No, the holding period is not related to your basis (i.e., your cost in purchasing the ISOs). The holding period is important though because if you know the holding period, you will be able to determine whether your gain or loss was a long term gain/loss or a short term gain/loss.
If your basis is listed as 0 on your 1099-B or similar form you received, then your tax liability will indeed be much higher than it probably needs to be. That is because you probably spent some amount of money to purchase the ISOs. The total cost of your ISOs is your cost basis. Therefore, you need to determine how much you spent to purchase the ISOs.
An employer will provide their employee with one copy of Form 3921 for each exercise (purchase) of ISOs during the calendar year. You may receive multiple 3921 documents or a consolidated statement showing all your exercises if you had two or more exercises during the calendar year. When you are entering information into TurboTax regarding your ISOs, keep your Form 3921 with you as you will likely need to refer to it as you enter the ISO information. If you do not have it, or cannot find it, contact your employer to obtain another copy.
@Kmad
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