Is it possible to enter noncovered securities with undetermined holding period into Turbo Tax?

[Anita01]

The holding period must be entered in order to calculate the tax owed.  Why is it undetermined?

[scdunes]

That is the way it was stated on my year-end statement from Morgan Stanley

[Anita01]

Morgan Stanley just doesn't know when you originally bought it.  You have to fill that in yourself.

[Anita01 · Accepted solution]

Any investment sales showing as noncovered in your 1099-b require that you enter the missing information yourself, whether it's the purchase price or purchase date.

[phroggue]

I HAVE THE SAME QUESTION. HOW CAN I DETERMINE THE ORIGINAL DATE IF MORGAN STANLEY DOESN'T HAVE IT? I TRIED TO GUESS AND SAY "LONG" BUT TURBOTAX KEEPS ASKING. AND THE TOTAL OF THE 12 ENTRIES IS LESS THAN $20. CAN'T I SKIP THIS SOMEHOW? 

[goodbeats]

I have the exact same issue when attempting to enter these 10-12 entries that add up to less than $10, yet Turbotax won't let me proceed without a purchase date. My MS advisor referred me to the Customer Service number on the first page of my 1099 consolidated statement. He either didn't know how to help, or he didn't want to cross the line into providing tax advice. This is frustrating.

[goodbeats]

@TURBOTAX -- please advise on how to handle these noncovered securities with undetermined holding period, as the software won't let us proceed! This is the final roadblock to finishing my taxes.

[DianeW777]

You must go to each investment sale and enter the necessary date or select 'various' (just type the letter v) then select the Sale category.  The following steps are for TurboTax CD/Download.  If you use TurboTax Online select the checkbox beside 'Something other than a date'.

1. Long term if the investment has been owned by you for more than one year, or (use date of 'v' and Sale category of Long term noncovered)
2. Short term if the investment has been owned by you for less than one year (use date of 'v' and Sale category of Short term noncovered)

Note:  Brokers are required to show 'noncovered' if they do not have the information about the cost basis or holding period. This happens usually for one of two reasons.  

1. The fund or stock was transferred to them from another broker and they don't have the history; or
2. It was held with them for longer than the IRS began to require this information from the broker. (The owner of the investment was always required to have this information in the past.

Go to the investment sales in question and make the necessary entries for holding period and acquired.

• Search (upper right) for 1099b > Click the Jump to... Link > Edit next to the sale in question > make your changes

@goodbeats

[engineer33]

Thank you for your detailed replay.  I know many of us have the same issue with Morgan Stanley.  In your explanation below, I did not see how were are to deal with the cost basis when neither us or Morgan Stanley has that information.  TurboTax will not let you leave it blank.

[KatrinaLO]

You may need to contact customer service directly for assistance. Please see the following information here for more details.

@engineer33 

[dgeistt]

I have shares in a gold trust. Each month the trust manager sells a small portion of bullion to cover management expenses. These are reported on my 1099B as "noncovered securities with undetermined holding period". Turbo tax wants me to input a acquired date, cost basis and type of gain or loss, none of which I have. How do I handle this situation??

[HopeS]

These are security purchases made prior to the effective dates listed (e.g., January 1, 2011 for equities). If a noncovered transaction is reported on 1099-B, the sale is classified as short-term (Box B) or long-term (Box E) on Form 8949.

The only distinction between covered and non-covered transactions is whether the brokerage firm is required to provide the taxpayer with the basis and gain or loss information.   Sales of noncovered securities are entered the same way that covered securities are entered.   But you will need to determine the missing information from your own records.    If you know when you purchased the security, you can look up the historical cost basis at:

https://www.marketwatch.com

@dgeistt 

[erich2k8]

And what if I have absolutely no idea? I assume I'm in the same boat as dgeistt... It's less than a dollar a month for a platinum exchange.

My IRS transcript has 12 individual 1099-B entries, all showing $0.00 (despite people claiming that cents round to nearest, every item in the transcript rounds down, e.g. $9.99 to $9.00).

The grand total is less than $10 for the year. Is there a "whatever would be worst for me" option? 

[AmyC]

Because of the rounding and the small amount, I would not worry about it. It can't have much of an impact on your tax liability.

The absolute worst case scenario would be for the IRS to say you owe taxes and penalties but due to computer rounding and variances allowed, I don't see that happening.

@erich2k8