He had $600 in his checking account which was used to pay part of the cremation costs. He was living off his retirement accounts that he was cashing in.
All you can do is file the return, making sure that you check the Personal Interview box where it asks if the taxpayer was deceased.
If the estate was insolvent at the time of death, any outstanding tax liability just goes unpaid.
As the executor (or if acting as such), you should file a request for discharge from personal liability for tax.
An executor can make a request for discharge from personal liability for a decedent's income, gift, and estate taxes. The request must be made after the returns for those taxes are filed. To make the request, file Form 5495 (not in TurboTax). For this purpose, an executor is an executor or administrator that is appointed, qualified, and acting within the United States.
Link to Form 5495: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f5495--2008.pdf
For more information, see page 3 of https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p559.pdf.
If the amount owed is a combination of federal income and state/city income tax, and not enough in estate to cover, is the federal paid first? Or a percentage to each?
Also is there a separate form to request discharge from personal liability for income tax for STATE?
THANKS!