Filing Taxes with a Form 1041 (Tax Return for Estates and Trusts)

Where the heck do I need to go to file with this stupid form?

With my grandfather passing away two years ago, and his estate distributed last year, I received a form 1041 that I'm supposed to include when doing my tax returns. The only place I have seen to do my own taxes that allows me to file it, is if I pay like $170 for the pro version of Turbo Tax software. Ha!

Am I going to need to go in, in person to file my taxes or try to figure everything out long-hand on paper? (Instructions for doing that are weird... like, you're supposed to enter values in the spot for "Educator Expenses".) Neither one is particularly appealing, especially since I don't think it will actually change my return at all.

Anyone have experience with this?

I'm not certain I understand the question right, but I'll try to help. I think the 1041 is a tax return for the trust in and of itself. It is to be sent in to the IRS. The address to send it to is in the instructions here:

http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1041/ch01.html#d0e1257

Does that help or did I misunderstand the question?

I'm not sure I understand the situation well enough to ask the right question.

I think the question is: Is this something I even need to file? If so, how the hell do I file it, because no tax service is giving me any options to do so?

The CPA for the estate trust sent me a copy of the form 1041. I know they had to file something with the IRS. From what I understand, I am supposed to report information from the form 1041 I received on my form 1040 when I do my tax returns. However, there is no obvious place to report it! None of the online filing services give an option to enter information from a form 1041. The instructions online for if I fill out my form 1040 myself do not make sense. They say to enter one slot on line 23 of my return (which is for "Educator Expenses"), and the other slot to enter on Schedule D, which I can't even find.

There are no earning reported on the form 1041, only a few deductions which I think are for the estate paying out my father as executor. I am fairly certain that no additional deductions will increase the amount of my return.

I'm almost tempted to say "berkeley it" and file without anything from the 1041, because I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to file it or just keep it for me records.

You mean the Schedule K-1? http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1041sk1--2013.pdf

I used Freetaxusa and they have it. (fed is free, state costs like $12, and retail me not has a %25 discount on that)

Or the second page of the PDF I linked has some rough destructions if you really want to DIY.

Long story short, if its like mine, you don't need to file it, you do need to report it within your taxes though.

Beer Baron wrote: I'm not sure I understand the situation well enough to ask the right question. I think the question is: Is this something I even need to file? If so, how the hell do I file it, because no tax service is giving me any options to do so? The CPA for the estate trust sent me a copy of the form 1041. I know they had to file something with the IRS. From what I understand, I am supposed to report information from the form 1041 I received on my form 1040 when I do my tax returns. However, there is no obvious place to report it! None of the online filing services give an option to enter information from a form 1041. The instructions online for if I fill out my form 1040 myself do not make sense. They say to enter one slot on line 23 of my return (which is for "Educator Expenses"), and the other slot to enter on Schedule D, which I can't even find. There are no earning reported on the form 1041, only a few deductions which I think are for the estate paying out my father as executor. I am fairly certain that no additional deductions will increase the amount of my return. I'm almost tempted to say "berkeley it" and file without anything from the 1041, because I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to file it or just keep it for me records.

It sounds like the CPA is giving you the 1041 that was either already filed with the IRS or needs to be filed with the IRS. Is it signed? That's unrelated to filing your form 1040. What is related is if there is a Schedule K-1 in the back of the 1041 that has your name on it. If so, that gets reported on your 1040 on line 17/Schedule E. Shoot me an email if you have questions!

Apexcarver wrote: You mean the Schedule K-1? http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1041sk1--2013.pdf I used Freetaxusa and they have it. (fed is free, state costs like $12, and retail me not has a %25 discount on that) Or the second page of the PDF I linked has some rough destructions if you really want to DIY. Long story short, if its like mine, you don't need to file it, you do need to report it within your taxes though.

There are several different Schedule K-1 forms. If these guys handle the K-1 1041, Hooray!

If they do... I started crunching number long hand. Part of the K-1/form 1041 shows paying foreign taxes on the estate. If I'm doing my maths right, that would actually mean I get a full refund on my federal income taxes? That seems too good to be true though.

Let's see.

My refund got better because of mine...

1041 is the trust form, and yup, they do.

Enyar wrote: It sounds like the CPA is giving you the 1041 that was either already filed with the IRS or needs to be filed with the IRS. Is it signed? That's unrelated to filing your form 1040. What is related is if there is a Schedule K-1 in the back of the 1041 that has your name on it. If so, that gets reported on your 1040 on line 17/Schedule E. Shoot me an email if you have questions!

No, this is the Schedule K-1.

It does not report any income (Boxes 1-10 are blank).
It does report deductions (In Boxes 11a, 11b, 14a, and 14b) with attached statements. The directions say these get calculated on a 1040 Schedule A and D

Maybe this would be an instance where it's worth the $150-200 to pay a CPA to file for you?

At least that is the going rate around here.

There should be a second page with instructions to the K-1. You can see it here. Tells you exactly where on your 1040 to put the numbers reported on the 1041 K-1.

Apexcarver wrote: I used Freetaxusa and they have it. (fed is free, state costs like $12, and retail me not has a %25 discount on that)

Thanks for the tip! That appears to have worked. I'm getting a full refund on my relatively meager income taxes.

Any tax software should be able to handle inputting a K-1 but it sounds like you're on the right track. Obviously you're using only the K-1 where you are listed as the beneficiary.

Enyar wrote: Any tax software should be able to handle inputting a K-1 but it sounds like you're on the right track. Obviously you're using only the K-1 where you are listed as the beneficiary.

You would think. But most did not seem to be able to, or they had no directions on where to enter the information. I did eventually find one that was clear though, and am all done now.