Husband died in 2021 before 2020 taxes were filed. Do I mark him as deceased on the 2020 return?
I'm helping my mother's friend with her taxes and I'm confused about something. Her husband passed away in May of 2021, but they hadn't filed their 2020 tax return yet. The tax preparer she went to marked her husband as deceased on the 2020 return even though he was alive for all of 2020. This doesn't seem right to me. Shouldn't he only be marked as deceased on the 2021 return since that's when he actually passed? I want to make sure she's filing correctly before I give her any advice. Thanks for any help!
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Sean Flanagan
The tax preparer made an error. A deceased status should only be marked on tax returns for years in which the person died or later years. Since the husband was alive for all of 2020, he should NOT be marked as deceased on the 2020 return. The 2020 return should be filed as married filing jointly (assuming that's what they typically did) with both spouses listed as living. For the 2021 return, that's when you'd indicate the spouse is deceased by writing "DECEASED" after their name and including the date of death. Your mother's friend might want to have that 2020 return reviewed again, as marking someone deceased in the wrong year could potentially cause issues with the IRS's records.
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Anastasia Kozlov
•Thank you for the explanation. That makes perfect sense. The preparer seemed confident about marking him as deceased on the 2020 return, which made me doubt myself. Should my mother's friend file an amended return to correct this error? Would this cause any issues with benefits or anything else?
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Sean Flanagan
•No need to file an amended return if everything else on the return is correct. The deceased status indication doesn't affect the actual tax calculations. However, it could potentially create confusion in IRS records. If she's concerned, she can call the IRS to clarify her husband's status in their system. When she files the 2021 return, she should ensure it correctly indicates he passed away in 2021, and that should resolve any potential record issues. Just make sure she keeps good documentation about his date of death for any future questions that might arise.
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Zara Mirza
I went through something similar with my dad's taxes last year. I found that https://taxr.ai was incredibly helpful for sorting through these kinds of specific tax situations. The site has experts who can review your documents and give clear guidance on handling deceased taxpayer situations. In my case, they helped me understand exactly how to file for the year my dad passed away and what special considerations I needed to be aware of.
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NebulaNinja
•How exactly does that site work? Do they just give general advice or can they actually look at my specific tax documents? I'm helping my sister with something similar and feeling really overwhelmed.
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Luca Russo
•Is it expensive? I'm always skeptical of these tax help services. Seems like they charge a lot for information you could probably find for free on the IRS website if you're willing to dig around.
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Zara Mirza
•They can review your specific tax documents and give personalized advice. You upload what you have, and they analyze everything to provide guidance tailored to your situation. It saved me hours of researching tax rules. It's actually quite affordable compared to hiring a CPA, especially for specific questions like this. While you could find general information on the IRS website, the real value is having someone interpret how those rules apply to your exact situation and documents without having to schedule and pay for a full tax preparation service.
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NebulaNinja
Wanted to follow up about the taxr.ai recommendation. I ended up trying it for my sister's situation with her late husband's taxes. Honestly it was exactly what we needed! The advisor pointed out that we were handling the "year of death" filing incorrectly and explained exactly how to mark the deceased status properly. They even pointed out a deduction for funeral expenses we didn't know about. Definitely cleared up our confusion about what forms to use and how to file properly when someone has passed away.
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Nia Wilson
I had a somewhat related issue trying to sort out my late mother's taxes. Spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at the IRS for clarification. Finally found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - they got me connected to an actual IRS agent within 45 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. The agent confirmed exactly how to handle the deceased filing status and some questions about her final tax return. They have a service that basically waits on hold with the IRS for you and calls you back when an agent is on the line.
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Mateo Sanchez
•Wait, how does this even work? Like they just wait on hold for you? I've been trying to reach the IRS about a deceased relative's tax situation for weeks and keep giving up after an hour+ on hold.
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Aisha Mahmood
•Sounds like a scam to me. Why would anyone pay for something like this when you can just keep calling the IRS yourself? Also, how do you know you're actually talking to a real IRS agent and not someone pretending to be one?
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Nia Wilson
•Yes, they literally have a system that waits on hold for you. You give them your phone number, and they call you back when an IRS agent is on the line. After waiting hours myself multiple times and never getting through, this was worth it to finally get answers. It's definitely not a scam. They don't impersonate IRS agents - they just connect you directly to the IRS. When they call you back, you're actually talking to an official IRS representative. You can tell because they go through all the same verification steps that the IRS normally does. It's just a service that handles the hold time for you, which was a massive time-saver for me.
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Aisha Mahmood
Just wanted to update on the Claimyr thing I was skeptical about. I broke down and tried it yesterday after spending another hour on hold with the IRS. I was SHOCKED when I got a call back in about 50 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. The agent answered all my questions about how to handle my uncle's estate taxes and confirmed that you definitely should NOT mark someone deceased for tax years when they were still alive. The deceased status should only appear on returns for the year of death and later. I'm still surprised this actually worked but I'm glad I didn't have to waste another day trying to get through.
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Ethan Clark
My mom passed in 2022 and we learned that you should also file Form 1310 when filing the final return for a deceased taxpayer. Did anyone else have to do this? The IRS held my dad's refund until we submitted it.
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AstroAce
•Yes, Form 1310 is needed if you're claiming a refund for a deceased taxpayer. But I think it's only required if the refund check isn't going to a surviving spouse. So in OP's case with the friend's husband, if the wife is filing jointly and getting the refund, she probably wouldn't need Form 1310. But for your situation, it makes sense they required it.
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Ethan Clark
•Thanks for confirming. That makes sense about the surviving spouse exception. The tax preparer didn't mention anything about Form 1310 initially, and we only found out when the refund was delayed. I wish there was better guidance on all the special forms needed when someone passes away.
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Yuki Kobayashi
Another thing to consider - the year someone dies, the surviving spouse can still file jointly for that year. The tax benefit of married filing jointly is usually better than filing as single. After that, the surviving spouse might qualify for qualifying widow(er) status for 2 years if they have a dependent child. Lots of people don't know about this filing status option!
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Anastasia Kozlov
•I didn't know about the qualifying widow(er) status! That's really helpful information. In this case though, they didn't have dependent children living with them. It sounds like for the 2020 return, they should file jointly without the deceased designation, then for 2021 file jointly with deceased designation, and then for 2022 she would have to file as single. Is that right?
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Yuki Kobayashi
•Yes, you've got it exactly right! For 2020, file jointly with no deceased designation since he was alive all year. For 2021, file jointly with deceased designation since that's the year he passed away. Then for 2022 forward, she'll file as single (or head of household if she has qualifying dependents, but it sounds like she doesn't). One thing to note - when filing that 2021 return with deceased status, make sure to write "DECEASED" and the date of death across the top of the return to ensure proper processing. Some tax software handles this automatically, but it's good to double-check.
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Carmen Vega
The preparer probably confused the filing status with the need to indicate the taxpayer was deceased. This happens a lot with less experienced preparers. For 2020, file normal joint return. For 2021, file joint return but with deceased status. If she itemizes deductions, don't forget medical expenses for her deceased spouse can be claimed on the final return.
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