Deceased Taxpayer

[SF55]

I am having trouble filing a return for my deceased mother.  Her date of death was 3/17/2019 and Turbo Tax will not allow me to put a year that is not in the current 2020 filing year.  I have to file this year because she received a waiver of debt that I need to report.  She does not owe nor will be getting a refund due to this waiver of debt. IRS just wants to see it reported.  How do I handle the date of death issue since it will not allow anything but 2020?

[ToddL99]

Your best option is to enter 01/01/2020 as her date of death on the 2020 return. This will allow you to complete the return, then print and file by mail. You can "white-out" the date of death in the printed return and enter the correct date. This approach also avoids amending the 2019 return (see below).

If your mother passed away in 2019, her 2019 return would have been a "final return" - the IRS cannot accept an e-filed return after the taxpayer's SSN has been identified as belonging to a deceased person.

(The IRS still may not be able to process this return in a normal manner for the same reason it won't allow you to e-file - the SSN is listed as belonging to a deceased person. You will, however, have reported the waiver of debt.)

Your only other alternative is to report the "waiver of debt" on an amended 2019 return. You still won't be able to e-file, but the "waiver of debt" will be reported on a return that the IRS may be able to process using its normal procedures.

See How to Amend (Change or Correct) a Return You Already Filed for instructions on amending

[Carl]

Take special note that you will not be able to e-file the return. This is because I am confident that by now, the IRS has her SSN locked, so that it can't be used fraudulently. If you attempt to e-file, the most common error you will receive is "SSN LOCKED", but it could be any number of other errors too.

So you will need to sign and mail the return to the IRS. If you are the legally authorized representative of her estate, you may (or may not) also need to include in your mailing, documentation that proves it.