sales of estate property on ebay whos tax id mine or estate

[Oregon_Steve]

My wifes father passed and we are the successor trustee. we are selling some of his ham radio equipment on ebay. Question is should we be using his estate EIN or our SSN? do i transfer the proceeds to the trust account when completed.  Also EBAY will send a 1099 next year will the basis be wiped out since it is inherited ?

[Anonymous_ · Accepted solution]

Estates and trusts are not the same entity. 

Regardless, if the property were in the trust and the trust sold the property, then the trust's EIN should be used. 

The basis, in most instances, would be the fair market value on the date of death (when the trust became irrevocable, assuming the trust was a grantor trust prior to the death of the grantor). As a result, you are going to need to get some sort of appraisal (or other indicia) of that value.