Deceased parent last year tax return filing for 2020

[yosemite798]

Hello, 

  My father passed away on October 31, 2020. I was appointed by the court as administrator for his estate. 

  My dad is a resident of California and he has an accountant helps him doing income tax for 20 years.

  My dad paid estimated Federal and State tax for the first three quarters in year 2020.

  When he passed away, his accountant advised me not paying 4th quarter Federal and Stated tax for year 2020.

  1. My question is he lived through the month of October which is part of 4th quarter. Should I pay for 4th quarter tax for my father?

  2. My dad has an employer sponsoned 403b plan (403b plan held by Fidelity). He didn't take any distribution in year 2020. Will Fidelity notify IRS that my dad didn't take distribution from his 403b plan, hence he didn't need to pay any taxes for the 403b plan. Or Should I ask Fidelity mail me a letter to state my dad didn't take distribution in year 2020?

 Please give me some advise and thank you in advance!

[DMarkM1 · Accepted solution]

You do not need to pay the 4th quarter estimated taxes.  You will file a final tax return for tax year 2020.  If the estimated tax payments do not cover the taxes due for the year (through Oct 2020) then he will owe a tax on his tax return.

Of note, your father will most likely be eligible for a Recovery Rebate Credit on his 2020 tax return in the amount of $600 to reconcile the second round of stimulus payments.  Individuals who died after 1 January 2020 are eligible for this credit.  

TurboTax will make this calculation for you based on answers and entries when completing the return.

Here is a link with more information on the Recovery Rebate Credit. 

For the Fidelity account, there will be no notification for not taking a distribution.  If your father had taken a distribution both he and the IRS would receive a Form 1099-R.  That Form 1099-R would be used to enter the distribution on his final 2020 tax return.