@mjc517 wrote:
Thanks for getting back to me. I realize I have to sell first but am not sure how to figure out and claim a capital loss after I sell.
You just need to know your original cost basis and the approximate date you bought or acquired the stock. If the stocks are held with a broker, they may be able to help.
If you or your broker don't have exact records then you need to do the best reconstruction you can and document your work in case the IRS asks. (The only thing you put on your tax form is your cost, although you can be asked later for supporting proof.)
For example, if you bought the stock all at once, and are selling your entire holdings, then your cost is what you originally paid, regardless of how many mergers and splits there were. You don't really need to figure out any basis adjustments. However, if you previously sold part of your holdings, or if you are only selling part of your holdings now, you have more work to do to figure out the adjusted cost basis of your current holdings. If you don't know, you can make reasonable estimates. For example, if you bought 10 shares of Bell every year from 1980 to 1984, you could use the average price from the year. You can get historical prices from Yahoo Finance, the Wall Street Journal, or by looking up old newspapers in your local library (might have to use the microfilm). Yahoo Finance seems to have historical data for Lumen going back to 1980, although the web site crashes when I try to look it up, hopefully a short term glitch.
