If you are a US taxpayer then it is an usual thing that at times you will get confused between IRS Form 1040 and IRS Form 1041. Most of the times taxpayers think that IRS form 1041 is a substitute of Form 1040. But actually this is not. Every taxpayer needs to fill out this tax form when he/she has been appointed as someone’s estate’s executor. In order to declare the income from the deceased person’s estate the fiduciary needs to fill out this tax form.

(Fiduciary is someone who has the highest legal duty of an estate. He/she is responsible for everything related to its finances on the behalf of its beneficiaries).

All about IRS Form 1041:

Now it is obvious for your mind to get flooded with queries like ‘what is IRS form 1041’, ‘where to mail IRS form 1041’ or ‘what is IRS form 1041 used for’ etc. You have come to the right place. You will get all of these answers.

To make you understand this better, we will put it in simple words. This tax form needs to be filled out to inform the IRS about everything related to the estate’s finances when the owner of the estate passes away. In this you will have to provide all important details including income, gains, deductions, profit and losses. In the year of death, the deceased leaves both personal and estate income taxes. And the individual who is now responsible for dealing with the estate will also have to file those taxes. If you are a fiduciary to someone then you will have to use the IRS Form 1041 to file those due estate taxes. Or if you are someone who has been designated to assist clients in dealing with the estate then also there are chances that you will require to fill IRS Form 1041.

Read More About: What is IRS Form 8885 & How to Use It?

When to File this form?

This form needs to be filled out when you are responsible for dealing with an estate that has a total income of $600 or more. And if the estate has a resident alien as a beneficiary then also you will have to file Form 1041. But if the case is that there are different beneficiaries and the estate has been distributed among them before it could reach the $600 figure for income and it has no resident alien as a beneficiary then there is no need of filing out this tax form.

How to Do This?

In most of the cases, taxpayers consider hiring a tax accountant for filing this form. The simple reason for this is, it is a complicated form to fill out all by yourself and the chances are high of making a mistake. If still you have decided to fill out this tax form on your own then to help you with this, we have explained each and every step in a detailed manner here.

In order to file IRS Form 1041, you should have all the required information with you about the estate’s income of which you are a fiduciary. you are about to report in place.

• First of all, you have to tell what type of this estate is. This is the first question on the form.
• After that you are required to provide some other information including name of the estate, the Employer Identification Number and the name and address of the fiduciary.
• In the next step, you will have to provide information about the income of the estate. In this section, you should cover income from all the sources including interest, dividends, capital gains etc.

• There are certain types of income that require you to attach other supporting tax forms.

• In Line 9, you have to add up income from all sources that you have listed above. And mention the total amount.

• In the next step, you have to mention all the deductions. These deductions will decrease the estate’s taxable income that will eventually result in decreased tax amount.

• You can claim all the deductions that include the expenses made by you. Like payments made to the attorney, fees of the tax accountant and the person who prepared the tax return etc.

• After completing the deductions section, you move to taxes and payments. Here, you will calculate the taxable income by getting rid of the claimed deductions amount from the total income. Now you will have to use Form 1041 Schedule G and calculate the tax amount owed by the estate.

• After that you can mention the date on the form and sign it.

• On the second page you will find detailed IRS Form 1041 instructions about how to calculate different deductions. Here you will also find instructions about how to compute tax.
• At the bottom of the second page, you will find a set of questions. They will require information about the sources of income and other business practices of the estate. You have to answer these questions as either yes or no. Answer these questions only when you are completely sure about them. Do not make random guesses.

What is IRS Form 1041 Schedule D?

Being the fiduciary of a deceased person’s estate, it becomes your responsibility to file and pay all the owed taxes on time. If you need to report the capital gains and losses associated with the estate then you will have to fill out the IRS Form 1041 Schedule D. This schedule works as a supplement to the IRS Form 1041. You have to attach it with the main form after filling it out.

What is IRS Form 1041 Schedule K-1?

The IRS Form 1041 Schedule K-1 is required to report all the income distributions made to the beneficiaries of the estate while filling out the form 1041. This also needs to be filled out by the fiduciary and attached with the main form.

Read More About: What does an accountant do- All You Want to know

Wrapping Up!

It is an undeniable fact that most of the taxpayers prefer handling their taxes and other finance related things on their own. This gives them an assurance about the accuracy and a lot of satisfaction. But at times, managing everything on your own can be too much of a burden. And if you are not well aware of the tax codes and recent regulations then there are high chances that you will make mistakes.

If you are fiduciary of an estate then it is likely for you to prefer doing it yourself. But this is not always a feasible option. There can be situations when an estate which is not that big in size but causes a huge amount of paperwork. Being an executor of an estate whose owner is no longer alive gives you so much work to do. Filling out the IRS Form 1041 is one of them. If you really want everything to work smoothly then this is high time when you consider taking help from a paid tax professional.

No matter how you decided to go about doing the taxation of that estate but you must have all the information about the estate and all the relevant documentation in place.

If you find yourself in any confusion at some point in the process of filling this form then you should take help from some expert tax professional. Accounts Confidant have a large team of dedicated tax professionals and we are just a call away. You can call us at +1-866-301-2307 We are available 24×7.