RMD in year of death

[Happy Camper]

Taxpayer passed away in 2018 before taking any of his RMD. I told the heirs that it should be taken in 2018 but they neglected to take until I reminded them again in 2019. Does the 5329 with an explanation get attached to the beneficiary's 2018 return? or 2019 return? Or does it get reported on the decedents final 2018 return? Trying to avoid any future problems..

TYIA

[Burke]

It cannot be reported on the decedent's 2018 return since only income PRIOR to death goes on there, regardless of what kind of income it is. The RMD is reported on the beneficiaries' 2019 return since that is when they received it.

[Happy Camper]

Thanks for your response Burke! You cleared up one issue that was nagging at me My biggest concern though is the 50% penalty for not distributing the RMD in 2018. The penalty goes on Form 5329 and a request for the waiver of the penalty (since steps were taken to remedy the shortfall) also gets reported on 5329. My guess is that the 5329 should be filed on the beneficiaries 2018 return since that is the year the RMD is for?

[Anarchrist]

2018. File a 5329 for each year a rmd is missed and each subsequent year until corrected. If the 2018 return has already been filed, the 5329 is filed by itself. Don't pay the penalty with the form, the likelihood of being waived should be close to 100% at which point the taxpayer then has to wait for the refund and it's another opportunity for the irs to mess up. If the 2019 rmd wasn't taken at the same time the 2018 was corrected, remind them to take the 2019.