In the past ten days I have received three unexpected settlement payment checks for things I hadn't received any earlier notices about.
The first was a check for FOUR CENTS attributed to some sort of Ebay infraction. I wonder how much money the lawers made for getting my compensation and mailing me that check? No worries here, I'm not cashing that check, it went into my "S&G" file.
The second was for a Bank of America "Fair Fund" settlement and as far as I can tell it related to some B of A investment I must have held 10 to 12 years ago.
The third was from a brokerage firm I was using a few years ago, before the broker I'd been with retired and I moved the account to another firm. The note accompanying it said it was compensation for commission fees I was charged which were in excess of FINRA allowed amounts.
I'm thinking the second and third checks could be reported as capital gains with a zero basis and a sales price equal to the check amounts, since they compensated me for lower gapital gains (or increased capital losses) reported for the years when I sold the investments.
Am I close to the mark, and if not, how should I report that income.
Thanks guys,
Jeff