A friend's Edward Jones financial advisor is using the *Amount Invested* and not the *Cost Basis* to compute the tax loss of selling a mutual fund.

I don't know anything about this stuff, but I'm pretty sure the financial advisor is wrong.

For tax purposes, do you always use the *Cost Basis* or the *Amount Invested* to compute the gain/loss?

***UPDATE***

Here are the definitions of the above terms directly from the Edward Jones website.  It seems cut and dry that the *Cost Basis* should be used and that the Edward Jones financial advisor is wrong.  But I am not educated in these matters, and I would hope they trained him effectively before making him a financial advisor.

> Cost Basis is the amount paid for a security, including:
> 
>     Commissions
>     Fees
>     Reinvested dividends and capital gains distributions (when applicable)
>     Original Issue Discount (OID)
>     Adjustments for sales of the security, principal returns, splits and spinoffs
> 
> Cost Basis is used to calculate the taxable gain or loss incurred when
> a security is sold. Cost basis figures provided by Edward Jones are
> believed to be reliable, but their accuracy and completeness cannot be
> guaranteed. Please consult with a tax advisor before using these
> numbers for tax purposes.
> 
>  
> 
> Amount Invested is the amount paid for a security, including:
> 
>     Commissions
>     Fees
>     Systematic investments
> 
> Amount Invested keeps a running total of what you've invested in a
> security during the time it has been in your account, excluding
> reinvested dividends and capital gains distributions. It's a quick way
> to answer the question, "How much did I put in?" Amount Withdrawn
> shows how much of the investment has been sold, redeemed or
> transferred from your account. You should not use Amount Invested or
> Amount Withdrawn figures to report or prepare taxes.
> 
> The total amount invested/withdrawn may not equal the total amount of
> money deposited or withdrawn from the account. Amount Invested should
> not be used to determine overall account level performance since it
> represents securities that are currently in the account, and does not
> include any previously held securities. For more information on your
> overall account performance, please contact your financial advisor.