MarylinG1, thank you for taking the time to write an answer. I see that you made a similar answer in an other almost identical thread. I am just a regular person and not a tax expert. I like doing my own taxes and understanding as much as possible. A plain reading of publication 561 strongly suggests, if not outright says, that the correct way to value a stock is average share price. Comparable sales is specifically mentioned when talking about other kinds of property. I welcome clarifying information showing why average share price is not correct? Perhaps there is an IRS ruling, or it is spelled out more clearly in another publication? Or maybe this is just something that tax professionals know but is not written down anywhere?
At the moment I still believe that "Average share price" is the proper way to fill out this form in this circumstance. But I also suspect that it doesnt matter much because no one at the IRS is going to look at it, and it doesn't change the numbers.
