My stock gifts were acquired at various times and my father doesn't know when he acquired them. How do I answer those questions in the app to determine the cost basis?

[macuser_22]

Your basis in a gifted stock is the givers basis.  If you cannot determine that by past records or the stock prices on the date of purchase then the IRS will assume your basis is zero and tax you on the entire amount of the sale.

[rjs · Accepted solution]

Ask your father to ask his broker whether the brokerage has records of the purchases.

The exact purchase date isn't important. As long as the stocks were originally purchased more than a year before you sold them, the gain is long-term. You can always enter "Various" for the acquisition date if know they are all long-term. But the cost is important because it directly affects how much tax you will have to pay. You can look up historical stock prices to get a reasonable estimate of the original purchase price, but to do that you have to have at least a rough idea of when each stock was purchased.