12/31 Valuations for Self-Directed Accounts

[Mark S.]

When is it appropriate to report the 12/31 value for self-directed retirement accounts? Obviously with traditional types of retirement accounts there’s an actual market value at close of market on 12/31. What about self-directed accounts? I asked my self-directed custodian and got two different answers. One person said they like to have the 12/31 value by then, but they’ll usually give you until January 10th to provide it. Another rep at that custodian said it can be provided at any point in the year (prior to 12/31). Are there any hard rules on the timing of this? Is it even possible to provide the 12/31 value before 12/31? I’m guessing if yes, the logic is that many self-directed investments don’t fluctuate much like investments in the stock market do daily. The folks I invested with said most investors simply use the purchase price as the 12/31 value each year when they report to the custodian. In this case, I bought cacao parcels and paid 5% transfer taxes. Do I include the 5% transfer taxes in the 12/31 value? Probably a question for my CPA, but curious as to how folks on here are handling things like this.