Your broker's cost basis is wrong. Track your real IRS-adjusted basis year over year.
When you own MLP or PTP units, your broker reports the original purchase price as your cost basis on the 1099-B. But your adjusted basis changes every year based on your K-1 data — distributions reduce it, allocated income increases it, and liability changes shift it further. After a few years, the gap between your broker's number and your IRS-adjusted basis can be thousands of dollars.
This tracker implements the IRS Partner's Basis Worksheet to calculate your real adjusted basis from your K-1 data. Enter 4 numbers from your K-1 each year, and the calculator does the rest — including liability allocation, loss limitations under §704(d), excess distribution detection under §731, and suspended passive loss tracking under §469(k).
Pre-configured for popular MLPs including Energy Transfer (ET), MPLX, Enterprise Products (EPD), Plains All American (PAA), and Western Midstream (WES). Also supports any custom PTP or partnership with manual entry.
Private partnership K-1? This free tracker is for publicly traded partnerships. For private LPs — syndications, funds, private programs — see basis reconstruction; if you already sold, start with Sold Your LP Interest at a Loss.
Built by Lucas Andersen — MS Finance; 20 years in asset management and institutional energy trading; builds partnership-taxation tools and basis-reconstruction workpapers. Your positions and K-1 figures are saved in this browser’s local storage, unencrypted, until you use Clear All Data. If you upload a K-1 PDF, the page images are sent to our server and then to a third-party AI provider that reads the figures off the form; if you type your numbers in by hand, nothing is uploaded. If you sign in, your positions are encrypted in your browser before backup, with a key derived from your password; we cannot read the encrypted figures, but we can see your account email and the ticker of each position. Privacy.
I've been an MLP investor for several years and watched as my capital accounts eroded until one position showed a negative ending capital account. At that point I thought I would have to report a long term capital gain on the negative amount. After doing some more research I discovered Lucas' Basis Tracking site. He has tons of relevant information on MLPs and K-1's, but most importantly he has developed his K-1 Basis Tracker. Using his Tracker, I quickly learned how to incorporate nonrecourse liabilities into my adjusted basis, which showed that I did not need to report any long term capital gains, saving me a lot of money in the process. So if you like the steady income produced by investing in MLP's, but are unclear how all these K-1 tax issues are dealt with, I would highly recommend you subscribe to Lucas' site. The small annual premium is well worth the peace of mind of knowing your true cost basis. Highly Recommended.
Bill is a beta tester and received an extended subscription.
I was trying to understand what the numbers on a final K1 sales report meant and how much my tax bill would be. I luckily came across K1 Basis Tracker online that pushed me in the right direction. An issue came up and I contacted Lucas Andersen by email and he quickly resolved the issue and I was able to pay him to do a personal evaluation of my K1s to give me a more accurate estimate of my tax liability. Money was well spent and reasonable. If your K1s don't make sense, Lucas Andersen has the answers to your questions.