Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
1. Foreign taxes paid - this is in box 6 of the 1099-DIV. No calculation necessary.
Now if you do need to fill out an 1116 form, then you will likely need to do a simple multiplication to determine the amount of foreign income for the fund. All the funds get lumped together on the 1116 as "RIC" (registered investment company, i.e. mutual fund). There's usually no need to do a county-by-country breakdown.
2. Capital gains/losses. Any shares acquired (including via reinvestment) in 2012 (or later) are called "covered" shares. The fund company reports their costs (when you sell them) to the IRS.
This may or may not be an average cost, depending on how you answered the fund's request for you to specify cost basis method at the end of last year. For instance, some families will let you say that you want to sell highest cost first. Or you might ask the fund to sell shares to keep your gain/loss as close to zero as possible. Whatever. The point is that whatever you told the fund company to do is how you must report the sale of covered shares. You don't just use average basis for these shares.
Reply to @Ted: My question was actually for the messenger ... about posting it here at all if it's of questionable value. Do you not look at the articles you post, or not care whether they're useful? Just curious; it seems like most people post links that they think have relevance and value.
Comments
1. Foreign taxes paid - this is in box 6 of the 1099-DIV. No calculation necessary.
Now if you do need to fill out an 1116 form, then you will likely need to do a simple multiplication to determine the amount of foreign income for the fund. All the funds get lumped together on the 1116 as "RIC" (registered investment company, i.e. mutual fund). There's usually no need to do a county-by-country breakdown.
2. Capital gains/losses. Any shares acquired (including via reinvestment) in 2012 (or later) are called "covered" shares. The fund company reports their costs (when you sell them) to the IRS.
This may or may not be an average cost, depending on how you answered the fund's request for you to specify cost basis method at the end of last year. For instance, some families will let you say that you want to sell highest cost first. Or you might ask the fund to sell shares to keep your gain/loss as close to zero as possible. Whatever. The point is that whatever you told the fund company to do is how you must report the sale of covered shares. You don't just use average basis for these shares.