How to report a covered call option I sold short that eventually expired worthless?

[blueboars]

Hi all,

First time using TurboTax and I am trying to figure out how to properly report some covered call options i sold that eventually expired worthless.

I imported my 1099 from Schwab but notifications that "more information is needed".  When I clicked on the "edit" button i saw that they got the correct net proceeds (even took out the commission/fees to get the proper number) but there are few odd things.

1) The "Date Acquired" automatically listed the date i "sold to open" the call option.  

2) The "Date of Sale" Automatically filled in the date the option expired

3) There is no Cost Basis.

It worries me because #2 isn't technically correct. I "sold" this option on the date i acquired the contract and the contract simply expired so it was never bought back.

My two questions are What is the correct date to use for "Date of Sale"  and "Date Acquired" when you sell a covered call that expires worthless and What should I list as my cost basis? SHould it just be "0" or left blank?  Is there some other way to correctly represent a short sale?

Thanks

[Eile]

I just put in a cost basis of 0.

[tagteam · Accepted solution]

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@Eile wrote:

I just put in a cost basis of 0.

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That would be the correct treatment. The dates need to be the opening date for "acquired" and the expiration date for "sold" or there will be issues with TurboTax. The important thing is to make sure the transaction is classified as short-term.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p550#en_US_2017_publink100010630