While there is no official IRS guidance in the forms (or instructions and publications) that addresses IRA contributions made on behalf of a decedent after their death, there was a Private Letter Ruling (8439066) that ruled contributions made after the date of death were classified as excess contributions. Due to this, the TaxAct program is set up so that once the IRA owner is deceased, no further contributions can be considered for a tax deduction. In the program, the date of the contribution will determine if the deduction will be allowed. Any amount contributed prior to the date of death can be claimed.

If you enter a contribution in the program for an individual that has a date of death entered in the program, you will be prompted to enter the date of the contribution (if instead, the entry for the contribution is made through the forms entry method on the IRA Contribution Summary worksheet, there are fields prompting for the date of contribution at the bottom of the worksheet).

To enter the death of a taxpayer or spouse in the TaxAct program, go to our Death of Taxpayer During Tax Year FAQ.

To enter an IRA contribution for a deceased person in the TaxAct program:

1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal (on smaller devices, click in the top left corner of your screen, then click Federal).
2. Click the IRA Contributions dropdown, then click Deductible traditional IRA contributions or Roth IRA contributions (depending on the type of contribution made).
3. Continue with the interview process until you reach the screen titled IRA Contributions - Date of Contribution - Taxpayer, and enter the date of the contribution.