Missing tax forms for deceased relative

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Topic Author
Outer Marker
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Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by Outer Marker »

I'm missing a Social Security 1099 and state retirement 1099 for a relative who passed away last February. I'm the trustee, have handled all of her financial affairs for years, including many years of preparing and filing tax returns.

Unless by some miracle I can recover the forms from the post office, getting new forms issued looks like it is going to be a huge hassle, having to appear in person at the social security office, write letters to the state retirement system, provide all kinds of backup verification, etc. etc. We're not talking about a lot of money -- just a few months of modest retirement income.

So . . . I was thinking I could estimate what the 1099 amounts would be based on 2/12ths of her 2012 1099's. I could submit a letter to IRS explaining what I did and invite them to make any necessary corrections since they have the 1099 information at their fingertips. Does this sound reasonable? Is there a better path of least resistance?
Alan S.
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by Alan S. »

Are you sure you have to file? Only a little over a month of income is usually not much for many retirees, especially when AGI may be too low to have any of the SS income included. You probably know what the pension pays.
Topic Author
Outer Marker
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by Outer Marker »

Alan S. wrote:Are you sure you have to file?
Yes, unfortunately. $10K in RMD from her IRA, and $15K roth conversion last January is going to require filing. And, will be due a refund since too much was withheld given short year. I have ready access to the RMD and conversion info from Vanguard. Its the SSI and state 1099s that are problematic; I do know the actual amounts received since the automatic payments are recorded in the online checking account I've kept active.
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BL
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by BL »

Don't forget to add COLAs to previous year's 1099s.
sscritic
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by sscritic »

For social security, here is one place to look. She would have received a letter in November of 2012 announcing the COLA and her new benefit amount for 2013. Since medicare is deducted (and possibly other things like withholding), you can't just look at what was deposited, but if you find the letter, her benefit will be there. Multiply by 2 (Jan and Feb payments for Dec and Jan benefits), and you have her SSA-1099 box 3 and box 5 (assuming no repayments).

If the only thing withheld was the standard medicare, then you can take the deposit and add back the medicare premium for 2013 to get her benefit (this could be a little tricky due to the hold harmless provisions that resulted in some people paying below market rates for medicare when there was no cola in 2010 and 2011).
Last edited by sscritic on Wed Feb 12, 2014 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sscritic
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by sscritic »

P.S. Colas aren't quite what they seem. The PIA gets a cola, the benefit doesn't. The PIA is not rounded down to the dollar, the benefit is. The letter you get in November contains a lie for most people. The benefit is whatever it takes to get a whole number after subtracting medicare Part B. For example, if your real benefit is 983.40 and the medicare premium is 104.90, then you should get a benefit of 878.50 before rounding. After rounding, you get 878. However, instead of explaining rounding, the letter says your benefit is 982.90, medicare is 104.90, and you will get 878. Box 3 and box 5 reflect what you actually got paid before medicare was taken out, which for two months would be 1965.80 (you don't pay tax on the phantom benefit).
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frugaltype
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by frugaltype »

Outer Marker wrote:I'm missing a Social Security 1099 and state retirement 1099 for a relative who passed away last February. I'm the trustee, have handled all of her financial affairs for years, including many years of preparing and filing tax returns.

Unless by some miracle I can recover the forms from the post office, getting new forms issued looks like it is going to be a huge hassle, having to appear in person at the social security office, write letters to the state retirement system, provide all kinds of backup verification, etc. etc. We're not talking about a lot of money -- just a few months of modest retirement income.

So . . . I was thinking I could estimate what the 1099 amounts would be based on 2/12ths of her 2012 1099's. I could submit a letter to IRS explaining what I did and invite them to make any necessary corrections since they have the 1099 information at their fingertips. Does this sound reasonable? Is there a better path of least resistance?
Being a trustee or executor is a lot of work. Suck it up and proceed with the paperwork to get the actual forms.
manwithnoname
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by manwithnoname »

Outer Marker wrote:I'm missing a Social Security 1099 and state retirement 1099 for a relative who passed away last February. I'm the trustee, have handled all of her financial affairs for years, including many years of preparing and filing tax returns.

Unless by some miracle I can recover the forms from the post office, getting new forms issued looks like it is going to be a huge hassle, having to appear in person at the social security office, write letters to the state retirement system, provide all kinds of backup verification, etc. etc. We're not talking about a lot of money -- just a few months of modest retirement income.

So . . . I was thinking I could estimate what the 1099 amounts would be based on 2/12ths of her 2012 1099's. I could submit a letter to IRS explaining what I did and invite them to make any necessary corrections since they have the 1099 information at their fingertips. Does this sound reasonable? Is there a better path of least resistance?
Simple answer:

get the SS benefits for 2012 from the tax return and multiply by 1.017. Divide total by 6. Answer will be the amount of SS benefits for 2 months in 2013 that will be close enough to the actual number. If its off IRS will enter correct amount and change return.
Topic Author
Outer Marker
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by Outer Marker »

manwithnoname wrote: get the SS benefits for 2012 from the tax return and multiply by 1.017. Divide total by 6. Answer will be the amount of SS benefits for 2 months in 2013 that will be close enough to the actual number. If its off IRS will enter correct amount and change return.
Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts and advice. This is exactly what I was thinking -- close enough is good enough -- and the IRS will fix any harmless error. I'll still make a good faith effort to track down the mail from the postal service, but its not worth the time and effort to spend hours jumping through hoops over a couple of bucks. In retrospect, should have filled out a change of address, but wanted to cut off the junk mail trail at the old address.
MarkNYC
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by MarkNYC »

Outer Marker,

Since a federal refund is expected, don't forget to either (1) file Form 1310 along with the Form 1040, or (2) attach to the 1040 a court certificate showing that you have been appointed personal representative for the estate. Without one of these, the IRS will not issue the refund to you.
Topic Author
Outer Marker
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by Outer Marker »

MarkNYC wrote: Since a federal refund is expected, don't forget to either (1) file Form 1310 along with the Form 1040, or (2) attach to the 1040 a court certificate showing that you have been appointed personal representative for the estate. Without one of these, the IRS will not issue the refund to you.
Yes, agree. There's a line in turbotax for this. Worked last year no problem when I filed her postmortem return in April, and thankfully did not have to file any paper. I kept her bank account open to receive this year's refund; I am joint on that account and will close it once this year's refund is processed.
MarkNYC
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by MarkNYC »

Outer Marker wrote: I kept her bank account open to receive this year's refund; I am joint on that account and will close it once this year's refund is processed.
There may be a problem that you might want to discuss in advance with the bank. The federal tax refund check will likely be payable to "Estate of John Q. Taxpayer." The bank might not let you deposit a check payable to an estate into a jointly owned personal bank account.
Topic Author
Outer Marker
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Re: Missing tax forms for deceased relative

Post by Outer Marker »

Will hope for the best . . . last year's refund was direct deposited into this account (post mortem) with the appropriate notes in turbotax.
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