security cost on lots is right, but total cost is wrong

STEVEN WEINBERG · January 2018

Gain/Loss is wrong, but lot cost are right

Jim_Harman · January 2018

That's odd. Looking at your transactions, have there been any Adds, Removes, splits, or Placeholders?

Tom Young · January 2018

Or, maybe, any RtrnCap transactions?

I'd say the first thing to try is a validation of the file with investment lots rebuilt.

If that doesn't work then I'd suggest deleting the 3 entries and re-entering them.

Sometimes you've got to shake the machine to get the candy bar to drop.

q_lurker · January 2018

I'd bet you have a prior history of investments in Abbott Labs. I'd run the As of date for that portfolio view back in time to see when the summed cost basis went astray, then delete and re-enter the problem transaction.

It may be that the file validation with the rebuild lots might fix the underlying issue. No promises on that one.

STEVEN WEINBERG · January 2018

tried validation of file. Seems this happened when Abbott "Spun off" Abvibe as a non taxable transaction. Somewhere, this "loss" occurred. Any clue how to correct.

STEVEN WEINBERG · January 2018

Validate did not help fix this.

q_lurker · January 2018

You might see and review this discussion on that spinoff https://getsatisfaction.com/quickenco...

STEVEN WEINBERG · January 2018

Did, and that may be where the problem started. Now for some more facts.

Sold all my Abbott 9/3/2014
Sold all my Abbvie 3/11/2015
Bought Abbott again 6/17/2017 and have bought more going forward.

I would have thought that selling all would have cleared out any screw ups i had in the return of capital, and thus buying the Abbvie. Shouldn't Abbott have cleared out all monies and started fresh when i started buying again?

What am i missing, how do I fix.

thanks.

Jim_Harman · January 2018

Abbvie was a spin-off from Abbott at the end of 2012. 1 share of Abbvie for each share of Abbott you held then. I would look at that transaction to make sure it was entered correctly

q_lurker · January 2018

Should? Yes, all other things being equal and right to start with. But if the "right" sequences and data got altered, all bets are off. And there could be some other effects over the last 5 years (since the spinoff).

At this point, I would check using the As Of dates on the portfolio view that the cost basis was properly handled through the spinoff (2012). Then I would look at the subsequent sales of Abbot, and the reported cap gains (cap gains reports) for those sales. Then see what happened with the cost basis for Abbott after the sale - Security Details for Abbott.

If the post sale cost basis is not 0, then delete and re-enter the sale. I would hope that would fix the underlying data.

STEVEN WEINBERG · January 2018

When I sold both company's stock, the # of shares matched down to the fractions because of div reinvestment. I have even looked at the possibility of hidden transactions or placeholders, and there are none. When I did not own either stock, the "loss" associated with Abbott did not show up in the portfolio. Looking at downloads of each security, there seems to be nothing strange in the transactions.

You can ask another question, where was it hiding when there was no Abbott stock?

q_lurker · January 2018

Portfolio view
Choose (or customize) a view with Cost Basis
Options -- Show Closed lots.
Set As of date between 9/4/14 and 6/17/17 (when you had 0 shares of Abbott.
What does the Cost Basis show for Abbott?

If something is amiss (and clearly something is) you can have no shares but still have a positive or negative cost basis in the data file. That is what I am seeking to confirm.

STEVEN WEINBERG · January 2018

Did "Show Closed Lots" and when the stock qty went to zero, there is a cost of $907.87 which is the error amount. Went to show placeholders in the register and there are no placeholders for Abbott.

Went to my other account that has no Abbott, but did, and it shows a cost of $392.99. Again, not place holders.

BTW, AbbVie, the spinoff has zero cost after the spinoff and sale of all it's stock.

Now where do I go to find the error, or how do I correct?

q_lurker · January 2018

How did you process the 2012 spinoff of Abbvie (see link to other discussion above)?

Did you end up with the correct cost basis values for Abbott and Abbvie after that set of transactions?

If those cost basis values are correct after 2012, I would try deleting and re-entering the Sales of Abbott and Abbvie.

STEVEN WEINBERG · January 2018

I did a Corporate spin off; ie, Abbott spoon off Abbvie. I put the numbers in that I thought were correct: Cost of old shares was the Avg cost of Abbott/share, and the Cost of new shares of Abbvie I thought I left blank. Not sure. Going deeper into the Cost basis, seems the cost for Abbvie is about 56% to low in Q, and about the same amount to high for Abbott.

Since I sold the AbbVie and paid Cap Gains tax based on Q, which was to much based on the correct cost basis (Via Schwab calculations), I now have two options, and maybe more. One, figure out how to get the cost of Abbott to the right number, or inflate the Abbott number by the amount of overpayment because of the bad cost data of AbbVie.

My preference is to get what I hold right in the Cost and let the Tax Man have the few extra $$$.

I would like to clean up the error once in for all, but reentering all the transaction, which there many since I do Div reinvestment would only compound the problem as I don't think the IRS will no the difference since I overpaid.

What is your thoughts?

Thanks for all the help and hope we can solve this.

q_lurker · January 2018

Damn! All of those points were about as less desirable as possible. Be that as it may ...

After the spinoff, about 52% of your pre-spinoff ABT basis should have transferred to ABBV with 48% staying with ABT. From the tax side, my observation from a distance would be that the net effect may be neutral in the big picture. You may have had more basis in one transaction and less in the other, and they were in two different years, but the net cap gains between the two transactions should have been very close.

Getting it to the right point now --
I recently had a security with several RtrnCap transactions applied historically as cash distributions. When I sold that security, I was left with a negative cost basis of $2.98. What I did to remedy the circumstance was to enter a RtrnCapX transaction dated day of the sale but entered before the sale. The amount of the RtrnCapX was -2.98, the market Value for the transaction was -2.98, a memo explained I was correcting for prior errors, and the Transfer Account was the same account I was using for the transaction. My case was simpler (smaller) than yours, but I think the same process may work. (FWIW: I am using QW2017)

I think if you enter those transactions (for ABT and ABBV) anytime before your sales in 2014 and 2015, your data should be made right for now (2018). You might want to monitor what impact they have on the prior sales and cap gains you reported on those sales. I am not claiming in any fashion that the new cap gain numbers would be more accurate than what you have already used.

Hope that might fix you up going forward.

STEVEN WEINBERG · January 2018

Thanks for all the help. You got me on the right track. Turns out, needed to make the RtnCapX on a date right after the last that zeroed out the share Qty. Did it in the years that I have already paid taxes on.

BTW, saw this link that confused the hell out of me.
https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/corporate-spinoff-recommendations
Hope that I do not have to go through this again, but there will probably be another spin-off in my future. Seems that is becoming more common.

Again thanks for all your help and hope that Q figures on how to handle spin-offs so they are simpler to enter with the right data so as to get the right outcome.

q_lurker · January 2018

You should not have to. QW2017 has upgraded the spinoff process to a more reliable method as has been long suggested.

security cost on lots is right, but total cost is wrong

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