PS (stock loss) Worthless Securities and Your Taxes:
Normally, you must actually incur a capital loss before you can deduct it. In other words, you must actually sell your stock for less than what you paid for it. However, if your stock becomes worthless – because the corporation that issued it dissolved, for example, the IRS still allows you to claim a loss.
Your capital loss typically equals the stock's adjusted basis minus its sale price. The adjusted basis normally equals the price you paid for the stock plus any other amounts you had to pay to purchase the stock, such as broker's fees. If you cannot sell your stock because it is worthless, the IRS allows you assign a sale price of zero and use this figure to calculate your capital loss. If you sold your stock for pennies, on the other hand, you should use the actual sale price to calculate your loss. To the IRS worthless stock is that which is actually worth $0, not close to $0.
A little more info:
You report capital losses on Form 8949, Form 1040 and Schedule D. Prepare documentation that proves the stock is worthless and establishes the approximate date on which it became worthless. You don't have to submit this documentation with your tax return, but you will need it if the IRS audits you.
