1041 Estate- many years after death

[SKLBI]

My father died in 2015.  His wife handled tax paperwork and died in 2023.  In 2023, I obtained a new EIN in Oct. 2023 for my father's estate since there were a few assets that were still in his name.   I know I need to submit a 1041.   Is this for partial year beginning in Oct?

I have 2 tax documents addressed to the estate which seems straightforward for a 1041.

There was a stock in a Fidelity account which was transferred directly to 2 beneficiaries.  The only Tax Statement from Fidelity  I received is in my father's name (not the estate).  It has less than $200 in div and interest and $10 cap. gain due to cash in lieu for a partial share.  It also has $44 in Federal Income Tax withheld.   Do I enter any of these values for the 1041?   

In previous posts, I saw mention of entering "income in respect of decedent" as "Other income" but a more recent post, was about a nominee recipient filing documents with IRS which requires a -INT, -DIV and -B.

I don't think I need to do a 1040 since he died in 2015 and one was done then.

I know that Fed. Income Tax was withheld for a few years from this account and that a 1041 was not done for all of the years since my father's death.  How would I get the Federal Income Tax that was withheld?  Will it be complicated and create more issues in resolving it than it is worth?  

Thank you.

[AmyC]

To answer questions:

1. I don't understand why the estate EIN changed but the estate was for the full year, you just want to use the new EIN.

2. Yes, enter the income.

3. A 1040 is only done for the year of departure.

4. Filing returns for prior years may yield a refund.

5. Dealing with this is complicated. At some point, you will probably need to file a final estate return.

My disclaimer and thoughts:

I think you are saying that no estate returns were filed and there was an EIN. You got a new EIN for the same estate. The beneficiaries never received k-1 statements since estate returns were not done. 

The paperwork in your dad's name is part of his estate. Page 4 of Form 1041 instructions lists items that are income in respect to the decedent. For nominee, see Responsible Parties and Nominees.

You may be safe to file the return without worry and get things switched over quickly to the estate or closed out.

You can file back returns for the years missed. Enter 1041 and the year to get the forms and instructions. I think once you do this year, you can go backwards easily. For this year, you need TurboTax Business. Beware, you don't want to generate k-1 forms for the past, since that would force you to amend your personal returns. 

You may be able to get refunds by filing. You may decide the cost of the business software, the hassle of the estate, doing the k-1 forms and filing is not worth a $44 refund. The IRS should not bother with you without a tax liability.

You do want to get things moved to beneficiaries and get the estate settled. You will want to file the final estate return showing k-1 distributions, if any.