preview

Final Tax Return

Decent Essays

When a person dies, filing final tax returns becomes mandatory for the executor of the estate. The executor must file a final federal income tax return and a final state income tax return (if required) reporting all income earned by the decedent in the final year of life up until the day of death. Furthermore, even if the executor hires a tax professional to file the final tax returns, the executor must know how to prepare the information needed by the tax professional. Otherwise, the tax professional will charge the estate a substantial amount to handle the preparation as well as the filing of the final tax returns.

How to Prepare the Final Tax Returns

As explained in the article Track the Estate Income, income earned by the decedent in the final year of life up until the day of death requires reporting on the final tax returns. In addition, since most 1099’s will report income earned for the entire year, the executor needs to be aware that the 1099’s need adjustment. Therefore, the following steps are necessary for the executor to prepare the final tax returns accurately:

…show more content…

• Review bank statements, brokerage statements, pay stubs or direct deposit statements, etc. to identify current income that needs reporting. If a physical copy is not available to the executor, bank statements and other statements are available online through the financial institution. If the executor has no access to the account, the executor should call the institution and ask for the documents.
• Review any 1099’s received to see if the income reported is for the entire

Get Access