Jake’s Uncle Zeke gave Jake and his new bride 100 shares of the stock of Southwest Airlines (LUV) when they got married. Uncle Zeke had paid $16.60 for the stock several years earlier, but it was selling for only $12.10 on the day of the wedding. Jake and his bride are unimpressed with the stock’s performance a few months later and decide to sell it for $11.00, its market price at that point. What are the tax consequences of the sale for the newly wedded couple?
Explanation
Answer: A - If Jake and his bride sell the stock of LUV for $11.00 when it was selling for $12.10 on the day that they received it, they will have a long-term capital loss of $110 to offset other income. In this situation, the relevant cost basis is the value of LUV on the day of the wedding. Therefore, the loss is calculated as ($11 - $12.10) x 100 = -$110. The holding period is based on the holding period of the donor, so the loss is considered to be a long-term capital loss. In a gift situation, there are two cost bases. In the case of an asset that has depreciated in value, as in this instance, if the recipient sells the gifted property for less than its market value on the day he received it, the cost basis is considered to be the market price on the day the gift was received. If, on the other hand, the property has appreciated in value and the gift recipient sells the gifted property for more than the cost basis of the donor, then his gain is based on the cost basis of the donor, not the price at which the property was selling on the day the gift was received. If the selling price is somewhere between the two values, there is neither a taxable gain nor a taxable loss for the gift recipient to declare.
