1099 B question

[afntrn56]

I got a 1099B for 1 share of a stock that was sold through broker/barter exchange by the broker.. This stock was actually picked up by me through a merger deal with another stock I owned. I have more shares of it but it seems one share was sold for whatever reason.

I know I need to report on a Schedule D somehow and I guess it is described as a broker exchange transaction. Is the cost basis for this 0 dollars?? I have no idea how to start with this and really don't even have a year for when I obtained it as it was a very old brokerage account that is long gone.

Also this is the only Schedule D listing I will have this year. Is there an amount where you don't need to attach the Schedule D?

Thanks for the help!

[kaneohe]

I think you're supposed to do Sch D on this. If you had only CG distributions from funds, you could get away w/o Sch D but this , I believe, is different. IRS will be comparing the 1099B numbers w/ your Sch D and if you don't report it there, they may wonder why. If you don't have the cost basis records, the official way to do it is, as you suggest to use a basis of 0. How much could you owe on 1 share unless it is BRK-A.
.........and if you're in the 15% bracket, LTCG are taxed at 0% rate anyway so it may be simpler just to use 0 and enjoy the rest of your life.

You should have gotten a brochure describing the merger. Look in the taxation section for more details on what you need to do. Post any questions on the fairmark.com tax forum in the CG subforum. If you
do, the name of the stock might also be useful.

I've usually seen where the fractional part of the converted shares gets turned into cash (but not a whole share......is the rest in round lots of 100, 200,etc.
shares?) For the description, I would put the #shares, stock name or symbol, and perhaps CIL (for cash-in-lieu). Take your best guess at an acquisition date (> 1 yr ago , right?). You'll have to use one of the worksheets.....perhaps QDIV?CG ........to calculate the tax .

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sd.pdf