Solved

Help with capital gains MetLife distribution Brighthouse shares 8/4/17. Do I use date of deceased parent as date acquired or inherited? Okay to enter zero cost basis?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 3, 2019
3 replies
0 views

I need the cost basis on 32 shares of MetLife stock. Distribution rate 1 for 11. Brighthouse Financial, Fractional Share 0.909091 Cash in Lieu Rate 58.707848 Gross amount 53.37 are the actual numbers. Computershare does not provide cost basis. If I enter zero as cost basis do I just pay taxes on the $53.37. Seems much easier than driving myself nuts over calculations.

Also really need to know about the date acquired as I inherited the stock when my mother passed away.

Thank you in advance for your response.

TurboTax Deluxe Online

Best answer by TomYoung

"I need the cost basis on 32 shares of MetLife stock"

Look up the closing price of MetLife on your mother's date of death and multiply that by the 32 shares. That's your basis in the 32 shares of MetLife.

Then multiply the total MetLife basis by 10.3635%. That's the basis allocated to the 2.909091 shares of Brighthouse you received. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwismpCb8PnYAhXqq1QKHYx1DI4...)

Then multiply that total basis of Brighthouse by (.909091/2.909091) - .3125 - and that's the basis in the fractional shares you sold

Using the "Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other" interview enter the sales date, the description of what was sold, the $53.37 as the proceeds, and whatever the above math dictates as the basis. In the date acquired field enter "inherited." That will make the gain or loss "long term", which it is according to tax law.

Tom Young

T

TomYoungAnswer

Employee

"I need the cost basis on 32 shares of MetLife stock"

Look up the closing price of MetLife on your mother's date of death and multiply that by the 32 shares. That's your basis in the 32 shares of MetLife.

Then multiply the total MetLife basis by 10.3635%. That's the basis allocated to the 2.909091 shares of Brighthouse you received. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwismpCb8PnYAhXqq1QKHYx1DI4...)

Then multiply that total basis of Brighthouse by (.909091/2.909091) - .3125 - and that's the basis in the fractional shares you sold

Using the "Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other" interview enter the sales date, the description of what was sold, the $53.37 as the proceeds, and whatever the above math dictates as the basis. In the date acquired field enter "inherited." That will make the gain or loss "long term", which it is according to tax law.

Tom Young

G

g_beckmanAuthor

Thank you for your response. If I provide you with the actual numbers can you help me with the calculation? This is way over my head. Another contributor suggested I don't have any capital gains as this only applies if stock was sold as opposed to acquired as was the case the payment received for Brighthouse stock. I'm really confused as to how to enter this information in Turbotax and am not so sure that even upgrading to Turboxtax Premier would help.
Thanks in advance for your response and help.

W

wilsonwickiser

For MetLife and Brighthouse Financial 1099-B tax info, I received the following information from Computershare for filling out the tax forms on Turbo Tax:

The date acquired is listed on the 1099-B as Distribution Date.

The Cost Basis is 0.

The type of transaction is Short-Tern Non-Covered.

This helped me. I hope it helps someone else.

B

bennythetaxman69

This treatment is incorrect per various people I've communicated with...did you contact Computershare directly?

DanielV01

Employee

This doesn't apply to you. Cost basis and date of acquisition will only come into play when you sell the stock. A capital gains distribution is an amount that you have received on the value of the stock, but the stock is still an asset that has not lost it's basis. So actually you are correct in reporting all of the $53.37 as a capital gain, which will receive a more favorable tax treatment on your return since it is a long-term gain (more than one year held).

But you do want to know the acquisition date and the cost basis for when you do sell the stock. You certainly will not want to report zero as the stock's basis because that would make the entire amount taxable. Your cost basis was the value of the stock when you inherited it. However, your acquisition date is when your mother purchased it.

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

A

assist2025

Is the cost basis that you are referring to in this answer, Brighthouse company? If so, how would someone determine cost basis of Brighthouse off the information from a 1099-B when the cost basis was not reported? I see that Box E on Turbo tax and I do not know what to put in there. I am seeing answers posted on here just to put 0 in the Cost Basis?