Consumer Price Index (CPI) as a variable in calculating gain or loss

[flowney442]

I am in the process of downsizing and therefore selling off a lot of stuff I bought decades ago when a dollar was worth much more than today. There are inflation calculators online that allow me to figure out how much something I bought for $100 in 1960 would cost today ($939.01). Thus, if I sell it today for $900 that's a loss, right? 

So when I get a 1099-K from eBay citing that $900 sale, how do I use TurboTax DeLuxe to report it as a loss?

[Mike9241]

NO. if you paid $100 for it 60 years ago and sold it today for $1000 you would have a $900 profit

[DianeW777]

No.  Purchase price and any sales expenses are what is allowed to use for the cost basis to determine gain or loss.  In your example there is a gain of $800.00 ($900 - $100). On the other hand, anything sold at a loss would be a wash because you cannot deduct a personal loss.  For those items you would use cost basis and selling price as the same number or do not report them at all.  

• Keep all of your records pertaining to the sales with your tax return.

These are considered investment sales for tax purposes and reported on Schedule D.  TurboTax Desktop will handle this, however if you use TurboTax Online you will need to upgrade to TurboTax Premier.

You can use the following link for instructions on how to enter into your tax return.

• How to enter investment sales

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

Interestingly, I have learned from this forum that the country of India does allow inflation adjustments when calculating taxable capital gains.  Unfortunately, the US allows no such adjustments.  Your cost basis is what you actually paid in US dollars at the time, regardless of inflation or currency devaluation since.