Everything Shad said is correct. As I stated I moved all - including my savings, etc accounts away from TD.
I left the SPNG there for the abandonment issue, and to bother them. But also BECAUSE MY NEW BROKER SAID IT IS WORTHLESS & WOULDN'T ACCEPT OR TRANSFER IT. As required, I took the loss years ago.
The IRS is not a tax advisor unless certain expense and exact procedure are followed. - they even say so themselves - and the information typically received by them - as proven yearly by any number of independent (and even their own) investigations - not only gives totally inaccurate advice, but most commonly one can call them 5 times or so and get totally different advise.
They have specified that accepting their customer service commensts is not even an excuse for wrong reporting. (Heck, even HR Block stands behind what they do). Again below their own published rules.
01 Technical advice is advice furnished by an Associate office in a memorandum that responds to any request, submitted under this revenue procedure, for assistance on any technical or procedural question that develops during any proceeding before the IRS. The field office may request a TAM when the application of the law to the facts involved is unclear. The question must be on the interpretation and proper application of tax laws, tax treaties, regulations, revenue rulings, notices, or other precedents to a specific set of facts that concerns the treatment of an item in a period under examination or appeal. A TAM may not be requested for prospective or hypothetical transactions (except for TAMs in connection with a taxpayer’s request for a determination letter on a matter within the jurisdiction of the Commissioner, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, pursuant to Rev. Proc. 2015–4, 2015–5, 2015–6, 2015–9, or 2015–10). Proceedings before the IRS include: (1) the examination of a taxpayer’s return; (2) the consideration of a taxpayer’s claim for credit or refund; (3) any matter under examination or in Appeals pertaining to tax-exempt bonds, tax credit bonds, or mortgage credit certificates; and (4) any other matter involving a specific taxpayer under the jurisdiction of a Director. Technical advice does not include any oral legal advice or any written legal advice furnished to the field office that is not submitted and processed under this revenue procedure.
The IRS employees are NOT tax pro's. Very much the opposite. They are just government employees working a job they qualify for by seniority etc. Many were working jobs in things like car pool and found they could post to an easier and better paid position. That is the way or government works.
SO TO MODIFY WHAT KEEPS ON BEING SAID - DON'T JUST GET A BETTER _ BUT GET AN ACTUAL TAX ADVISOR. Ones with an LLM designation are generally the best.
Please review Section 165 of the IRS Code for better direction on your predicament. There are also a number of other pronouncements relative to it, as well as Regulations.
And numerous court cases and found in IRS publications: Below from the IRS site and with legal and court citations:
Generally, whether a debt has become worthless within the taxable year is determined by examining all pertinent evidence, including objective circumstances such as the value of the collateral and the financial condition of the debtor. Section 1.166-2(a). Additionally, worthlessness is generally associated with identifiable events demonstrating the worthlessness of the debt and justifying the abandonment of hope of recovery. Cole v. Commissioner, 871 F.2d 64, 67 (7th Cir. 1989).
Property that has become worthless to the taxpayer may give rise to a loss deduction under section 165(a). In general, worthlessness is determined by a combination of subjective and objective indicia including a subjective determination of worthlessness to the taxpayer and objective evidence of a closed and completed transaction. See Echols v. Commissioner, 950 F.2d 209 (5th Cir. 1991); Boehm v. Commissioner, 326 U.S. 287 (1945). For purposes of section 165(a), the act of abandonment is an event that establishes both of these elements. Rev. Rul. 2004-58, 2004-1 C.B. 1043, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). Although an act of abandonment may be “one of several factors in the analysis of whether the taxpayer’s subjective determination of an asset’s worthlessness is sustainable, abandonment is not an indispensable requirement for a worthlessness deduction under Code section 165.” Echols, 950 F.2d at 212. Identifiable events may include “other acts or events which reflect the fact that the property is worthless.” Proesel v. Commissioner, 77 T.C. 992, 1005 (1981).
