Regarding taxes, there is a saying to the effect that “those who keep records win.” If you are an investor, you may have a variety of securities, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. When you sell those securities, you want to minimize your gains or maximize your losses for tax purposes. Gains or losses are measured from your tax basis in the investment (asset), making it important to keep track of the basis in all of your investments.
What is Basis? Generally, your basis in an investment begins with the price that you paid to purchase the investment. However, this will not be the case if the investment was acquired as a gift or through an inheritance For inherited assets, the basis generally begins with the FMV of the asset on the decedent’s date of death or an alternative valuation date, if chosen by the executor of the estate (special rules not covered in this article apply to property inherited from a decedent who died in 2010, if the executor elected the “no estate tax” provision. In such cases, the executor will have advised the beneficiaries of the basis of each inherited asset.)
Assets acquired as gifts actually have a basis for gain (the donor’s basis) and a basis for loss (the fair market value of the asset on the date of the gift). When an asset is acquired through a division of property in a divorce, the asset retains the basis it had when it was owned jointly by the divorcing couple.
Basis is not a fixed value; it can change during the time an asset is owned and is adjusted by certain events. For an investment asset, these events include:
These events can increase or decrease the tax basis of an investment, which makes adequate recordkeeping very important.
Another issue associated with basis arises when only a portion of an investment is sold. For example, in a scenario where 100 shares of a particular stock were purchased in 2008 at $10 a share and another 100 shares in 2010 at $20 a share, and the investor plans on selling 100 shares of the stock at $30 a share, using the general rule of “first in – first out,” there would be a $20 per share gain. However, if the investor can identify each specific block of stock sold, such as the 100-share block purchased in 2010, there would only be a $10 per share profit. This is known as the “specific identification” method.
Beginning with stock purchased in 2011 and mutual funds purchased in 2012, stock brokers are required to keep records of investor purchase prices and report them to the IRS when stocks or funds are sold. If an investor switches brokers, the former broker must pass this information over to the new broker. However, there will still be instances when the basis in the broker’s records may not be accurate. For example, if stock was acquired in a joint account and one of the owners dies, the basis is adjusted as of the date of death. If the broker is unaware of this change, the amount reported to the IRS will be incorrect. Additionally, for purchases made prior to 2011 (or 2012 for funds), the broker is not required to report the basis to the IRS, but many brokers do provide an annual schedule of realized gains and losses as a convenience to their clients. Ultimately, however, the taxpayer is responsible for reporting the correct basis on their tax return when a stock is sold, so even if your broker provides basis information for stocks or funds that you’ve sold, you should verify the information’s accuracy with your own records.
The following is a discussion of commonly encountered basis adjustments where recordkeeping is essential:
Depending upon the investment vehicle, tracking the basis of an investment can be quite complicated. If you have any questions, please contact this office.
Donna Bordeaux, CPA with Calculated Moves
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