What should I do if the cost basis is reported as “N/A” or $0 for a given transaction?

There are two primary reasons why a given transaction may have “N/A” or $0 reported for “Cost or Other Basis” or “Date Acquired” on your Consolidated Form 1099:

• Account transfers of noncovered securities. If you previously transferred securities from another broker, that broker may not have provided cost basis information to Wealthfront, especially if those securities were “noncovered.” Wealthfront makes every effort to gather this information from your former broker if it is missing when we receive your securities, but our requests are not always answered. In this case, you should refer to the original brokerage statement detailing the purchase of that security or contact your former broker to determine the Date Acquired and Cost Basis (what you paid for the security) and enter it manually into your tax preparation software or onto your Form 8949.
• Corporate actions. If a stock you held was part of a corporate action such as a merger, acquisition, or divestiture during the year, the resulting security may have missing cost basis. We’ll do our best to provide you with the basis in such a situation.

If you need assistance with missing cost basis, please contact Client Services.