Basis Reporting by Securities Brokers and Basis Determination for Debt Instruments and Options

SIFMA provides comments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on proposed rulemaking for basis reporting by securities brokers and basis determination for debt instruments and options. The proposed regulations being developed to reflect the changes in the law made by the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 that require brokers to include the customer’s adjusted basis when reporting the sale of securities to the IRS. SIFMA’s comments focus primarily on the proposed rules pertaining to reporting of the adjusted basis and long term or short term character for certain options. SIFMA is continuing to evaluate the proposed regulations relating to the adjusted basis and short term or long term character of debt instruments.