We donated stock shares to non-profits; however, the non-profit receipts do not match the date that the stock was transferred. Do we use the date that the non-profit reports provided on the receipts, or the date that the stock was actually transferred?

[Opus 17]

For your income tax purposes, you use the date when the stocks left your control--you no longer owned them and could not call back or cancel the transaction, even if the charity records receiving them on a different date.  

For example, if you requested the transfer at 6pm on Monday, after the market was closed, and the broker made the actual transfer 4:30pm (market close) on Tuesday, the date you record depends on the policy of your broker--when did the stocks leave your control so you couldn't cancel even if you wanted to.

[olevjj]

Thanks.  So that means that we use the average price of the stock on that day as well, correct?

[Opus 17]

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@olevjj wrote:

Thanks.  So that means that we use the average price of the stock on that day as well, correct?

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I don't actually know if there is a regulation that specifies opening price, closing price, or average price, when you don't know the exact time that the exchange was made.  

Thinking about it more, it's a bit odd that your broker records a value of (let's say) $1000, and the charity records a value of $1010.  Where did the $10 come from?  The records really should tie together exactly.  Do you have an actual statement from your broker?  If you instructed your broker to make the trade at 10am, and it was actually made at 4pm, and there was a price difference, I would question the idea that the money was "out of your control" at 10am.

So what I'm truing to say is I'm not as sure of my prior answer.

If you think about checks--if I mail a check on December 29, 2023, it's a 2023 expense for me, but it's 2024 income for the business that receives the check.  However, if the business has the check in hand on 12/31, then it is 2023 income even if they don't deposit it until 2024.  And if I don't have money in my account to clear the check until 1/2/24, then it is a 2024 expense for me because I didn't really lose control of the money until I was able to cover the check.

I suppose if I mailed someone a gold coin as a business payment, it would be an expense to me at the market price when I mailed it and income to the recipient at the market price when they received it, even if there was a difference.  That's what I originally thought about the stocks in this case, but it is less clear to me because stock trades basically execute instantaneously.

I'm probably making this too complicated.  I'm sure there are smarter people with better opinions than me. 

[olevjj]

I'm more concerned about the date since that is the primary concern.  The average of the stock price on the day is the value.