>>>>the IRS may have already updated their database to show his SSN as associated with a deceased person.
Okay, I may not have "Tax Expert" after my name. but this frequently used "explanation" is NOT CORRECT.
.
Many people who die during a given year owe income taxes for that year. To the IRS, that money is just as green as the money from living people. The IRS expects to receive this money and doesn't roadblocks in the way.
Although the state office of social security must be notified when someone passes, the federal government doesn't keep close tabs on who has recently died. The IRS usually doesn't even know about it until the deceased taxpayer's spouse or representative files a final resturn and puts a check in the "Deceased" box. That's why so many dead people are receiving stimulus checks from the IRS.
If you're having problems with rejected returns because you are a recent widow(er) filing joint:
** Try using zero as your AGI
** Fill out the return with yourself as primary filer, not your late spouse
** Ditch TT and use FreeTaxUSA. Their software uses the correct format for your info and won't cause the IRS to reject you if you're in this situation. Other tax programs surely work too, but I used FreeTaxUSA and the SAME information that kept getting me rejected with TT was accepted almost immediately.
