Updated September 29, 2026. Quick answer: Schedule K-1 (Form 1041) is the form an estate or trust sends a beneficiary to report the beneficiary’s share of its income, deductions and credits. It is information for your return, not a bill. The table lists every box and code with the IRS heading and the page that explains it.
Partnership K-1s use different boxes: Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) Boxes and Codes Explained.
Every box and code on the K-1
Codes, and where to read them
The instructions read here are the 2025 edition of the IRS Instructions for Schedule K-1 (Form 1041) for a Beneficiary Filing Form 1040 or 1040-SR (Catalog Number 11374Z, dated March 13, 2025), the edition served at the IRS standing PDF address when read on September 29, 2026. They are written for the beneficiary; the fiduciary’s own instructions are in the Instructions for Form 1041. The form’s page 2 says of its own code list: “This list identifies the codes used on Schedule K-1 for beneficiaries and provides summarized reporting information for beneficiaries who file Form 1040 or 1040-SR.”
What the form does and does not do
The IRS instruction for the beneficiary begins: “Use Schedule K-1 to report a beneficiary’s share of the estate’s or trust’s income, credits, deductions, etc., on your Form 1040 or 1040-SR.” “Keep it for your records.” Whether you owe anything depends on your return. CMG’s Schedule K-1 for estates page covers what a K-1 from an estate reports and the rules on correcting it.
Edition and history
The instructions read here are the 2025 edition of the IRS Instructions for Schedule K-1 (Form 1041) for a Beneficiary Filing Form 1040 or 1040-SR (Catalog Number 11374Z, dated March 13, 2025), the edition served at the IRS standing PDF address when read on September 29, 2026. They are written for the beneficiary; the fiduciary’s own instructions are in the Instructions for Form 1041. The instruction file is a single edition with no year-by-year history of the boxes, so this page has no history table. The 2025 form’s Box 11 heading is Final year deductions, and the Final K-1 box at the top of the form marks the beneficiary’s last year: the instructions say “If the “Final K-1” box at the top of Schedule K-1 is checked, this is the final return for the beneficiary.”
Sources
- IRS, Instructions for Schedule K-1 (Form 1041) for a Beneficiary Filing Form 1040 or 1040-SR (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1041sk1.pdf
- IRS, Schedule K-1 (Form 1041) 2025, Beneficiary’s Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, etc., page 2 code list: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1041sk1.pdf
Source: the IRS instructions for the beneficiary who receives Schedule K-1 (Form 1041), and the form’s own code list, read at irs.gov on September 29, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the estate’s or trust’s fiduciary or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.