: What should I use as the cost basis for stock that was purchased before becoming a US resident? I held some stock in Australia for 14 years and 4 months that has enjoyed some healthy long term capital gains in that time.

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Sorry, you're not going to like the answer. You owe capital gains tax on the original cost basis. You had an opportunity 10 days earlier to avoid this situation, but it looks like you missed that window.

The article Tax planning for the non-resident alien immigrating to the United States is about resident aliens, taxes, and immigration planning:

Key quote:

Pre Immigration tax planning generally cannot be accomplished after
the Residency Starting Date.

To have avoided this situation, you should have sold the shares prior to becoming a tax resident. You could have immediately repurchased the shares, too, to establish a new cost basis for U.S. tax purposes.

Another legal article titled Pre-Immigration Tax Planning has an example applicable to your situation:

For example, Mr. X purchased a property many years ago and paid
0,000 for it. On the date he plans to become a U.S. tax resident,
the property is worth ,000,000. If Mr. X does not step up the cost
basis of the property before relocating to the U.S. and sell the
property thereafter, his gain on the sale will be 0,000. This gain
will be subject to the highest U.S. income tax rate (almost 40%).
However, with proper planning, Mr. X could have paid [CO] in U.S. income
taxes on the gain realized from the sale of the property.