topic Write-off worthless securities in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Write-off worthless securities

Carrie23 — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:45:45 GMT

How is the write-off of worthless securities being treated/reported?

Re: Write-off worthless securities

Loretta P — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:38:10 GMT

You can deduct worthless stock only in the tax year it becomes completely worthless. This normally happens when the corporation files for bankruptcy, stops doing business, and has no assets. Financial difficulties won't make a company's stock worthless unless there is no hope that the company will pull through.

Enter a worthless stock like any stock sale but with a sales price of zero and the word "worthless" in its description. Enter the correct cost or basis, date acquired, and December 31 as the date sold.

To enter worthless stock as investment sales:

Open (continue) your return in TurboTax.
In the search box, search for investment sales then click the "Jump to" link in the search results.
Answer Yes to the question Did you sell any investments?
- If you land on the Here's the investment sales we have so far screen, click Add More Sales.
Answer No to the 1099-B question.
On the next screen, select the type of sale you had (stock, second home, collectible, land etc.) and click Continue.
Continue following the onscreen instructions to enter the sale.

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Re: Write-off worthless securities

JimDenver1 — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 04:42:57 GMT

I have American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) for the underlying Russian stocks. These ADRs are not trading in US for a year while the underlying stock trades in Russia ok. US financial institutions (Citi, BONY, etc) that sponsored there ADRs exited depositary agreements in mid ' 22 and, effectively, abandoned underlying securities. Thus, there is no link between these phantom ADRs and underlying Russian shares. Can I consider these ADRs worthless for tax purposes and write them off for '22? Brokerage statement shows some of them with N/A in the value column.