Question
I own stock that became worthless last year. Is this a bad debt? How do I report my loss?
Answer
If you own securities, including stocks, and they become totally worthless, you have a capital loss but not a deduction for bad debt. Worthless securities also include securities that you abandon. To abandon a security, you must permanently surrender and relinquish all rights in the security and receive no consideration in exchange for it.
- Treat worthless securities as though they were capital assets sold or exchanged on the last day of the tax year.
- You must determine the holding period to determine if the capital loss is short term (one year or less) or long term (more than one year).
- Report losses due to worthless securities on Schedule D of Form 1040 and fill out Part I or Part II of Form 8949.
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