"This seems strange that we're expected to pay taxes on a gain when the money is going to fees,"
On your behalf, you had liquidated a part of your holding to raise money for a fee. That gives you a capital gain or loss.
IRS doe not give a hoot that you used that capital gain to pay a fee.
If you hold these securities in tax-deferred accounts, you don't have to report any of this.
Once I discovered the reporting hassle for regular taxable accounts, I dumped all those securities.
