LO3 During the current year, James sells some land he purchased in 2005 as an Communication Skills investment. He had paid $4,000 in cash and borrowed $22,000 to buy the land.

He had paid legal fees of $440 and commissions of $560 on the purchase. He sells the land on October 1 to DeWayne, who gives James 200 shares of Aardvark common stock with a fair market value of $9,600 (DeWayne had paid $3,700 for the stock) and assumes James’s debt on the land, which is $20,800 at the time of sale. James pays legal fees of $400 and $1,800 of commissions on the sale. DeWayne pays legal fees of $575 and commissions of $980 related to the purchase. In addition, DeWayne agrees to pay the property taxes of $800 on the land for the entire year.

Assume you are a staff accountant in a CPA firm. Write a memorandum to your supervisor explaining James’s gain or loss on the land sale, James’s basis in the common stock received, DeWayne’s gain or loss on the transaction, and DeWayne’s basis in the land.