In the simplest case where
- you absolutely DO KNOW the proper basis to report for ALL the stock ,(it's not there on the 1099-B),
- any compensation created by the SALE of stock acquired via the ESPP is on your W-2,
- compensation created by the EXERCISE of the RSU is on your W-2, and
- the sale is all one holding period
then there's absolutely no need to work through the employer stock "guide me" interview. You can simply report the sale of the stock as plain-vanilla stock, stock that's no different then stock you bought through your broker. In that case you enter the 1099-B as it reads on the default 1099-B entry form, (put the word "various" in the date acquired box), but then click on the "I'll enter additional info on my own" blue button. On the next page enter the correct basis in the "Corrected cost basis" box. The correct basis is (number of shares sold) x (correct per share basis, which includes the compensation per share)
TurboTax will report the sale on Form 8949 "as reported by the broker" but will put an adjustment figure into column (g) of the Form, a code "B" into column (f) of the Form, and the correct amount of gain or loss which includes the adjustment.
If not all the elements of that list above are true, then you need to break the sale into component parts and report that one sale as several different sales, and that's absolutely fine from an income tax reporting standpoint. You could even report the various pieces of the trade using different methods, i.e., some parts simply using the default 1099-B entry form and correcting the basis as described above, some parts using one or the other of the employer stock incentive "Guide me" interviews. As long as you end up reporting the ENTIRE trade everything will be fine.
Tom Young
