Income from joint account shared with deceased person

[bounlad921]

I shared a joint bank account with a relative. They passed away last year and the bank account generated interest in excess of $600. I expected a 1099-int in my name as I notified the bank of the death, however, it was issued in the decedants name. There weren't any other assets so I did not open an estate or consult a lawyer/cpa. I was planning to file their taxes but the income is after death so I can't file it with their return. Suggestions for how to proceed? It's not even a thousand dollars so I prefer not to open an estate or pay for a lawyer/cpa over this. Thank you

[DaveF1006]

To clarify, did your relative pass away in 2024 and the 1099 INT was for interest earned in 2024? If so, you could file a final return for your relative.

If not, you can file this on your own tax return as Income in Respect of a Decedent since you were the beneficiary of the interest income. Here is the way to report this.

1. Log into your account
2. Select Wages and income
3. Less Common income
4. Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099>start
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page to Other Reportable Income
6. Other taxable income, answer yes
7. Then give a brief description of the income and the amount listed. Call it, Income in Respect of a Decedent and then record the amount of the interest reported in the1099 INT.

[bounlad921]

Thanks for the response. Correct, they passed in 2024 and interest was earned in 2024. Part of the interest was earned prior to death but part was earned after death. This has me a little confused as I thought income earned after death needs to be filed with the estate, but I can't file a 1099-INT for both the decedant and the estate. 

[AmyC]

Yes, you can fix the situation by issuing form1099-INT from the decedent.  

1. You will file the received 1099-INT from the decedent and subtract the portion related to the estate.
2. Since it was a joint account, you have two options.  The remaining, can go to you or the estate. It seems filing the form with the remainder going to you makes the most sense here. See General Instructions for Certain Information Returns

Decedent:

1. For the decedent's return, enter the full 1099-INT.

2. Subtract the portion as decedent and enter your name and social as the nominee on the return - or the estate name and EIN.

 The negative number on Line 21 will adjust the income of the reported payee to the correct amount.  

You can enter a negative income adjustment with the following menu path:

1. Federal Taxes
2. Wages & Income
3. Less Common Income
4. Miscellaneous Income
5. Start
6. Other Reportable Income
7. Start
8. Other Taxable Income
9. Description = “Distribution to Nominee YYY, SSN xxx-xx-xxxx”
10. Amount = -$xxx

TurboTax will transfer this to Form 1040, Line 21, Page 1.

You can e-file with this approach because the disclosure is on the face of the return at Line 21. 

You:

You will file a 1099-INT from the decedent to you for your portion of the interest. Be sure the bank has it corrected for 2025!

Assuming you chose to be the nominee, enter the 1099-INT on your return.

Otherwise, do an estate return and enter the 1099-INT on the estate return.