Legal Question in Tax Law in Illinois

Stock Transactions

Hello there,

I opened an E-Trade account in 2004 and closed in 2009.

Etrade provided me a spreadsheet for the list of all BUY and SELL transaction starting from 01/01/2008 till 12/31/2008.

So for filing my 2008 Taxes, I wanted to figure out how much my gain/loss is in 2008 so-I summed up all BUY transactions and summed up all SELL transactions.

When subtracted (sum of all SELL transactions) from (sum of all BUY transactions), it shows gain of $24000, which is not correct because I have made big loss in 2008 because of market fall.

I understand that there might be some transactions, which I would have bought before 01/01/2008 and I would have sold them after 01/01/2008. And because of this it shows gain of $24000 in 2008

So now my question is: I need to take individual SELL transaction made in 2008 and map it to corresponding BUY transaction, which can be before or after 01/01/2008.

So for this, do I need to go thru all transactions throughout the life time of my account?

1099-B also doesn�t help much on this.

Is there an easy way to map these SELL transactions? I am looking for hiring some Tax expert on this.

Sincere thanks in advance


Asked on 4/23/09, 4:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cyndi Perez Trostin

Re: Stock Transactions

You need to match each stock purchase (from 2004 through 2008) with each stock sale in 2008 and then report each one on your Schedule D for 2008.

For instance, if you purchased 100 shares of Microsoft in 2004 for $50/share, and then you sold 100 shares of it in 2008 for $25/share, you would have a loss of $2,500 in 2008.

Going one step further, if you purchased 100 shares each year: 100 in 2004 for $50, 100 in 2005 for $60

100 in 2006 for $30, and 100 in 2007 for $40, your total BASIS for the stock would be $18,000.

Then if you sold the 400 shares in 2008 for $25/share, your loss would be $8,000 ($18,000 - $10,000).

Hope this hypothetical helps. Let me know if you require further assistance.

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Answered on 4/25/09, 12:06 pm


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