Entering my birth date as an e-file signature for a deceased person's return lowers the refund considerably

[Rob Petrie]

I'm doing a return for my mom who passed away in 2024 and I'm trying to e-file the return. I've already mailed in form 1310 with the court document naming me executor. When I'm prompted to enter my date of birth to "sign" the return for e-filing the refund lowers by several hundred dollars. If I use my mom's date of birth, which was auto-filled when I got to this page, the refund goes back up. I'm using the desktop premier version of the app. Other pertinent details may be my mom was in her 80s and her income was mostly social security and distributions from her IRA. I don't think my age should affect the refund just because I'm filing her return, should it?

[DianeW777 · Accepted solution]

No. Enter your deceased mother's date of birth. You are filing on her behalf and signing for her as well. A return for a deceased person is allowed to be e-filed. Check to make sure you did select 'Personal Representative' on Form 1310 just to be sure.

• Can I e-file a tax return for someone who is deceased? 

We are sorry for your loss.

[Rob Petrie]

Fun Update:

TurboTax won't let me e-file anyway. It says Box C must be checked on form 1310, but since I'm the court appointed executor I can only check box B. And even though I checked the subsequent box B1 saying "certificate previously filed" the e-file won't go through and I'm told to mail the return. So now I'm just going to file by mail, with another form 1310 and another copy of the executor document and be done with it.