The IRS issued a news release on February 18, 2012 announcing the Extension of Deadline for Certain Qualifying Estates to File an Estate Tax Return to Make a Portability Election Benefiting Surviving Spouses.
On February 18, 2012 the IRS issued Notice 2012-21, which grants qualifying estates a six month extension of time for filing a Federal Estate Tax Return (Form 706). With this Notice, the IRS is allowing qualifying estates an extension even if the personal representative (executor) did not file a Form 4768 (Application for Extension of Time to File a Return and/or Pay U.S. Estate Taxes) within nine months after the decedent’s date of death, and therefore the estate did not receive the benefit of the automatic six-month extension. A qualifying estate under this notice is for estates of decedents dying in the first six months of 2011.
An executor of a qualifying estate that wants to obtain the extension granted by Notice 2012-21 must file the application for a six-month extension (Form 4768) no later than 15 months after the decedent’s date of death. With the extension granted by this notice, the Form 706 of the qualifying estate will also be due 15 months after the decedent’s date of death.
For more information, please contact Lansing Attorney Mark Kellogg at (517)377-0890 or mkellogg@fraserlawfirm.com. Also, please visit www.fraserlawfirm.com for more information.