1 bath furnished room for rent. $275. per week rent. Two week deposit plus 1 week rent required. Call: 617-435-9047 - NO TEXT
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