An estate or irrevocable trust is a separate taxpayer, and the executor or trustee has to get it its own Employer Identification Number before doing much of anything else. The EIN for estates and trusts is free, the online application takes minutes, and the fiduciary uses that nine-digit number to open bank accounts, receive interest and dividends without backup withholding, file Form 1041, and eventually close the account when assets are distributed.
When You Actually Need One
A decedent’s estate exists from the moment of death until the fiduciary finishes distributing assets. The IRS requires Form 1041 for any domestic estate with gross income of $600 or more in the tax year, and every estate that must file Form 1041 must have an EIN.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1041 and Schedules A, B, G, J, and K-1 (2025) Federal law separately requires a taxpayer identification number on any return or document filed with the IRS.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6109 – Identifying Numbers
Trusts split along a simple line. A revocable trust normally uses the grantor’s Social Security Number while the grantor is alive, because the grantor still controls the assets. When the grantor dies, that trust becomes irrevocable and needs its own EIN. A trust that was irrevocable from the start needs an EIN from the start.
There’s also an employment-tax trigger that catches people. Even if an estate has less than $600 of gross income, it needs an EIN if it pays wages. A common case: the decedent employed a housekeeper or caregiver, and the estate continues that employment during administration. Household employment taxes go on Schedule H attached to Form 1041, and the estate’s EIN goes on those forms.3Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide
Get the EIN Before You Move Any Money
Banks and brokerages will not release interest, dividends, or other payments without a valid taxpayer identification number. If income hits the estate or trust before the fiduciary supplies an EIN, the payer must withhold 24 percent as backup withholding and send it to the IRS.4Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding The money isn’t lost. It’s credited when the return is filed. But it ties up cash the estate may need for debts, expenses, or distributions.
There’s also a direct penalty for missing or wrong TINs on returns and information reports: $50 per failure, capped at $100,000 for the calendar year.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6723 – Failure To Comply With Other Information Reporting Requirements The penalty applies separately to each document.6eCFR. 26 CFR 301.6723-1 – Failure To Comply With Other Information Reporting Requirements
What to Have in Front of You Before Applying
Form SS-4 is the application. Gathering these items first prevents mismatches between the EIN and the entity’s legal identity:
- The entity’s exact legal name from the will, trust agreement, or court order. For an estate this is usually “Estate of [Decedent’s Full Legal Name].”
- The decedent’s or grantor’s SSN or ITIN.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 – Application for Employer Identification Number
- The responsible party’s own SSN or ITIN. The responsible party must be an individual, not another entity.
- Date of death, or the date the trust was funded.
- A mailing address where the fiduciary will reliably receive IRS notices.
- Entity type: estate, testamentary trust (created by a will), or inter vivos trust (created during the grantor’s lifetime).
If an attorney or accountant is filing on your behalf, the third-party designee section on SS-4 lets that person answer IRS questions and receive the assigned number. The authority ends the moment the EIN is issued, and the confirmation notice still goes to the fiduciary’s address, not the designee’s.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
Pick the Tax Year at Application, Not Later
Estates can elect either a calendar year or a fiscal year ending on the last day of any month. A fiscal year running from the date of death can defer income tax on estate earnings for up to 11 months. Someone who dies in March, for instance, could put the estate on a January 31 fiscal year and push the first Form 1041 deadline well past when a calendar-year return would be due.
Trusts don’t get that flexibility. Federal law requires nearly all trusts to use a calendar tax year, with narrow exceptions for trusts tax-exempt under § 501(a) and certain charitable trusts.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 644 – Taxable Year of Trusts Because you set the tax year on the SS-4, decide before you apply. Changing later requires IRS approval.
Filing the Application
On the form itself, the fields that cause the most trouble are entity classification, reason for applying, and the “care of” line. In Type of Entity, match the box to your governing document: estate, testamentary trust, or inter vivos trust. For Reason for Applying, indicate a new estate being administered or a new trust being funded. Line 3, the “care of” line, holds the executor’s or trustee’s name, and the IRS uses it to direct all correspondence.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 – Application for Employer Identification Number Most estates and trusts report zero employees, and the primary activity is usually holding investments or distributing assets.
A wrong entity classification will cause the IRS to assign the EIN under the wrong tax category, which then takes a written correction letter to fix. Slow down on that section.
The Online System, and Its Quirks
The IRS online EIN application is fastest and issues the number on the spot. A few things to know before you start:
- The portal is available Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Eastern, Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Sunday from 6:00 p.m. to midnight.10Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
- You have to finish in one session. The system times out after 15 minutes of inactivity, and you restart from the beginning.
- The IRS limits applications to one EIN per responsible party per day. If you’re administering multiple entities, spread them out.
Fiduciaries who can’t use the online system can fax Form SS-4 and typically get the EIN within four business days. Mailed applications take about four to five weeks.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 – Application for Employer Identification Number
However you apply, the IRS mails a CP-575 notice confirming the assigned EIN. The IRS issues this document only once and will not generate a duplicate.11Internal Revenue Service. CP 575 G – Employer Identification Number Confirmation Store it with the will or trust agreement. Banks and brokerages routinely ask to see it.
Fiduciaries Outside the United States
A fiduciary with no legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office in the U.S. cannot use the online application. Two options remain. Call the IRS at 267-941-1099 (not toll-free) between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday, and receive the EIN by phone. Or fax or mail Form SS-4 to the IRS EIN International Operation in Cincinnati.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 If the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN and isn’t eligible for one, enter “foreign” or “N/A” on line 7b — the line can’t be left blank. When you apply by phone, the IRS representative may ask you to fax or mail the signed form within 24 hours.
When There’s Both an Estate and a Revocable Trust
If the decedent left both a will that creates an estate and a revocable trust, a Section 645 election lets the qualified revocable trust be treated as part of the estate for income tax purposes. The payoff: one combined Form 1041 each year instead of two, plus the trust picks up the estate’s fiscal-year flexibility and certain deductions it otherwise couldn’t claim.
A qualified revocable trust is one the decedent could revoke during life under § 676. Make the election on Form 8855 by the due date of the estate’s first Form 1041, including extensions.12Internal Revenue Service. Form 8855, Election To Treat a Qualified Revocable Trust as Part of an Estate If an executor has been appointed, both the executor and the trustee sign. The election is irrevocable once made.13eCFR. 26 CFR 1.645-1 – Election by Certain Revocable Trusts To Be Treated as Part of Estate
The trust still needs its own post-death EIN. The combined return is filed under the estate’s name and EIN when an executor exists, or under the trust’s EIN if no executor is appointed. If an executor is appointed after the trustee already filed the election, an amended Form 8855 must be filed within 90 days of the appointment.
Keeping the Account Current, and Closing It
Registering Yourself as the Fiduciary
A new executor or trustee should file Form 56 to formally establish the fiduciary relationship. This tells the IRS who is authorized to act and where notices should go.14Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 File a separate Form 56 for each entity — one for the decedent’s final personal return, another for the estate itself.15Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship
If the Fiduciary Changes
When the executor or trustee changes during administration, the entity must report the new responsible party on Form 8822-B within 60 days.16Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business Missing that deadline doesn’t void the EIN, but IRS correspondence keeps going to the former fiduciary, which is how successors end up with missed notices and late-filing penalties.
Closing the Account
An EIN can’t technically be canceled. Once issued, the number stays in IRS records permanently. What the fiduciary does instead is file the entity’s final Form 1041 with the “Final Return” box checked after distributing all remaining assets, and file a termination Form 56 alongside it. That closes the tax account from the IRS’s perspective. The EIN should never be reused for a different entity.