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Level 4
April 19, 2026
Question

How do I report gain/loss on inherited partnerships I sold?

  • April 19, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 1151 views

I inherited a small interest in 6 publicly-traded partnerships in 2025.  I immediately sold them once they were transferred to my brokerage account.   The broker included those sales on the 1099-B they provided although the form indicated the basis was NOT provided to the IRS.    My thought was to report the basis as the values of each partnership on the date of my father's death on Schedule D.    Doing this would result in LOSSES on every one of the sales.   I then received a K-1 on each of the partnerships.    However, the K-1 lists its own very different basis for form 8949.   Using those numbers as basis instead would result in GAINS on all the partnerships.   Right now I entered the sales from the 1099-B into Turbo Tax just like any other stock sale but also entered the K1 info into the section on partnerships.    Is this right because I have losses on the former and gains (extra income landing on Schedule 1 via form 4797) on the latter?     Should I delete the 1099-B info on these?   Or change the basis on the 1099-B section to match that basis provided on the K1?    Looking for guidance.   Thanks.

    2 replies

    M-MTax
    Level 15
    April 19, 2026

    I'm going to ask @Rick19744 to get involved here because he's essentially an expert in partnership taxation but you would use the stepped-up basis to report the sale on your 8949 (and Schedule D).

     

    You also need to report your share of the income (ordinary and otherwise) from the K-1 during the period following the death of the decedent through the date of the sale. Further, the decedent's share (prior to passing) as reflected on the K-1 needs to be reported on the final return, although you might be able to get away with reporting all of it on your return since K-1s are generally considered to be based on the end of the tax year stated on that Schedule. 

     

    It should be noted that, for the most part, any suspended losses (passive losses) do not carry over to you and are simply lost pretty much forever in these scenarios.

     

    I am sorry for your loss.

    Level 4
    April 19, 2026

    would be great hearing from Rick.   There is some minor income on the K1 forms that covers the time between when it got to my brokerage account and when it was sold.   I think I've got that part covered.   I'm just confused on what basis to use both for the 1099-B input as well as the K1 inputs.

     

    Mike9241
    Level 15
    Level 15
    April 19, 2026

    sorry for your loss.

     

    what you probably have is not in accordance with the tax laws because of the daily proration required,

    There was the period your father owned it, then, depending on how the account was registered, it may have been property of his estate until it was probated and then you became the owner or it could have passed directly to you. 

     

    Whether the 1099-B reflects the correct value is unknown. Regardless of whether they went through probate or not the starting point for you is the value on the date of death. Then there is the subsequent activity that may increase or decrease your basis basis. Finally you have to take into account any section 751 adjustment 

    line 20AB on you k-1 

    what you should do is go to the tax package website and look up each PTP.  for each, there should be contact info and a phone number to call 

    https://www.taxpackagesupport.com/ 

     

     

    Not sure the period involved between the date of death and your date of sale. The one thing I can almost guarantee is that the 1099-B does not have the correct basis because it's never informed of the partnership activity, so it does not know what your yax basis was. 

     

     

    Mike9241
    Rick19744
    Level 13
    Level 13
    April 19, 2026

    This may warrant a one on one with a tax professional to help you navigate the "correct" gain or loss:

    • As noted by @M-MTax when you inherited the PTP interest, you receive a step-up in the basis equal to the FMV at the date of death of the original owner.
    • Determining this FMV at the date of death should be fairly straight forward since the PTP's are traded on the market.  This figure becomes your beginning tax basis.
      • Make sure you maintain your documentation for your beginning basis; FMV price of the PTP
      • Taxpayer's have the initial burden of proof 
    • You would then adjust this tax basis by the applicable lines on the final K-1.
    • This figure then becomes your "cost" basis (also your tax basis) when asked for this in TT.
    • Your selling price is obviously what you received when you sold the PTP interest.
    • Your holding period on inherited property would include the time owned by the decedent; so most likely LTCG.
    • The "basis" reported on the K-1 most likely has not been stepped up by the PTP
    • The information included with the K-1 may reflect some ordinary income recapture.  This will result in some recharacterization of your overall gain or loss.  TT will also ask for this information.
      • This recharacterization could change your loss (which you noted using the stepped up basis)
      • As an example, if you determine your loss to be $1,000, but there is $200 of ordinary income recapture, you will report the $200 of ordinary income recapture (should be reflected on form 4797) and then have an overall loss of $1,200; which nets to the $1,000 loss.
    • I would recommend you use the 1099-B and net that to zero; to avoid double reporting of any gain / loss.  See next bullet.
    • Then when reporting the final K-1 information in TT, the software will ask for the information noted above.  This information will then transfer appropriately to the form 8949 and Schedule D and only report the gain / loss once.

    Partnership tax becomes difficult very quickly as noted above.  Depending on the $$ involved, as noted earlier, you may want to meet with a tax professional to make sure you arrive at the correct overall gain / loss.

    *A reminder that posts in a forum such as this do not constitute tax advice.Also keep in mind the date of replies, as tax law changes.
    Level 4
    April 20, 2026

    Rick - I want to thank you for your response.   I just want to take a moment to clarify it.    I have the stepped up basis from the date of death.  For example, let's assume $6,000 for that.   Every one of the K1s has a separate schedule with figures and I'm including an example on each:

    A) Initial Basis $5,000

    B)  Cumulative Adjustment to Basis.  Negative $200

    C) Cost Basis $4800

    Now let's assume the sale proceeds were $5,500.

    I think what you are recommending I do is take my stepped-up basis of $6000 and subtract the k1 basis adjustment (B) and use a basis for $5,800.   Using this would result in a loss of $300 but this would just be entered on the Partnership inputs in Turbo Tax.   For the 1099-B section, I think you're saying to input a basis equal to the sales proceeds with a zero gain/loss.

    I am already entering the k1 schedule value for "gain recapture as ordinary income" (which is also box 20AB on the K1) so I think I'm good there.  I do have a couple of related questions:

    1) In the partnership section, TurboTax asks me to input the capital account information.  This is on the K1 but should the "capital contributed" input be set equal to the adjusted basis above?  If so would I need to adjust the "withdrawals and distributions" and "current year net income" inputs on that same screen?

    2) Turbo Tax asks for purchase dates and sales dates.   Should the purchase date input be adjusted in any way because this is inherited?   I am indicating on another input screen that the owner died and the interest was transferred.

    Thanks!

     

     

    Rick19744
    Level 13
    Level 13
    April 21, 2026

    Follow-up thoughts:

    • I'm not sure what (B) cumulative adjustment to basis represents
    • What I recommended previously, is take your $6,000 beginning stepped up basis, adjust this for the applicable lines on the current year K-1 and this becomes your ending tax basis (also your cost basis).
    • I agree with your understanding of the 1099-B
    • When you enter the K-1 information in TT, and you indicate you "sold" the interest, at some point TT will ask for sales price, cost basis (tax basis) and any ordinary income recapture.  This is where the "sale" information should be reported.
    • Don't worry about the capital account information.  TT doesn't really use this
    • As noted previously, the decedent holding period "tacks" on to you, so you would enter this date; which provides you with LT gain or loss.
    • Selling date should conform to the date on the 1099-B.
    *A reminder that posts in a forum such as this do not constitute tax advice.Also keep in mind the date of replies, as tax law changes.