stocks received in a stash party, do you claim that as a gift even though stash's website says it is not a gift?

[KrisD15]

According to their website:

"Stash Invest accounts are taxable brokerage accounts. You are required by the IRS to report income earned from capital gains and other applicable distributions. This means you will need to pay taxes on money you make through capital gains, dividends, and income interest.

To put it another way: If one of the funds in your portfolio increases in value, and you sell that investment at a higher value than you bought it at, you’ve made some money—that’s considered income. You’ll need to pay taxes on that income as well as income from dividends and interest earned from debt investments.

Each year, Stash will send your tax documents to your Stash account so that you can file your taxes appropriately. If you have tax documents available, we’ll send you an email. You should have tax documents from Stash if:

You received dividend payments greater than $10 from your Stash Invest accounts in 2024. 
You received more than $10 in interest on your Stash Invest account. 
You sold an investment in your Stash Invest account in 2024." 

The Stash website says you can "earn" stock.

They make no mention of any tax documents being issued for when you receive the stock, but do indicate that you have "bought" the investment. 

If the capital gain is determined from a purchased price (your basis) in the year the stock is sold, you would need to report the "purchased price" as income for the year you receive ownership of the stock.

If Stash does not send you a tax document for "earning" the stock, you should enter that as "other income" on your tax return for the year you have ownership of that stock. 
 

Wages & Income

Less Common Income

Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C    START

Other reportable income    START

Type "Stash Stock Bonus" or something similar for the description

Enter the value of the stock when you have ownership as the amount 

This will be listed on Schedule 1 line 8z

When you sell this stock, Stash should send you a tax form to report the gain or loss on the sale. 

The loss or gain should be based on the amount you reported as other income.

So if your stock is worth 10 when you get it and you sell for 30, the gain should show as 20.