I've been using TurboTax (and its predecessor, MacInTax) since 1990, with very few problems until this year. My sister's husband passed away recently, and I'm now doing her taxes for her. They also used TurboTax and I have all of their returns going back over a decade.
Her 2024 return is fairly simple, except for a brokerage account with Wells Fargo Advisors. The account contains a bunch of Unit Investment Trusts and her annual Consolidated 1099 statements run well over 20 pages. I was able to import this year's statement into TT Deluxe Desktop with no problems. The 1099-DIV and 1099-INT portions are straightforward but the 1099-B has a few baffling entries each year.
To cite a typical example, she currently has 3,599 shares of an AAM UIT, purchased on 4/3/24 at $11.2549/share. This is a closed-end portfolio with a termination date of 10/7/25. Her January 2025 brokerage statements shows that all 3,599 shares are still in the account, but also shows an adjusted purchase price of $10.7620/share. The 1099-B portion of her 2024 tax statement for long-term, Box E, shows 3,599 shares of that AAM UIT sold on 11/21/24. Proceeds are shown as $1,773.95 with an unknown basis or purchase date, although her November 2024 brokerage statement shows no actual sale or repurchase of shares. The $1,773.95 figure equals the difference between the original and adjusted purchase prices times the number of shares, but I don't see how this can have a tax consequence until the shares are actually sold.
TT wants me to enter an acquisition date and a cost or other basis, both of which are marked "N/A" on the 1099-B. Looking back at previous years' returns, it appears my brother-in-law always entered the original purchase date and a basis equal to the "phantom" proceeds, for a net gain of zero. This makes sense to me, since there will be no realized gain or loss until this holding is sold later in 2025.
I'm hoping someone here can confirm if this is the correct approach for Wells Fargo accounts and/or UITs in general. I'm strictly a common stock, buy & hold investor, so I'm quite unaccustomed to seeing the purchase price change after a buy transaction for any reason other than a stock split. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
