Let's give this a try..
seems to suggest if you sell only a certain subset of the shares, that you can, at least for the current tax year, avoid NII tax.
If the shares sold are reported as NUA shares there is no NIIT. If the sale is not reported as an NUA and your estimated MAGI for the current year will be under 200k you will not trigger the NIIT and you could sell some shares. If over 200k, you may not want to sell any shares.
What do you mean by "selling shares not subject to the NUA".
My definition of shares not subject to the NUA are those from dividend reinvestments and additional purchases after the transfer to the brokerage account. Those additional shares would not be subject to the NUA if sold. They would be reported as LT or ST cap gains or losses depending on the holding period. The sale will trigger the NIIT if one's MAGI is over 200k.
Your example of no dividend reinvestment and no share purchases or sales since the transfer date to the brokerage account would tell me that the sale of any of those shares would require reporting the sale as an NUA sale.
Since NUA sales are not subject to NIIT, you would not encounter the NIIT on the sale of those shares. You would deduct the gain from the NIIT on the Worksheet for Form 8960 as we have discussed. You may still encounter the NIIT due to other income.
Do you agree that, if the share price is higher now when you are considering selling some or all of those shares than it was on the movement date, that you will owe some NII tax.
Your NUA is limited to the amount shown in Box 6 of the 1099-R. If the price rises you would be subject to LT or ST cap gains above the value in Box 6. If your MAGI is over $200k you would owe NIIT on the sale of those shares.
Separately - As you likely know, NUA's do not receive a step-up in the cost basis upon death of the owner.
Disclaimer - As we are not accountants or tax experts, our responses require verification from a qualified professional.
