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Question: My 53 year old client died suddenly in January of this year.  I am working with the widow, and she wants to know if she can make an IRA contribution on the client’s behalf for 2011?

Answer: The IRS says no.

The IRS decided in a 1984 private letter ruling that an IRA contribution couldn’t be made on the taxpayer’s behalf at any time after the date of the taxpayer’s death.  Here’s a link to the ruling:

http://www.legalbitstream.com/scripts/isyswebext.dll?op=get&uri=/isysquery/irldfb/1/doc

Even though a private letter ruling can’t be relied on as final law, it does indicate how the IRS looks at the particular tax issue involved.

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