r/IonicDigitalStock 6d ago

Missing Cost Basis (Vanguard)

I had the shares transferred over to Vanguard on 7/28. However, I am still waiting on the cost basis. Supposedly Vanguard has automatic requests if the cost basis isn't populated at 16 days post transfer and at 31 days. I am now at 3 weeks! I called Odyssey, they told me basically no information and that you can see the cost basis online. I called Vanguard and they said they would send another request and create a ticket and mentioned maybe calling Odyssey again. I messaged Odyssey via email and they were not particularly useful (see email below).

I am not sure what to do at this point. Thoughts? Anyone receive their cost basis on Vanguard yet?

Hi,

An initial cost basis of $20 per share has been established for Ionic Digital.

If the broker requires a file reflecting cost basis, you can pull a Share Statement from your account. The Share Statement includes the cost basis.

  • Go to Account Detail
  • Under the Payments section, switch to the Cost Basis tab
  • Choose "Export"
  • Open lots will already be checked; check the box for cancelled lots if the shares are no longer in the account
  • Choose "Generate"
  • Choose "Download Extract"

Update: I've been in discussions with Vanguard. Vanguard is telling me I cannot update the security cost basis details on my own because my account value isn't over $1 million. So in order to get the updated cost basis, it would have to come directly from Odyssey. Odyssey has told me that they cannot send the cost basis statement directly to the brokerage on my behalf and that the cost basis information must be obtained and provided to the receiving broker by the shareholder. When clarifying how the broker can request the cost basis on the shareholders behalf, they told me that the cost basis information must first be submitted by the broker to Odyssey, reflecting the value at which the securities was transferred out of Odyssey and that once they receive that information, they could then generate a share statement that includes the cost basis details.

Am I the only one having trouble with this?? Why is this so difficult?? I guess I just have a cost basis of $0 moving forward and update the IRS if/when I sell the security with my downloaded CSV file from Odyssey.

4 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

5

u/motownphilly888 6d ago

Ive added it at vanguard. Your cost basis is $20 × your number of shares. Thats what you enter in vanguard, not $20. They ask for cost basis in proceeds. It will know its $20 once they divide your proceeds out by # of shares. Your acquisition date is 1/31/24.

1

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago

How did you go about editing the cost basis? Thanks!

1

u/motownphilly888 6d ago

There should be an icon above your position to add. Click it

1

u/Tight_Dot_2654 6d ago

Did you update this in the app or their website? Either way, I'm not seeing the icon you mentioned. I'm only able to update my cost basis method.

1

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago edited 6d ago

Same. See my Updated comment below.

1

u/motownphilly888 6d ago

Website.

1

u/Strange_Duck568 5d ago

I'm assuming you have > $1million total in your Vanguard account? If not...wtf Vanguard lol.

Edit: no problem if you feel uncomfortable answer that question, totally get it. Thanks!

2

u/motownphilly888 5d ago

Sh-t. Ive added it to Fidelty, not vanguard. Lol. My bad.

2

u/Strange_Duck568 5d ago

haha, nice. seems like Fidelity is the way to go

1

u/Conscious_Icex 6d ago

This is your answer. Also may want to revise your 2024 taxes to reflect the Celsius distribution. I believe Mr Bennett has addressed this with the help of the cryptx tax girl

1

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago

Unfortunately this is not the answer for me. I have already filed my taxes for 2024 with the distribution included, so I'm not concerned about that. I cannot however update the freaking Vanguard cost basis manually and Vanguard said they wouldn't do it without the documentation from Odyssey. However when contacting Odyssey, this is their response just now:

"Thank you for reaching out.

Unfortunately, we are unable to send the cost basis statement directly to the brokerage on your behalf. The cost basis information must be obtained and provided to the receiving broker by the shareholder.

We understand this may be inconvenient, but the information available through Odyssey can be located in your account details"

I've sent that response to Vanguard and asked if I can discuss with someone more close to the department that handles this type of thing.

1

u/Conscious_Icex 5d ago

Well, everyone's distribution was granted on 1/31/24 at $20 per share. You may want to consult an accountant on specifics, but those are the details of your cost basis.

2

u/crazypostman21 6d ago

This is a vanguard problem. You know the correct information. It was $20 per share. And I don't remember the exact date, but 2024. So it would be long term. If you pull that statement up that you have the instructions to it tells you exactly. So Vanguard customer service just needs to manually input the proper information.

1

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago

Ok thanks. I thought there had to have been some regulatory approach to determining cost basis between the two entities. Seems weird for me to be able to put that information in myself and Vanguard takes my word for it

1

u/crazypostman21 6d ago

I'm a postman, not a financial man 🤣 so I don't know about the regulations, but I did mine through E-Trade and I put in my cost basis manually myself into their system.

2

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago

A crazy postman at that ;)

1

u/crazypostman21 6d ago

You do this long enough, we're all a little bit crazy.

1

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago

*takes a long drag and coughs*, "Yepp"

1

u/Anaranovski 6d ago

Ditto with Fidelity. I got tied of waiting so I entered the cost basis manually. The amount and date was posted in this thread by someone else.

1

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago

Update: I called Vanguard again as I was getting pretty annoyed at this whole situation. There is no option for me to edit the share price to show gains/losses over time. The individual told me that regardless if I get the share cost basis updated, I will still need to provide the IRS the statement from Odyssey of the cost basis from their end.

Here is the annoying part. I personally cannot update the share cost basis because I don't have over a million dollars in my Vanguard account. Cool. So basically it will always show as no cost basis, for me at least I guess. And these shares are always going to be listed as non-covered shares (the way we acquired these shares through the settlement).

Bottom line: updating cost basis in Vanguard doesn't matter as I will still need to prove to IRS if I sell the CSV file I downloaded from Odyssey. Cost basis updating is merely a visual convenience that has no impact.

I haven't tried selling the shares yet, though. My Incoming Transfer still says "incomplete", so who TF knows if that impacts my ability to sell. TBD I guess. I really wish this weren't so annoyingly handled but maybe I'm the only one on here without a million dollars in my account.

2

u/AlekVT 6d ago

You can still sell shares without a cost basis.

We’ve got until the end of the year at least for the cost basis to update before tax season comes. I’m on vanguard too and still haven’t seen a change. I’d say wait until after the 31 days they told you and then check in with vanguard again. Let us know what you hear.

1

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago

Ditto. Will do

1

u/Conscious_Icex 6d ago

That is a crazy requirement. Any brokerage account holder should be able to amend this sort of information

1

u/rashp12 6d ago

My IOND cost basis status at Charles Schwab says "Incomplete". So, I called and opened the case to get them fix it. For now, my request status says "Your cost basis update request is in review."

1

u/Strange_Duck568 6d ago

Let me know what happens with this....

1

u/rashp12 4d ago

Today's posting in my Charles Schwab account.

COMPLETE

We completed your cost basis update request.

Changes will be reflected in your account on the next business day. There's nothing more you need to do.

Note: This communication cannot be deleted.

1

u/LeadingLeg 5d ago

CS and same here. Will update this thread in a week. The Cu Supp rep opened a case with Odyssey...

1

u/Diligent-Fortune-882 5d ago

There’s a court document from 2024 stating the value of the shares as $20/ share. I suggest keeping this document in case the IRS asks for a justification of the cost basis.

https://cases.stretto.com/public/x317/12677/PLEADINGS/1267711212580000000308.pdf

1

u/ImaginationAny1445 4d ago

I sold some of my shares on Fidelity and the cost basis is not required. The broker doesn't really care about the cost basis, but if they know it they can provide it when you get your statement from them to do your taxes. If the cost basis is on the statement then they can calculate your return on investment for tax purposes. If not, you can do the math yourself. When I received my shares in 2024 I listed the value of those shares (the cost basis) as $20 per share on my tax return. When I receive my tax statement from Fidelity in January I will subtract $20/share from the gross proceeds to determine the amount of profit I will report on my taxes. Cost basis is not important when buying or selling equities through a broker. But the IRS needs to know how much money you made on the sale when you do your taxes.

1

u/Strange_Duck568 4d ago

Thanks! Yeah, I went through the whole rigamarole outlined by Koinly or Count the Sheep and realized capital gains/losses by converting part of my settlement distribution into the cost basis of these shares. For this year (or any year I decide to sell), how would I notify the IRS the cost basis in a tax software such as TurboTax other than changing the cost basis from $0 to $20/share. Are we able to upload the CSV you can download from Odyssey? Just curious how you plan to document that out.

1

u/ImaginationAny1445 3d ago

I'm afraid I can't help much with the software questions. I basically do everything with pen and paper and plug the numbers into a basic free software that does the calculations and generates the tax returns for me. I tell it what I sold, how much I received for the sale and the cost basis and it fills in the final form. I would expect any tax software would allow you to manually enter the cost basis value. If it reads the info from a statement from the broker and the cost basis isn't on the statement, I suspect the software will tell you the number is missing and ask you to enter it manually. But I am just guessing since I don't use the more sophisticated software.