Income in Respect of a Decedent
Learn the decision pattern the exam can test, then apply it to a realistic taxpayer fact pattern.
What changes the answer?
IRD generally does not receive the same basis adjustment as property included in the estate.
A tax-practice scenario
An estate collects unpaid compensation and an inherited retirement distribution. Determine recipient, timing, character, and any related estate-tax deduction.
Identify the taxpayer, entity, transaction, and tax period first. Write the controlling tests in order, apply only the relevant facts, and keep the reporting result separate from any planning recommendation.
Do not take this shortcut.
Treating every inherited payment as tax-free property with stepped basis.
Turn the rule into recall.
Ask whether the decedent had a right to the income and whether it was already reportable before death.
- ExplainState the governing distinction without notes.
- ApplyChange one fact in the scenario and predict the new result.
- RetrieveAnswer an unseen question, then review every option.
Official source and scope
This lesson follows the current PSI content outline and uses the IRS reference below for the underlying tax or practice framework. Always confirm current forms, instructions, thresholds, and effective dates before advising a taxpayer.