Spinoff basis split calculator: the two new cost bases
After a spinoff you hold two stocks and one old cost. Enter the prices and see how the old basis is shared.
How it works: a spinoff hands you shares of a new company. You paid nothing extra, so your old cost basis is shared between the two stocks. This tool splits it by value. It finds what the parent shares are worth and what the child shares are worth. Each gets its part of your old basis. The parent part is rounded once, to the cent. The child gets the rest, so the two always add back to your old total. Use the ratio and the basis split from your company's own notice if it gives one.
Your basis is not the new price
The child shares did not cost the first-trade price. Their basis is a slice of what you already paid. If the whole position is worth less than you paid, both slices are above their market value. See cost basis for the term.
Why it helps to know it now
A later sale of either stock needs its own basis. Work it out while the notice is in hand. The basics of what you are holding are in spin-off shares explained, and a second calculation is in the spin-off cost basis calculator. If you bought the child early, read I bought the when-issued spinoff.
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