I have the same issue with two ETF's (SLV & GLD). In calling Vanguard to ask the Acquire date (it's been a long time ago ... 2007), they indicated that the monthly "Proceeds" for 1099-B Part I w/ Box B cked (or Part II with Box E cked) listed as 1d - Proceeds & Reported Gross/net were actually the Monthly fees for the ETF. They are NOT related to Dividend Reinvestment (at least in my case since I do not do that) Talking to a CPA, "On page 1 or 2 of the Vanguard 1099 statements there should be a line item for "investment expenses" attributed to the precious metals accounts. These are fees for storage, insurance, etc. for the fund. The basis to put on schedule B for the iShares Silver ETF is the sum of the investment expenses.". Looking at p2 of the Vanguard 1099-B "Reconciliations, Fees, Expenses and Expenditures", there is indeed a line "Fees & Expenses - Other expenses" which is exactly the sum of all those 1-d Reported Gross monthly lines. The Vanguard customer service rep acknowledged that this was the first year that Vanguard reported the ETF fees this way which is perhaps why Turbotax is not so helpful in explaining what needs to occur.
Since the Qty of SLV (or GLD) every month "sold/disposed" was listed as exactly "0.000", and the total Expenses listed for SLV + GLD equaled my 1-d Proceeds, it appears that the logical answer would actually be to put the "Proceed" amount (since Expenses = Proceeds) into the Cost Basis amount in Turbotax, effectively zeroing out any income. Looking at the sweep fund for the account, there were NO cash transactions in it related to the two ETF's.
However, the question remains if that is really a good thing to do. Technically it appears to be correct, but the footnote 16 regarding the Cost Basis Factor (typically a very small number near 0.0004) times my actual basis in 2007 does yield a reasonable number (about 50% of the 1d Proceeds) but since there is absolutely no Quantity listed, I base that simply on approximately a doubling of the ETF since purchase.
The "safe" answer is to list as short-term, and put $0 as basis. For a $184 gross proceed (= expenses), I doubt it's worth triggering an IRS letter asking for explanation. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to hear what Intuit's CPA's have to say upon seeing this information.
