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Q. Who should use the IAS Website?
A. Investors, accountants, tax preparers, and financial advisors - Anyone who, for themselves or on behalf of clients, needs to determine the cost basis of an investment in a security, calculate investment income, or research corporate actions, historical securities prices, or the effect of mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs on an investment.
Q. How does the IAS Website help users in determining the cost basis of a security?
A. The IAS Calculator™ - By entering a few basic details about the investment, such as ticker symbol, purchase and sell date, the IAS Calculator can do all the work of researching and applying corporate actions that impact cost basis, and deliver a bottom line cost per share and total cost, along with gain/loss and dividends paid during the holding period.
Research - The IAS website allows users to research all corporate events that may have impacted cost basis (sometimes referred to as capital changes), along with historical securities prices going back to the 1960s.
The IAS Reverse Calculator™ - Available only from IAS, the Reverse Calculator helps to derive the cost basis of a security when you (or your client) have insufficient records regarding the investment. (See Reverse Calculator Question below)
Q. What is the IAS Reverse Calculator™?
A. Utilizing the proprietary IAS Family Tree™ technology, the Reverse Calculator can help the user find the original security and price if all that is known is the security that is sold, and an approximate date of original purchase. It then completes the calculation of cost basis.
Q. Does the IAS Calculator account for Dividend Reinvestment?
A. Yes. Factoring reinvested dividends into a cost basis calculation is very important (though very time consuming if done manually) as it can add to the basis and therefore lessen the reported gain and the capital gains taxes. The IAS Calculator does this in seconds over any holding period for which IAS has dividend and pricing information (over 40 years).
Q. I purchased stock at different prices over time. Do I have to do each trade in its own separate calculation?
A. No. One of the major advantages of the IAS Calculator that saves both time and money is the ability to enter an almost unlimited number of 'buys' into the Calculator, and get back an accurate cost basis on the entire investment. IAS has customized the calculator to automatically adjust for the IRS 'wash sale' rule, ensuring that your reported gains or losses will be accurate and in compliance with tax laws.
Q. What other types of Research can be done using the IAS Website?
A. Historical securities prices back to the 1960s (stocks, bonds, mutual funds), complete histories of corporate Cost Basis Events (Capital Changes), dividend payments over any time period, and relationships between securities that have been acquired, merged or spun-off.
Q. Where does the information on the IAS Website come from?
A. IAS is proud to exclusively offer access to Interactive Data Corporation's extensive database.
Q. How often is the information on the IAS Website updated?
A. Daily, at the end of each business day.
Q. What types of Cost Basis Events (Capital Changes) does IAS provide information on?
A. Conversions, Distributions, Exchanges, Information, Mergers, Merger Elections, Name Changes, Recapitalizations, Reverse Stock Splits, Spin-offs, Stock Dividends, and Stock Splits.
Q. What securities are covered by the IAS Website?
A. Common and Preferred Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Notes and other investment instruments.
Q. Does IAS provide information on Non - U.S. securities?
A. Yes. IAS provides users with U.S. Tax Information (along with the relevant Cost Basis allocation factors and market values) for all North American Equities (U.S and Canadian Exchanges). In addition, it provides complete American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and Foreign Securities to the extent they are reported to the investing public.
Q. How can users of the IAS Website have confidence in the calculations and information found here?
A. (1) The information utilized by the IAS Calculators and available throughout the IAS Website is supplied by Interactive Data Corporation.
(2) IAS has more experience in cost basis calculator technology than any other company. In fact, IAS's cost basis calculator is USPTO patent-pending.
(3) Results from cost basis calculations utilizing IAS software have been used by thousands of CPAs and tax preparers on behalf of their clients.
Q. Is using the IAS Website a good value?
A. Determining the cost basis of a security position can be very time consuming. First there is the research to uncover any cost basis events the impacted the position, and then the often grueling 'paper and pencil' work. The process can take anywhere from an hour to literally days to accomplish By contrast, using the IAS website can accomplish the same task in seconds. What is your time worth?
Additionally, using the IAS Website can save tax dollars by making sure that any Events that increase the cost basis of the investment position are included, such as dividend reinvestments. The difficulty of accomplishing this through a manual process leads many to estimate conservatively, with the end result that more taxes are paid than are actually due.
Q. How far back do the records go on the IAS site?
A. (1) For Cost Basis Events, generally back to the inception of each security. If a company has changed its security over time, due to splits, name changes, etc., the IAS Family Tree technology assists in finding and including predecessor securities. Some security records found on the IAS Website go back to the 1890s.
(2) For Dividend and mutual fund payment information - 1971
(3) For daily securities pricing information - 1968
Q. What makes the IAS Calculator different from other Cost Basis Calculators?
A. The answer is …. many things, but what those things all have in common is they are all designed to work together provide an accurate cost basis. Examples of what makes the IAS Calculator different include:
- Superior calculator software that ensures an accurate cost basis.
- Exclusive use of an extensive database of securities information.
- The ability to handle complex calculations and elective events.
- The ability to handle multiple trades (different tax lots) in the same calculation.
- The ability to adjust for the IRS "Wash Sale" rule.
- The ability to select different accounting methods (FIFO, LIFO or Average Cost)
- The availability of historical securities prices, integrated with the Calculator
- The unique IAS Family Tree™ technology, integrated with the Calculator
- The option to do Research at a lower cost, or use the time efficient Calculator.
- The IAS Reverse Calculator
- IRS-Compliant rules built in to the Calculator.
- The ability to generate a Schedule D or spreadsheet right from the Results page.
- Full documentation of each Calculation provided in Results
- Full dividend payment history provided in Results.
Q. What can I do with the information I get from the IAS Website?
A. IAS has built many efficiency features into the IAS Website. Results of Calculations and Research lookups can be printed, saved, emailed to clients, or sent to spreadsheet with the click of a mouse. Additionally, an IRS Form 1040 Schedule D can be automatically generated from Calculator results.
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