Stock sale

[Yneet7491]

15 shares of stock were sold in 2021 but the brokerage company, nor I, cannot provide the date of acquisition of those shares, type of gain or loss (short or long term) or cost or other basis.  This is the last step that needs completion and I can file.  What would be a good solution?

[JohnB5677]

From the IRS's point of view, it is your responsibility to maintain record of stock history.

• If you don't know the basis, the entire proceeds will be taxed.
• If you don't know the shot / long term status it will be taxed as short term.
• This is the worst of both worlds.

Unless you transferred the stock between brokers, I would expect that this is going to be long term.  

Brokers have been required to track basis on stock purchases since 2008.

As far as the basis goes, you must determine an approximate time period.  Then track the stock history online.

Thes site may provide guidance:

Cost Basis Basics

What if I cannot determine the cost basis of a stock I sold

[Yneet7491]

Thank you for your reply.   I did transfer from one brokerage to another (the original brokerage, then two after that-the last one is still my brokerage company) and have talked with them all and since this happened in 1999 and second transfer in 2004, old records have been tossed.  So, without proper paperwork to substantiate the entries (of my guesses), what type of online submission Turbotax form do I need to file these taxes to explain the situation to the IRS?

[GeorgeM777]

There isn't any form that you can file with your return to explain your tax situation regarding the sale of the 15 shares.  Accordingly, you will need to enter a cost basis and a date purchased.  If you can remember the month and year you purchased the stock, then you might consider taking the average price for that period as your cost basis.  If the stock in question paid dividends, you might review your prior tax returns to see when you started reporting those dividends as a way to ascertain when you might have purchased the stock.

In the end, whatever approach you take, it needs to be reasonable under the circumstances.  You may end up having to take the approach mentioned by @JohnB5677 in that the entire proceeds may be subject to tax.