Webcast
Final 1040/First 1041
Prepare for one of the most complex transition years in tax practice with a focused look at the final Form 1040 and first Form 1041. This course covers the reporting issues, deductions, carryovers, and fiduciary elections that can materially affect post-death tax compliance.
$147.00
Webcasts are available for viewing Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm ET,
and Saturday & Sunday, 10am – 6pm ET.
Without FlexCast, you must start with enough time to finish. (1 Hr/Credit)
Secure Transaction CPE Credits
3 Credits: Taxes
Course Level
Overview
Format
Webcast
Course Description
When a client dies, the return process changes immediately—and the first year can be one of the most technically sensitive periods a preparer handles. This CPE webcast walks through the transition from the final Form 1040 to the first Form 1041, helping you sort out what belongs on each return and how to handle key issues such as retirement income, dividends and interest, capital gains and losses, deductions, credits, carryovers, and required filings.
You’ll also examine the practical decisions that shape the first fiduciary return, including accounting period selection, trust and estate income reporting, Schedule B and K-1 considerations, deductible expenses, and important elections such as the Section 645 election and 65-day election. The result is a clearer framework for preparing returns accurately, documenting decisions well, and managing the tax consequences that follow a client’s death.
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, you should be able to:
- Recognize how a taxpayer’s death affects the preparation of the final Form 1040 and the initial Form 1041.
- Identify how income, deductions, credits, estimated payments, and carryovers should be reported or allocated between the decedent’s final individual return and the first fiduciary return.
- Determine the treatment of retirement income, dividends, interest, capital gains, and other common items during the year of death.
- Evaluate available elections and filing options for an estate or trust, including accounting period choices and key Form 1041 elections.
- Distinguish between trust and estate income, deductions, and distributions for purposes of Schedule B, Schedule K-1, and beneficiary reporting.
- Apply practical strategies to improve clarity, accuracy, and consistency when preparing post-death individual and fiduciary income tax returns.
Course Specifics
WC1826473936
June 19, 2026
None
None
Compliance Information
IRS Provider Number: 0MYXB
IRS Course Number: 0MYXB-T-02818-26-O
IRS Federal Tax Law Credits: 3
CTEC Course Number: 2071-CE-02261
CTEC Federal Tax Law Credits: 3
CFP Notice: Not all courses that qualify for CFP® credit are registered by Western CPE. If a course does not have a CFP registration number in the compliance section, the continuing education will need to be individually reported with the CFP Board. For more information on the reporting process, required documentation, processing fee, etc., contact the CFP Board. CFP Professionals must take each course in it’s entirety, the CFP Board DOES NOT accept partial credits for courses.
CTEC Notice: California Tax Education Council DOES NOT allow partial credit, course must be taken in entirety. Western CPE has been approved by the California Tax Education Council to offer continuing education courses that count as credit towards the annual “continuing education” requirement imposed by the State of California for CTEC Registered Tax Preparers. A listing of additional requirements to register as a tax preparer may be obtained by contacting CTEC at P.O. Box 2890, Sacramento, CA, 95812-2890, by phone toll-free at (877) 850-2832, or on the Internet at www.ctec.org.
Meet The Experts
Mary Kay Foss CPA is a frequent lecturer for professional and business groups. She has over thirty years of practical experience advising about retirement, income and estate planning issues. Ms. Foss is a member of the AICPA Individual and Self-Employed Technical Resource Panel, past chair of the AICPA Trust Estate and Gift Tax Technical Resource Panel and past chair of both the Estate Planning and the Taxation Committee of CalCPA. She is also past president of the Estate Planning Councils of Diablo Valley and East Bay and the East Bay Chapter of CalCPA. She teaches classes for CalCPA and has …
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