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sale of investments and tax question

I have two accounts that I invested in over several years and then let sit. They're Joint Tenency accounts held with my ex, whose decided he wants his cut. I'll be closing the accounts and selling the contents in the next month. There are no problems with that.

One is a DRIP/DSP stock account. The other is an index mutual fund. Neither has had an actual cash infusion for some time (at least 3 years). Both have had their dividends/returns automatically reinvested each quarter/year.

I want to try to plan ahead for tax time and filling out my taxes. I don't have paper statements for either account, but each transaction has been entered into Quicken (presently 2007 Premier). When it comes time to report these sales on my taxes, I know I need to provide the purchase price of each share, as well as the selling price, based on the age (are they long term holdings or short term holdings, etc).

My question is this: Do I provide the cost basis as one number (ie: all the purchase prices on the LT shares added together) and the selling price as another (ie: all the selling prices added together), or do I provide an itemized report of all transactions.

Would this be the year to buy Turbo Tax, so that it can just import the info from Quicken?

Gwen

-- Gwen Morse mailto: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." -- Matt Groening

Reply to
Gwen Morse
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Each purchase will count as a separate sale transaction and the cost basis and date will be entered separately. On the mutual fund, however, you have the choice of using average cost, which the mutual fund company should be able to furnish you if they haven't already.

My advice would be to buy a tax prep program so that you wouldn't have to enter all of the transactions. TurboTax or TaxCut either one can do that.

Gwen Morse wrote:

Reply to
Stevey

TomYoung wrote in news:938c3e54-4568-4d31-8af9- snipped-for-privacy@w7g2000hsa.googlegroups.com:

I believe IRS still allows you to show single line entries, with an acquisition date of "various", but I think also IRS has been encouraging taxpayers to list out each lot separately. I use TTax, which does list each lot, using additional D-1 forms as necessary.

scott s. .

Reply to
scott s.

For the person who asked, no, it's not possible to do anything but sell the shares.

So, what I remembered reading (adding up all the cost basis details and selling prices for LT and ST gains) is correct, but, the IRS prefers single lines for each transaction when they could get them.

Gwen

-- Gwen Morse mailto: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." -- Matt Groening

Reply to
Gwen Morse

Run a Cap Gains Report and export it and import it into Excel.

Add titles, remove things that do not belong for tax purposes(tax free exchanges, sales of fractional on spin-offs, etc.), move things from Short to Long term if required and correct totals if required.

Then print it out and attach to tax return. Totals on correct schedule lines with note to see schedule attached.

There's no need to buy Turbo Tax just for this. What I'd do is print out a capital gains report for each security, label each report "Schedule 1", "Schedule 2", "Schedule 3" etc. and then post summary LT and ST numbers from each report into the tax return in the appropriate places with a note to "See Schedule X". Include the schedules with the tax return. This way of doing it is certainly acceptable.

I wonder if selling out both accounts is really necessary? Could each account be split in two and re-titled as sole property of Spouse 1 and Spouse 2. It's a legal question I can't answer but it would avoid, I'd think, having to pay the taxman.

Tom Young

Reply to
ebloch

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