IRA Required Minimum Distribution in year of death.

[dawnandalan]

If my father, 93, died before receiving the full IRA RMD in 2017, should I select "I did not receive the RMD" and petition for a waiver of the penalty or should I select "Received the RMD" because the full amount of the remaining balance of the IRA was subsequently paid to his estate?

[fanfare]

was the estate the  beneficiary of the IRA?
what do you mean by "remaining balance" ? what do you mean by "subsequently"? What year did this happen?

[dawnandalan]

Since no beneficiary was designated, the bank paid out the remaining balance of the IRA to the estate.  Payment to the estate occurred in September 2017.  Death occurred in May.

[fanfare]

OK, which return are you preparing, his final, his Estate return, or your own return.? Did the Estate distribute the funds to you?
I won't be able to answer this, sorry. I'm not certain of the proper treatment for this scenario. maybe with the additional info, someone else can provide the answer.

[dawnandalan]

Question pertains to my father's final tax return.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

This distribution is not reportable at all on your father's final individual estate tax return.  Upon your father's death, since the estate was the beneficiary, completing your father's 2017 RMD became the responsibility of your father's estate.  Therefore, on your father's final individual tax return indicate that he received all of the RMD for 2017.

The distribution to your father's estate is reportable on your father's estate income tax return, Form 1041, for the estate's taxable year.  This income should have been reported on a 2017 Form 1099-R issued in the name and EIN of your father's estate.  Since the distribution to the estate occurred in the same year as your father's death, the distribution satisfies your father's RMD for 2017 and the estate has no need to file form 5329 Part IX.

This income to your fathers estate can be passed through to estate beneficiaries on Schedules K-1 as Distributable Net Income.  DNI passed through in this manner is a deduction on the estate's tax return and is taxable income to the estate beneficiaries.