2012 Legislation Changes
Shareholders are no longer required to petition the IRS to switch cost basis methods starting in 2012, however to move into or out of average cost, the shareholder must do so in writing. The IRS considers in writing to be letters from the shareholder to their financial institution, changing methods online, or filling out a method election/change form from their financial institution. The IRS does not currently consider verbal permission on a recorded line as being "in writing."
Transfer agents and broker/dealers are now required by law to report the gains or losses of any sales of covered shares to the IRS. Institutions transferring covered shares to another institution must transfer the basis for those shares within 15 days of transfer. Because FIFO and Spec ID require a complete lot history, institutions must transfer and track full lot history and cannot transfer a "rolled up" total cost when transferring the cost basis to another institution. Several financial institutions will be participating in a Cost Basis Reporting System or CBRS to ease the transfer of cost basis between institutions but are not required by the IRS to do so.
Read more about this topic: Cost Basis
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