Transfers between Investment Accounts

Question

After making transfers of stock between investment firms, the cost of one security was increased by $5400. Say what!!  I  did a backup before making the transfers so I again made the same transfers and it showed the same 5400 increase in cost. I did a validate and repair previous and nothing appeared. What to do to get correct cost.???

q_lurker · Answer

The RtrnCap would alter the cost basis.  I am not sure why you are getting that on the 1099 or what it is supposed to represent.  I don't have any foreign bond funds.

Were these positive or negative values on the RtrnCap transactions?

Any normal (positive) return of capital gets treated in Quicken as returning to you part of your cost basis of that holding.  I would be expecting that in current editions, the RtrnCap amount would be distributed uniformly across all lots in a per-share allocation.  In older Quicken versions, the RtrnCap amount might have been taken only from the oldest (first in) lot.  There could have been times where it was distributed to all lots in proportion to the basis of that lot.

A negative RtrnCap would add to your cost basis.

You check could be -- over the 12+ years, have you recorded about $5400 of RtrnCap transactions on that foreign bond fund?  Positive or negative?

Now while all that might be true, if you look in a portfolio view at the cost basis for the fund in the original account the day before the transfer and compare it to the cost basis for the fund in the new account after the transfer, those two values should agree.  The aggregate prior RtrnCap transaction adjustment to cost basis should have been already reflected - if you were looking in the right place for the right information.

Any of this help?

Ritzy · Answer

This security is a foreign bond fund and has been owned since 2009. In comparing transactions from the transferred from to the transferred to account, the only ones that jive are transactions for 2021. I believe the problem lies in that I do record RtnCap(non-dividend) as shown on the 1099. Only one sale has been made and I used first in first out option.  All dividends are reinvested, The number of transferred shares is correct. The number of re-invested shares remains correct but each individual dividend reinvested has been reduced on the transferred in account.  So why is there an increase in cost? Hope this makes sense.

q_lurker · Answer

Can you offer more info about that one security?  Was it a money market fund?  Had you designated it to use Average Cost for capital gains on sales?  Had you bought and sold it multiple times in the old account?  How many lots were transferred (how many Add Shares transactions in the new account)?