People invest with the hope of earning a return over time. But what happens when you choose to sell? Cost basis is key to understanding your tax obligations and the true profit of your investments.

Chad Langager is a co-founder of Second Summit Ventures. He started as an intern at Investopedia.com, eventually leaving for the startup scene. Katrina Ávila Munichiello is an experienced editor, ...

Ron Marino remembers what it used to be like when a new broker joined UBS and had to transfer clients' cost-basis information manually. “Because this was a time-consuming process, with each broker ...

The cost basis of an investment or asset is the amount of the initial investment, or the original purchase price. It's an important number in tax planning for individual investors, business owners, ...

WASHINGTON — Be careful what you wish for with regard to cost basis reporting, as it might cause a headache of colossal proportions. The president’s fiscal 2008 budget proposal, presented to Congress ...

Broker-dealers, mutual fund companies and fund custodians are updating systems to comply with the cost basis reporting requirements included in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

If you own mutual funds, you probably know that when you dispose of fund shares you incur a taxable gain or loss. The amount of the gain or loss is measured by the difference between your cost basis ...