If a surviving spouse takes ownership of the decedent spouse’s only IRA, before the end of the year of death, line 6 of the decedent’s IRS form 8606 will always be zero, line 10 will always be 1.00000 and line 12 will always equal the entire distribution for the year, which will be declared nontaxable.
It will also substantially reduce the basis going forward.
Is that the intent?
