Oh, Phil -- We did rely on our records, in this case the records of my father-in-law, once I'd researched the whole thing. It was clear to me that the 1099 was wrong.

Just that I'd never encountered (or missed it if I did) an erroneous 1099 before. And in this case it was so obviously wrong because of the stark disagreement with their own December activity statement. But I'd not experienced wash-sales before, so had to do some digging to make sure that we were right.

We also included a letter to the IRS explaining the disparity, hoping that it too will reduce the chance of an inquiry.

Frankly one of the major frustrations was that his Wells Fargo "financial advisor" absolutely refused--or was truly incapable himself of understanding it--to make a definitive statement as to which was correct. He hid behind the "we can't give tax advice" line, when I clearly wasn't asking advice, but rather confirmation of veracity of information--an entirely different category of question. "Is this accurate, or is that?" That's not seeking advice.