I did not say you were an idiot @dkh just thought that your answer was an indication of inexperience. The Irs says this about capital assets: "Almost everything you own and use for personal or investment purposes is a capital asset. Examples include a home, personal-use items like household furnishings, and stocks or bonds held as investments. When you sell a capital asset, the difference between the adjusted basis in the asset and the amount you realized from the sale is a capital gain or a capital loss. Generally, an asset's basis is its cost to the owner" As you can see Intent is not a factor in determining basis. The original poster's client should not have to pay more taxes than he should, because his/her preparer can't determine his basis. In timber sales basis is sometimes difficult to determine, and that is why there are a lot of professionals in that field that will find your basis for you. The main point is the client bought the land, and his basis is not zero. I apologize if my answer offended you, as it was only meant to help