Stock sale

[ayotte]

My husband was gifted 12 shares of stock as a bonus while working for Boise Cascade about 40 years ago.  We finally sold it last year so now I have a sale to report.  But I have no way of knowing what it was worth when it was given to us and he hasn't worked there for 45 years.  It was most recently managed by Computershare for ODP.  They took over in August of 2019.  How can I report this or where do I turn to resolve this?  I do have the 1099B.

Louise

[JamesG1 · Accepted solution]

Your cost basis today is probably the basis of the original purchaser, way back when.  Your best bet is to research the historical cost yourself by using a tool returned under a Google search for 'historical stock price lookup tool'.

As old as the stock is, you probably do not have to worry about selling for a loss.  In some cases, the cost basis can be one of two numbers. 

This TurboTax Help states:

Gifts

The basis of securities you receive as a gift depends on whether your ultimate sale of the stock produces a profit or loss. If you sell for a profit, your basis is the same as the basis of the previous owner.

In other words, the basis is transferred along with the property. If you sell for a loss, though, the basis is either the previous owner's basis or the value of the stock at the time of the gift, whichever is lower. In other words, you don't get to write off a loss that occurred while the donor owned the securities.

The sale is reported on IRS form 1099-B.  To enter the form manually In TurboTax Online, follow these steps:

1. Down the left side of the screen, click Federal.
2. Down the left side of the screen, click Wages & Income.
3. Click the down arrow to the right of Investments and Savings.
4. Click to the right of Stocks, Cryptocurrency, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other (1099-B).
5. Click Add investments.
6. On the Let's import your tax info screen, select Enter a different way.
7. On the OK, let's start with one investment type screen, select Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, then Continue.
8. At the screen Which bank or brokerage, enter the information.  Click Continue.
9. Do these sales include any employee stock, enter No.
10. Do you have more than three sales, enter No.
11. Do these sales include any other types of investments, enter No.
12. Did you buy every investment listed, enter No.  Continue.
13. On the screen Now, choose how to enter your sales, select One by One.  Select Continue.
14. At the screen Look for your sales on your 1099-B, select Continue.
15. At the screen Now, enter the sale, enter the information.
16. Select The cost basis is incorrect or missing on my 1099-B.
17. At the screen We noticed there's an issue with your cost basis, select I know my cost basis and need to make and adjustment and enter the Actual cost basis.

[ConR]

HOW do you enter it on the downloaded software version?   It used to be so simple, NOT sure why it would have been changed!

[ThomasM125]

You enter investment sales in the Wages and Income section of TurboTax, then Investments Sales, then Stocks, cryptocurrency, Mutual Funds, Bonds, etc... Skip the section where it asks if you want to upload your tax documents. Choose Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds as the type of investment you want to enter. You'll come to a screen where you can enter in your sales proceeds and cost basis.