1099-B has "Date acquired" and "Cost basis" both "N/A". I supplied date

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
March 27, 2022
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Everything seemed fine until Turbotax did the final review of my federal forms. It prompted me to supply the date acquired from form 1099-B, and wouldn't accept "Blank". The only way I could proceed was to enter the acquisition date, but after doing that, Turbotax seemed to assume a cost basis of $0, resulting in much higher tax bill.
I tried going through the 1099-B questionnaire and removing the acquisition date, but that didn't fix it. Should I try to remove the 1099-B and K-1 entirely and start over? Or should I provide the true cost basis in the 1099-B info (even though the 1099-B shows "N/A")?

TurboTax Premier Online

Best answer by JohnB5677

You developed your own personal workaround. Well done!

The "noncovered" designation is correct. Provided they were all Short Term that section is perfect.
You correctly stated "I need to correct the cost basis" as opposed to just changing the original entry. This will be noted to the IRS, but it won't be a trigger indicating incorrect information. Please keep a copy of how you gathered the adjusted cost basis in the event the IRS questions it.
Finally, the selection of "Various" is acceptable because you've already designated the transactions as Short Term.

Shane54Author

Update: I found a solution ... though I can't say if it's the "right" one.
I modified the 1099-B sale information by 1) changing the term to "Short term - basis not reported (noncovered)" ... which matches boxes 5 and 12 on this section of the 1099-B, and 2) in the next screen, checked the "I need to correct the cost basis" checkbox. This fixed the $0 cost basis assumption.

Next, the federal review again stopped and forced me to supply something other than "Blank" for the acquisition date of this security in the 1099-B info ... so I changed it to the only other option: "Various (or more than one date)" ... even though that is not accurate for my 1099-B. This got me passed the federal review without the bad $0 basis.

JohnB5677Answer

You developed your own personal workaround. Well done!

The "noncovered" designation is correct. Provided they were all Short Term that section is perfect.
You correctly stated "I need to correct the cost basis" as opposed to just changing the original entry. This will be noted to the IRS, but it won't be a trigger indicating incorrect information. Please keep a copy of how you gathered the adjusted cost basis in the event the IRS questions it.
Finally, the selection of "Various" is acceptable because you've already designated the transactions as Short Term.

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