Last year, we distributed my parents’ estate. My family all resides in Canada.
The result was a deposit into my checking account which has always been duly reported via FBARs and any taxable income reported (specifically my Canada pension).
Will I need to report any income in this case?
It’s less than $100K USD.
I guess I don’t know how inheritances are reported/taxed in the US either because it doesn’t apply to either of us. DW’s parents passed many years ago and the amount was even smaller, so we just ignored it. That was before FATCA.
I guess I don’t know how inheritances are reported/taxed in the US
From a Federal perspective, no estate taxes will be due, since the total estate is less than the $11.7MM/person that was allowed for those dying in 2021. If they died in 2020, then the allowance is a slightly lower $11.58MM/person.
Some states tax estates at lower levels, but presumably if their state does tax estates at a lower level and an estate tax were due, the administrator of the estate would have taken care of that, since the tax should have been paid by the estate.
Six states (Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) do tax the beneficiary on an inheritance, but most have exceptions for the kids and grandkids of the decedents. If your parents lived in one of those states, you should check with the administrator of the estate to see if you owe any taxes.
If your parents lived in Pennsylvania or owned property in Pennsylvania, there is inheritance tax owed, even for very small estates. Safe deposit boxes even need to be inventoried. Tax rates are based on your relationship to the deceased. Tax rate for children and grandchildren is 4.5%. Only a spouse is exempt.
Hopefully they did not own anything in Pennsylvania or have part-year residence there.
Thanks for the reply, but they did not ever live in the US.
The inheritance was distributed in Dec and my sisters took care of all the Canadian taxes involved and arranged for it to be deposited in my Canadian checking account.
I was just wondering how (or if) I need to report it on my US 2021 taxes.
It doesn’t approach the limits for federal tax and in 2021 I lived in Texas which has no state tax.
It sounds like it’s a non-issue. It will be reflected in a higher dollar value in my FBAR for the account but not taxable.
It is routine for safe deposit boxes to be inventoried. They are part of the estate and many hold items of value and not just paperwork.
What was funny with my father-in-laws estate was that they had a safe deposit box. When we finally found the key and had my mother-in-law open it, it was empty but it was still necessary to declare it and who owned the safety deposit box.
The inheritance was distributed in Dec and my sisters took care of all the Canadian taxes involved and arranged for it to be deposited in my Canadian checking account. I was just wondering how (or if) I need to report it on my US 2021 taxes. It doesn’t approach the limits for federal tax and in 2021 I lived in Texas which has no state tax. It sounds like it’s a non-issue. It will be reflected in a higher dollar value in my FBAR for the account but not taxable.
It is a non-issue, except for the FBAR reporting, which you’ve been taking care of, it sounds like.
But not an issue at all for income tax reporting. Inheritances are not income, and are not reported on the 1040 at all. Nor for any state, that I’m aware of. Though, as mentioned above, some states do impose an inheritance tax.