For those items where you absolutely can't establish a cost basis through any reasonable method, keep in mind that the IRS could potentially consider your basis to be $0, meaning you'd pay capital gains tax on the entire proceeds. That's the worst-case scenario you want to avoid. This happened to a friend with a coin collection - couldn't establish basis for about 20% of it, and ended up paying tax on the full amount for those pieces. Pretty painful tax hit!

This is such a valuable discussion! I've been putting off dealing with my stamp collection for years because I was worried about this exact issue. One thing I'd add - if you're in a similar situation, start documenting everything NOW before you sell. Take photos of your items with current dates, write down everything you remember about when and where you bought them, and gather any supporting evidence you can find (old bank statements, insurance records, etc.). I learned the hard way that trying to reconstruct this information after you've already sold items is much harder than doing it beforehand. The IRS appreciates seeing that you made a systematic effort to establish your basis rather than just scrambling at tax time. Also, for anyone dealing with inherited collectibles - the rules are different! You might get a "stepped-up basis" equal to the fair market value when you inherited them, which could save you a lot in taxes. Definitely worth looking into if that applies to your situation.

Your accountant's concerns are valid but perhaps a bit overly cautious. The IRS doesn't prohibit S-Corp elections for personal service businesses like real estate - they just scrutinize the salary vs. distribution split more closely. With $160k in profit, you'd likely want to pay yourself around $80-100k as W-2 wages (that 50-65% range others mentioned is spot on). The key is being able to justify that salary based on what similar real estate agents in your market earn. I've been an S-Corp real estate agent for 3 years now and it's saved me significant money on self-employment taxes. Just make sure you: 1. Set up proper payroll from day one 2. Document your salary research thoroughly 3. Keep detailed records of business expenses separate from personal 4. Consider the additional compliance costs (payroll service, extra accounting fees) The "personal services" scrutiny is real, but it's not a disqualification. The IRS just wants to make sure you're not gaming the system with an unreasonably low salary. If you can justify your compensation methodology, you should be fine.

As someone who's been down this road, I'd suggest getting a second opinion from a CPA who regularly works with real estate agents and S-Corps. Your current accountant sounds overly conservative - while the IRS does scrutinize personal service S-Corps, it's absolutely not a red flag or prohibited structure. The key issue isn't whether you CAN elect S-Corp status (you can), but whether the tax savings justify the additional complexity and costs. With $160k profit, you're looking at potential self-employment tax savings of around $12,000 annually (15.3% on the distribution portion), which could easily justify the extra accounting and payroll costs. I'd recommend documenting comparable salaries from sites like Glassdoor, PayScale, and your local MLS agent income reports. Keep records of your experience level, specializations (luxury homes, commercial, etc.), and any additional services you provide. The IRS wants to see that your salary reflects what you'd pay an independent contractor to do the same work. Don't let fear of scrutiny keep you from legitimate tax savings. Just make sure your salary is genuinely reasonable - not artificially low to maximize distributions.

I went through this exact situation with my father's estate in 2022, and I want to reassure you that using the county tax assessment is absolutely a valid approach. Your numbers actually look really solid - a $235K assessment in 2021 and $243K sale in 2024 shows only about 1% annual appreciation, which is quite conservative and defensible. What I found most helpful was creating a simple one-page summary that included: the official county assessment document, a brief explanation of why I believed it reflected fair market value (in my case, recent comparable sales supported the assessment), and documentation of my county's assessment practices. One thing that gave me extra confidence was reaching out to a local real estate agent who provided me with a simple market analysis showing what similar homes sold for around my father's date of death. Even though it wasn't a formal appraisal, having that third-party perspective strengthened my documentation. The IRS really is reasonable about this - they understand that not every family gets a formal appraisal immediately after a death. As long as you can show you made a good faith effort to determine accurate value and your numbers pass the "smell test" (which yours definitely do), you should be fine.

I just wanted to jump in here as someone who recently went through this exact process with my uncle's property. Reading through all these responses has given me so much confidence that we made the right choice using the county assessment! One thing I discovered that might be helpful for your situation - many counties publish annual "sales ratio studies" that show how their assessments compare to actual market sales. I found ours buried on the assessor's website under something like "assessment accuracy reports." For our county, it showed that assessments were typically within 5-10% of actual sale prices, which really strengthened my documentation. Your situation sounds very similar to mine - we used a $198K county assessment from 2022 and sold for $205K in early 2024. The modest appreciation actually worked in our favor because it showed the assessment was realistic, not artificially low. I ended up creating a simple binder with the county assessment, printouts of comparable sales from Zillow/Realtor.com from around the date of death, that sales ratio study I mentioned, and a one-page summary explaining my reasoning. My tax preparer said it was some of the best inheritance documentation she'd seen - thorough but not overcomplicated. The peace of mind was worth the few hours of research. Your $235K to $243K progression over three years is going to look completely reasonable to anyone who reviews it!

Just wanted to add my experience from last year - I inherited my father's house and initially thought I could skip the appraisal since I wasn't planning to sell. Big mistake! When I finally decided to sell 18 months later, I had to scramble to get a retrospective appraisal done. The appraiser I found was great (found her through the Appraisal Institute like Emma suggested), but she explained that the further you get from the date of death, the harder it becomes to find truly comparable sales from that exact time period. Market conditions change, and what might seem like a similar property sale from 6 months later could have very different market factors affecting it. My advice: even if you're 100% sure you'll never sell, get the appraisal done within the first few months. The cost is minimal compared to the potential headaches and tax issues down the road. Plus, life circumstances change - you might need to sell for reasons you can't predict right now.

I've been following this thread and wanted to share something that might help others avoid the stress I went through. When my grandfather passed last year, I was in a similar boat - inherited his duplex property and wasn't sure about the appraisal timing. What really helped me was getting connected with an estate planning attorney who specialized in inherited property. They explained that beyond just the step-up basis issue, there are also state-specific rules that can affect your tax situation. In my state, for example, there were additional inheritance tax considerations that I would have completely missed if I'd just focused on the federal requirements. The attorney had a network of appraisers they regularly worked with who were experienced in estate valuations, which saved me the headache of trying to find someone qualified on my own. The whole process ended up being much smoother than I expected, and having professional guidance gave me confidence that I was handling everything correctly. For anyone feeling overwhelmed by this stuff - don't try to navigate it all alone. Sometimes spending a few hundred on professional advice upfront can save you thousands in mistakes later.

I've been through this exact situation multiple times and can offer some reassurance. The status flip from "approved" to "pending" in TurboTax is actually pretty common during the final 24-48 hours before your refund is deposited. What's happening is that TurboTax's system sometimes can't distinguish between the final processing stages at the IRS. When your refund moves from "approved for release" to "sent to your bank," there's a brief period where TurboTax might show it as pending again because the status codes change in their system. Since the official IRS "Where's My Refund" tool still shows approved with your Feb 13 date, that's the status you should trust. The IRS tool pulls directly from their processing systems, while TurboTax is essentially making educated guesses based on periodic data updates. I'd suggest checking your bank account first thing tomorrow morning - most direct deposits from the IRS hit accounts between midnight and 6 AM. Even if TurboTax never updates back to "approved," your money should still arrive on schedule. Don't stress too much about the TurboTax display - focus on what the IRS is telling you directly.

I had this exact same issue last month! The status flip from "Approved" back to "Pending" in TurboTax is actually quite common and usually nothing to worry about. What matters most is what the official IRS "Where's My Refund" tool shows - and since yours still displays "Refund Approved" with the Feb 13 date, you should be in good shape. TurboTax's tracking system sometimes gets confused during the final processing stages when the IRS is preparing to send your refund to your bank. Their system doesn't always sync perfectly with the IRS databases, especially during high-volume periods. I'd recommend checking your bank account early tomorrow morning - most IRS direct deposits hit accounts between midnight and 6 AM. Even if TurboTax never updates back to "approved," your refund should still arrive as scheduled. The IRS system is the authoritative source, so trust what they're telling you over TurboTax's display. If for some reason the deposit doesn't appear by end of day tomorrow, give it one more business day before getting concerned, as banks can sometimes take 24-48 hours to fully process IRS deposits. But based on your description, everything sounds like it's proceeding normally - just with a glitchy third-party tracker!