Get Form 712 2006-2024

When an insured person or policy owner dies and an estate tax return is filed (or when a life insurance policy is transferred as a gift), the IRS will require that a Federal Form 712 Life Insurance Statement be filed to determine estate taxes.

Internal Revenue Service Form 712 is primarily of interest to people serving as the executor of a deceased person's estate. It's the executor's job to wrap up the financial affairs of the deceased, including filing an estate tax return if necessary.

The IRS Form 712 is a statement that provides Life Insurance Policy values as of the date of an insured's or policy owner's death, or at a time a Life Insurance Policy is transferred as a gift. The IRS requires that this statement be included when an estate (or gift) tax return is filed.

There is no need to attach a copy of the death certificate to the federal tax return. However, some states may require a copy of the death certificate be submitted with a taxpayer's final state return, so check with your state's tax authority in this regard.

IRS Form 706, the United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, is required by the federal government only for estates that meet certain criteria. Only about 1,700 estates were expected to owe an estate tax in 2018, according to the Tax Policy Center.

You must attach to the return a certified copy of the death certificate, a certified copy of the will when the decedent died testate, and a copy of the form 4768 if an extension has been granted.

To make a portability election, the decedent's estate must file IRS Form 706, which is the "United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return." On that form, the estate can elect to transfer the DSUE to the surviving spouse.

Form 706 is used by the executor of a decedent's estate to figure the estate tax imposed by Chapter 11 of the Internal Revenue Code. ... Form 709 is used to report transfers subject to the Federal gift and certain generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes, and to figure the tax, if any, due on those transfers.