This is archived information that pertains only to the 1996 Tax Year If you are looking for information for the current tax year, go to the Tax Prep Help Area . When a person dies, the personal representative is responsible for filing certain tax returns for the decedent, and the decedent's estate. The filing requirements that apply to individuals will determine if a final income tax return is required for the decedent. Whether income must be included or deductions may be taken on the final return is determined by the method of accounting used by the decedent.
Most individuals use the cash method.
Under this method, the final return should show only the items of income that the decedent actually received, or had an unqualified right to receive, before death. Only the expenses the decedent paid before death should be deducted. If the decedent used the accrual method, see Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators. Publication 538, Accounting Periods and Methods, contains more information about the cash and accrual methods. The complexity of the decedent's reportable income will determine which individual return form to file.