As I have often said in
the past, and as I am sure you will agree, one of the biggest PITA’s, and time
wasters, during the tax filing season is trying to determine the cost basis of
stock sold by a client – especially stock that has split often since its
original purchase, or was acquired via spin-off or merger. The most a client will provide is the cost of
the initial purchase of the investment (i.e. 100 shares purchased for $1000),
though often I do not even get this basic information.
I recently came across
the website CostBasis.com, a free tool to help relieve some of the PITA-ness of
this process. According to the site’s
publicity -
“Confused about
the cost basis of your investment securities or how to account
for those stock spin--offs, mergers, splits, split-offs, rights, or class action claim checks?
We explain in plain English the steps you need to take to calculate your cost basis. We give you ideas about what questions to ask and where to find the information you need.”
I have so far used it to look up two
stocks that had been acquired via merger, and found it very helpful in these
two situations.
If you use it let me know how it
worked for you.
Cost basis information, calculators,
worksheets can also often be found in the Shareholder Services sections of
company websites.
TAFN
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