Estate & Trust Administration For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 18

Filing Income Tax Returns for a Decedent, Estate, or Trust

IN THIS CHAPTER

Applying for a Taxpayer Identification Number

Deciding when the decedent’s tax year ends

Determining the decedent’s (and the estate’s) income

Calculating deductions

Tackling Page 2 of Form 1041

For the most part, all income tax returns are alike. Of course, there are differences between preparing (and filing) your own Form 1040 and the decedent’s, which you still must file in order to report income and deductions, up to and including the date of death. And those differences become even more pronounced after you move into income taxation of estates and trusts, where some concepts remain the same but others change.

In this chapter, you discover what’s similar and what’s different with both the decedent’s final Form 1040 and the trust or estate’s Form 1041. We tell you how to stay in the clear with the IRS as you prepare the final year (or maybe two) of the decedent’s personal income tax returns ( ...