Updated November 5, 2026. Quick answer: Table B in Publication 559 is a four-column worksheet for the executor or personal representative. For each payer it splits what an information return shows in the decedent’s name into the part for the final return (column B) and the part for the estate or a beneficiary (column C, which is column A minus column B), then picks out the income in respect of a decedent (column D).
What Table B is for
The publication lists the worksheet among its extras: “A worksheet to reconcile amounts reported in the decedent’s name on information returns including Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement; 1099-INT, Interest Income; 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions; etc.” “The worksheet will help you correctly determine the income to report on the decedent’s final return and on the return for either the estate or a beneficiary.” The sheet is marked “Keep for Your Records”, so it stays with the estate file and is not attached to a return.
The header items
- “Name of Decedent”
- “Date of Death”
- “Decedent’s Social Security Number”
- “Name of Personal Representative, Executor, or Administrator”
- “Estate’s Employer Identification Number (If Any)”
Each row is then filled in by payer, under the heading “Source (list each payer)”.
The four columns
| Column | Heading printed on the worksheet |
|---|---|
| A | “Enter total amount shown on information return” |
| B | “Enter part of amount in column A reportable on decedent’s final return” |
| C | “Amount reportable on estate’s or beneficiary’s income tax return (column A minus column B)” |
| D | “Part of column C that is income in respect of a decedent” |
Column C is a subtraction the worksheet prints for you. Column D is not arithmetic: it is the part of column C that fits the definition of income in respect of a decedent, explained below.
The nine rows
| Row | Label printed on the worksheet |
|---|---|
| 1 | Wages |
| 2 | “Interest income” |
| 3 | “Dividends” |
| 4 | “State income tax refund” |
| 5 | “Capital gains” |
| 6 | “Pension income” |
| 7 | “Rents, royalties” |
| 8 | “Taxes withheld” (starred): “List each withholding agent (employer, etc.).” |
| 9 | “Other items, such as social security, business and farm income or loss, unemployment compensation, etc.” |
Why an information return needs splitting
The publication says “Form(s) 1099 reporting interest and dividends earned by the decedent before death should be received and the amounts included on the decedent’s final return.” “A separate Form 1099 should show the interest and dividends earned after the date of the decedent’s death and paid to the estate or other recipient that must include those amounts on its return.” When that has not happened: “You can request corrected Forms 1099 if these forms don’t properly reflect the right recipient or amounts.”
For income earned after death it adds “you should ask the payer for a Form 1099 that properly identifies the recipient (by name and identification number) and the proper amount.” Table B is the record of how the executor reconciled whatever forms did arrive.
Column D: income in respect of a decedent
The publication defines it this way: “All income the decedent would have received had death not occurred that wasn’t properly includible on the final return, discussed earlier, is income in respect of a decedent.”
Where it is reported: “Income in respect of a decedent must be included in the income of one of the following.”
- “The decedent’s estate, if the estate receives it.”
- “The beneficiary, if the right to income is passed directly to the beneficiary and the beneficiary receives it.”
- “Any person to whom the estate properly distributes the right to receive it.”
The estate’s own return is covered on the Form 1041 for estates page.
A worked example (invented numbers)
A decedent’s Form 1099-INT shows $1,200 of interest, and the executor finds that $700 was earned before death. A Form 1099-DIV shows $900 of dividends, $300 of them paid before death. Neither amount is income in respect of a decedent in this invented case, so column D is zero in both rows.
| Row | A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Interest income | $1,200 | $700 | $500 | -0- |
| 3 Dividends | $900 | $300 | $600 | -0- |
Column C is $500 for interest and $600 for dividends (computed).
Edition
This page reads Publication 559 (2025), Survivors, Executors, and Administrators, the file irs.gov served on 2026-11-05. Table B appears on page 46 of that edition. Check the year printed on your own copy before following a column or row reference.
Common mistakes
- Reporting the whole amount on the Form 1099 on the final return when part of it belongs to the estate or a beneficiary. Column B is only the part earned before death.
- Treating column D as arithmetic. It depends on whether the amount is income in respect of a decedent, which turns on the facts.
- Leaving out the payer. The worksheet is built by source, one line per payer, and the withholding row asks you to list each withholding agent.
- Filing the worksheet. It is marked for your records.
Related: Publication 559, Form 1041 for estates, Form 1041 lines 1 to 3, Form 1310 for a refund due a deceased taxpayer, Form 1099-INT box 1, and Form 1099-DIV boxes 1a and 1b.
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Answer againSources
- Publication 559 (2025), Survivors, Executors, and Administrators: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p559.pdf
- IRS, About Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-559
Read from the IRS documents linked above on November 5, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.