Reporting sale of shares of delisted common stock

[kanakudani]

Baxalta corp was acquired by Shire PLC in 2016. For each share of Baxalta, shareholders were paid $18.00. !099B shows this $18.00 as sale of delisted common. How do you determine the cost basis of $18.0 received?

[DianeW · Accepted solution]

You should go back through the statements issued by Baxalta at the time they were acquired, including any stock split(s) and reconstruct basis information from the information provided in your documents to arrive at your original purchase(s) of Baxalta stock.

Or you could just use a $0 basis and pay tax on the $18 per share you received.  

You must determine reasonable cost basis for the purchase of the stock if you want to reduce the taxable capital gain.