How do I complete a tax return for someone who's died?

How do I complete a tax return for someone who's died?

If you are completing a return for someone who has died, there are 2 alternative methods you can take to file the return. They will depend on the actions carried out in regards to your communication with HMRC.

If you have informed HMRC of the death of the deceased and you've made them aware that you'll be acting as their personal representative, you'll be able to proceed and file online. If you haven't done this, you should either make HMRC aware that you want to become the deceased's personal representative or file their return by paper.

Regardless of whether you've informed HMRC or not, the following sequence of steps will need to be completed:
1) Complete an SA100 Individual tax return for the period from the start of the tax year up to the date of death.
2) Complete an SA900 Trust and Estate tax return where you'll declare the income that was received by the estate in the period from the date of death to the end of the tax year (if applicable). For situations when the SA900 isn't required, please see the following HMRC website.
3) If the estate is still in a period of administration after the end of the tax year, complete an SA900 Trust and Estate tax return for each tax year that the estate continues.
4) If the Estate income is then placed into a trust, you should complete future SA900 Trust ad Estate tax returns to report the trust income.

You should then follow the instructions provided below:

If you are a personal representative (file online):
1) Ensure all entries are filled where applicable
2) Add any additional information to the additional information boxes that you may want to make known
3) File the tax return

*Please note that HMRC may have disabled the deceased individual's UTR at the gateway. If this is the case and you try to file online, it'll generate an error 'Unable to look up taxpayer details'. If this occurs, you may need to resort to paper filing and let HMRC know that they may encounter this same error. Alternatively, you can contact HMRC online services to request a reactivation for the UTR number to allow you to file online.

If you aren't a personal representative (paper file):
1) Print and paper file the tax return. We advise that you use the latest tax year return as a rough basis for the calculations.
2) On the paper return, cross out the return period date lines on page 1 and replace with 'Tax return to death on dd/mm/yyyy'. Ensure you use a bold pen.
3) Since HMRC don't provide a box for the date of death, you should submit a covering letter to confirm this date.

If you'd like to contact HMRC to apply to become a personal representative:
If you intend on filing a tax return on behalf of a deceased individual, you should notify HMRC that this will be the last submission for this person and you'd like to become the personal representative.

You can call them via either of the following numbers:
UK - 0300 200 3300
Outside UK - +44 135 535 9022

For further information on the HMRC website, please click the following article 'Returns for someone who has died'.

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