ETRADE 1099-B Acquired Date (box 1b) not showing correct date for gifted stock. What date should be used for Form 8949's Acquired Date (box 1b)?

[js1_]

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FORM 1099-B 2019 From ETRADE:

Covered Long−Term Gains or Losses on Gross Proceeds
Report on Form 8949, Part II with Box D checked
Box 6: Gross Proceeds
Box 5: Box Not Checked (Covered Security)
Box 12: Basis Reported to the IRS
Box 2: Type of Gain or Loss − Long−Term

The 1099−B data referenced by a Box Number is reported to the IRS.

VANGUARD S&P 500 ETF:
Quantity Sold: 20.0
Date Acquired (Box 1b): 10/18/2018
Date Sold or Disposed (Box 1c): 12/30/2019
Proceeds (Box 1d): $5,901.07
Cost or Other Basis (Box1e): $5,901.07
Gain/Loss Amount: $0.00

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FORM 8949 Page 2:

Part II - Long-Term. Transactions involving capital assets you held more than 1 year are generally long-term

Checked/selected: (D) Long-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-B showing basis was reported to the IRS

(a) Description of property : 20 shares of VANGUARD S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
(b) Date acquired (Mo., day, yr.) : ? (See question)
(c) Date sold or disposed of (Mo., day, yr.) : 12/30/2019
(d) Proceeds (sales price) : $5,901.07
(e) Cost or other basis : $5,901.07

Adjustment, if any, to gain or loss. If you enter an amount in column (g), enter a code in column (f). See the separate instructions.
(f) Code(s) from instructions: B
(g) Amount of adjustment: $776.47

(h) Gain or (loss). Subtract (e) from (d) and combine the result with column (g): $776.47

___________________________________________________________________________________

Some background...

My elderly father has several serious health conditions, so we are doing some Medi-Cal long term care planning. Part of this involved him gifting me 20 shares of $VOO (VANGUARD S&P 500 ETF).

-He bought these 20 shares on 10/18/2018 for a cost basis of $5,124.60.

-He called E-Trade on 11/26/2019 to request the transfer, and the transfer completed the next day, 11/27/2019, to my E-Trade account (we both have our own E-Trade brokerage accounts). We're assuming 11/27/19 is the "Date of Delivery" for this gift. He will be reporting this gift on his taxes.

-On 12/30/2019, I sold all 20 shares, then immediately rebought 20 shares (same day) to harvest some gains for 2019. $5,901.07 in proceeds, for a $776.47 long term capital gain.

There are some mistakes for this sale's listing on my E-Trade 1099-B, as can be seen in the excerpt included at the top of this post.

-Proceeds (Box 1d) for the sale are correct, showing $5,901.07.

-Cost Basis (Box 1e) is wrong. It shows $5,901.07 (same amount as proceeds from sale), but should show $5,124.60 (father's cost basis).

-It correctly has the $VOO sale listed in the long term capital gains section.

-It incorrectly shows $0 gains because of the wrong Box 1e cost basis. Gains should be $5,901.07 - $5,124.60 = $776.47.

-On Form 8949, I'm using "CODE B" to adjust all of this, so I think this will take care of the wrong cost basis/gains.

The problem:

The E-Trade 1099-B $VOO's Date Acquired (Box 1b) doesn't show date it was gifted - it shows 10/18/2018 (date purchased by father). I'm not sure how to handle this on Form 8949.

My understanding is for Form 8949 "Date Acquired (b)", I am supposed to use the date the stock was gifted (11/27/2019) , not the date my father purchased the stock (10/18/2018). The problem is if I use the gift date on the 8949, it will conflict with the information E-Trade gave the IRS on the 1099-B.

https://www.moneycrashers.com/tax-form-8949-instructions/
"Date Acquired. This is the date that you purchased or were given the property. "

Also, if I use the 11/27/2019 gift date, my sale of $VOO might look like a short term capital gain, because I sold it one month after the gift date. Form 8949 doesn't have any place to convey to the IRS that the acquired date (b) represents a gift date, not a purchase date. My concern is this might raise a red flag with the IRS.

As a side note, I am filing all of this with a 1040-X, so it all has to be by mail.

Question : For Form 8949, what date should be used for $VOO's "Date Acquired (b)"?

-Should I be consistent with the 1099-B, use "10/18/2018", and make a note right below it that I was gifted this stock on 11/27/2019?

-Or, should I use 11/27/2019 for "Date Acquired (b)", make a note that this is the date it was gifted, and that the 1099-B date is wrong/is the date my father purchased the stock?

-Is there any supporting documentation I would have to mail in with the 8949 (I'm assuming I don't have to mail in my E-Trade 1099-B, as they already have this electronically)?

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

date acquired  - change it to the 2018 date.    items acquired by gift are treated as being acquired on the date the donor acquired them.  so the gain should be long-term.   use the adjutment line on the 8949 to correct the cost.  code B. 

there is nothing for your father to report on his income tax return.   since the gift amount is below the $15,000 per donee per year filing threshhold your father doesn't have to file a gift tax return.  

[quantemleep]

The following response is "plagiarized" From intuit:

The cost basis of stock you received as a gift ("gifted stock") is determined by the giver's original cost basis and the fair market value (FMV) of the stock at the time you received the gift.

• If the FMV when you received the gift was more the original cost basis, use the original cost basis when you sell. This is the most commonly-encountered situation.
• If the FMV when you received the gift was less than the original basis, and you later sold the stock for:
  • More than the original basis, use the original basis.
  • More than the original basis but less than the FMV at the time of the gift, your selling price becomes the cost basis. You won't report a gain or loss in this situation.
  • Less than the FMV at the time of the gift, use the FMV at the time of the gift.

When you enter the sale of gifted stock, make sure you select the appropriate situation when we ask if you bought the stock. We'll calculate the proper gain or loss on your taxes.

[js1_]

@Anonymous 

Appreciate the response.

My father will be reporting this stock gift, because in 2019 he also transferred more than $15k from a savings account to me for the purposes of Medi-Cal planning.

Does this change anything, that the IRS will have a record of his gift of the 20 shares of $VOO, and the date they were gifted?

In your opinion, should I still use the date he purchased the shares (10/18/2018) on Form 8949 for "Date Acquired", and not the date they were gifted (11/27/2019)?

If so, how would you interpret the two links below? I'm hoping you're correct, because if I have to use the 11/27/2019 date, I'm concerned it would make the stock sale look like a STCG, when it's a LTCG, and also that it wouldn't match the "Acquired Date" on the 1099-B reported to the IRS.

https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8949
"Enter in this column the date you acquired the property. Enter the trade date for stocks and bonds you purchased on an exchange or over-the-counter market."
"If you received a Form 1099-B (or substitute statement), box 1b may help you determine when you acquired the property."

https://www.moneycrashers.com/tax-form-8949-instructions/
"Date Acquired. This is the date that you purchased or were given the property."

Regarding the IRS link, I "acquired" the property on 11/27/19 by gift, and Moneycrashers is saying to use the date the property was given.

I understand the cost basis is the donor's, and that determination of STCG vs LTCG is done by the donor's purchase date. But the two links above about the 8949, in particular Moneycrasher's (the IRS quote could possibly be interpreted as not addressing gifts), seem to suggest using the gift date for column (b).

Perhaps the gift date should only be used if the donor's purchase date isn't known?

Thanks for any clarity you can provide.