Foreign stock holdings, must I report if there are no transactions?

[knoxl]

I was granted shares by BG Group while employed there.  Royal Dutch Shell purchased BG and converted my shares to Shell but not in the US on NYSE.  The shares are traded in London on the FTSE.  Dividends are automatically reinvested into more shares and I've no control over that.  When the shares were converted and granted, Shell withheld approximately 1/3 of the value for taxes.  Do I need to report these if I've had no transactions since receiving them?  If so, how do I report them?  Thank you.  Larry Knox

[pk]

These are treated as normal publicly held stocks -- i.e. any earnings whether in cash or stock form are to be recognized in the  year these are effected.  So your  automatic re-investment has three consequences -- (a) the dividend amount  is to be taxed by the USA each year -- report on your form 1040 schedule B;  (b) if Shell is withholding taxes  ( for which jurisdiction --Netherlands ? ) these are either foreign taxes ( eligible for credit ) or US taxes  which should show up as withholding to the IRS, (c) depending on the actual transaction details  these  re-invested stocks will affect your basis in the investment and you need to keep good records--- also when you dispose of these  you have to use  average or block prices as basis, LIFO sales assumed unless you specifically instruct otherwise.

Another thing to remember is that if these stocks are not traded in NYSE or are held in a private account  abroad, you may have FBAR  ( generally liquid or liquidable-- Treasury form 114 ) and/or FATCA reporting  ( IRS form 8938 )

any more  details you need, please say in comments