How can I bypass this? I have options trades with $0 cost basis (I sold options & they expired worthless). Do I have to enter the cost basis for each transaction?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
March 24, 2024
2 replies
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I sold put options which expired worthless ($0 cost basis). Turbotax wants me to enter the $0 cost basis for each of these transactions. There are over 200 transactions. Is there a way to avoid this?

TurboTax Online

fanfare

Employee

Just keep going. You should find that the warnings are just that -- warnings.

tony_marinucci-yAuthor

Unfortunately, it wasn't just a warning. We ended up manually entering the cost basis for each of about 230 transactions. We also raised the issue with Morgan Stanley, who recently acquired E*Trade and that's where the problem began.

bountiful_01

Super painful. Been years like this for ML, now also Morgan Stanley after Etrade transition, why Turbo tax does not optimize this?

fanfare

Employee

As an active investor, be aware that your category Box A or Box D sales without adjustments do not require Form 8949, so there is no reason to import or key in those transactions.
Instead use the "enter a summary" option to put your numbers on Schedule D Line 1a or Line 8a.

An expired short option won't have any adjustment, since it gives you a gain, not a loss.

@bountiful_01