What Is Form 1099-B: IRS Reporting Guide for Investors

Updated for tax year 2025.

Did you sell any stocks or other investments during the tax year? If so, prepare to receive Form 1099-B. Here’s what you need to know about this important tax document.

At a glance:

Brokerages send Form 1099-B to taxpayers who sold investments like stocks or bonds. The IRS also gets a copy of this form.
1099-B details your capital gains and losses from each transaction, which are reported on Schedule D when you file your taxes.

What is IRS Form 1099-B?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires brokerages and other financial institutions to send out Form 1099-B, Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions, during tax season. Form 1099-B is an information return, which just means it’s a tax document that reports certain types of transactions you made during the year — in this case, investment transactions. Both you and the IRS get a copy.

Who receives Form 1099-B?

You’ll receive this tax form if you sold stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other investments in your account. Your 1099-B is an informational document that details which securities were sold, as well as your capital gains and losses.

For more information on investment taxes, check out Taxes on Investments: What Investors Need to Know.

Who issues Form 1099-B?

You don’t need to request Form 1099-B. A brokerage or financial institution issues this form when you sell certain investments during the tax year.

Examples of 1099-B issuers include:

Online brokerages where you trade stocks, ETFs, or options
Mutual fund companies
Investment platforms that handle bonds or other securities
Barter exchanges (less common, but still covered by the form)

If you sold investments through more than one account, expect more than one 1099-B. Each issuer reports only transactions that occurred on its platform.

The deadline for brokers to send Form 1099-B is Feb. 15, or the next business day, if that day falls on a weekend or holiday (in 2026, the deadline is Feb. 17). So, you should receive year-end statements from each brokerage or other financial institution by the end of February.

Example of Form 1099-B

Here’s a visual example of Form 1099-B to help you understand the layout and information reported on this tax form:

How to read a 1099-B

Form 1099-B reports broker transactions involving capital assets and other securities. Each box provides specific tax information you’ll use when filing your income tax return. Here’s a breakdown:

Box 1a: Description of property. This is the “what” of your transaction — the name of the stock, bond, or other security you sold.
Box 1b: Date acquired. Here, you’ll see the date you originally acquired the property.
Box 1c: Date sold or disposed. This box shows when you sold your investment.
Box 1d: Proceeds. This box shows the gross proceeds from the sale.
Box 1e: Cost or other basis. This tells you what you originally paid for the property (plus any applicable expenses). If it’s blank, you may need to compare it against your own records to determine your basis. Subtract this number from your proceeds in Box 1d to figure out the taxable amount.
Box 1f: Accrued market discount. If you sold certain debt instruments, this box may show accrued market discount that could be taxed as ordinary income.
Box 1g: Wash sale loss disallowed. This box shows any loss the IRS doesn’t allow due to wash sale rules, which apply when you sell and repurchase the same or similar securities within a short timeframe.
Box 2: Type of gain or loss. This box helps you understand how your gain will be taxed, depending on whether it’s a short-term or long-term gain. If “ordinary” is checked, your security might be subject to special rules.
Box 3: If checked, proceeds from collectibles or a QOF. This checkbox shows whether the sale involved collectibles or a qualified opportunity fund (QOF). These transactions may be subject to special tax rules and can affect how the gain or loss is reported.
Box 4: Federal income tax withheld. If any federal income tax was withheld from the transaction, it appears here. This can happen in certain backup withholding situations.
Box 5: Noncovered security. If this box is checked, box 2 might be blank. A “noncovered security” just means the broker is not required to report certain information.
Box 6: Reported to IRS. Gross proceeds or Net proceeds. This checkbox shows whether the reported proceeds reflect gross proceeds or net proceeds after adjustments.
Box 7: Check if loss is not allowed based on amount in 1d. This box is used in limited cases where losses are restricted based on how proceeds are calculated.
Box 8: Gain or loss amount. Some broker transactions, including certain forward contracts or regulated futures contracts, may report gains or losses directly in this box.
Boxes 8-11: Contract-related gains or losses. These boxes apply to more complex broker transactions, such as regulated futures contracts, securities futures contracts, forward contracts, and foreign currency contracts.
- Rather than listing each trade separately, brokers may report gains or losses in the aggregate, including realized and unrealized amounts, as well as profit and loss from open contracts at year-end. Most everyday filers won’t see amounts here unless they’re trading specialized contracts.
Box 12: If checked, basis reported to IRS. This checkbox shows whether your broker reported your cost basis to the IRS. When this box is checked, it’s important that the numbers you report match the numbers provided to the IRS.
Box 13: Bartering. This box applies to barter exchange transactions and reflects non-cash proceeds reported to the IRS.
Box 16: State tax withheld. If state tax was withheld, it appears here.

If some of the boxes on Form 1099-B sound confusing, don’t stress. TaxAct® can help walk you through the form if you e-file with us.

Form 1099-B instructions

If you sold any stocks, options, commodities, or other securities, your 1099-B form will detail your profits and losses from those transactions.

On Form 1099-B, you’ll find:

A description of each investment sold
The purchase date and cost basis (how much you paid for the investment)
The sale date and sales price
Your resulting gain or loss
If taxes were withheld

Gains and losses

The information on Form 1099-B helps you determine your net capital gain or loss for each transaction. Any capital losses can offset your capital gains up to a certain amount. Your purchase and sale dates are important because they determine whether you have a long-term capital gain or a short-term capital gain. Long-term gains have their own tax rates, while short-term gains are simply taxed as ordinary income.

To help you determine your taxable income from capital gains, try out our capital gains tax calculator.

Different types of transactions

Form 1099-B covers various types of transactions, including:

Sales of stocks
Sales of bonds
Redemptions of mutual funds
Other securities transactions

FAQs about Form 1099-B

Do I need to report Form 1099-B on my taxes?

You don’t need to attach Form 1099-B to your tax return, but you’ll need the information from your 1099-B to accurately report your income and losses during the tax filing process.

Brokers must also send copies of Form 1099-B to the IRS. The IRS cross-checks the information on its 1099-B copy from the brokerage to the amounts you report on your tax return. If any information is missing, you’ll receive a letter with a correction from the IRS.

Why is there other information on my 1099-B?

Sometimes, brokers will consolidate multiple sales into one Form 1099-B. If this is the case, you’ll still need to add each transaction separately in TaxAct. This allows our tax preparation software to report your gains and losses accurately.

You may have also received a consolidated 1099 tax statement that includes other 1099 forms, such as Form 1099-DIV, 1099-INT, 1099-MISC, or 1099-OID. If your tax statement includes multiple 1099s, you’ll need to enter each one separately in our tax software as well.

Do I need to enter each 1099-B separately if I have a consolidated statement?

A consolidated statement may include multiple 1099 forms, including one or more 1099-Bs, but you don’t enter the statement as a single item. Instead, you enter each individual sale listed in the 1099-B section. TaxAct walks you through adding multiple transactions, so nothing gets missed.

What does “basis reported to IRS” mean, and why does it matter?

“Basis reported to IRS” means your broker sent your cost basis (what you paid for the investment plus any applicable fees or other adjustments) to the IRS along with your sale information. When the basis is reported, it allows the IRS to easily match your numbers to what you reported on your tax return.

What happens if my cost basis seems wrong (and how do I correct it)?

Cost basis can be wrong if investments were transferred, inherited, or purchased a long time ago. If the number on your 1099-B doesn’t match your records, you can adjust the basis when you file using a specific code. Just make sure you keep documentation that supports the correction! The IRS loves documentation.

We have another article that covers the cost basis adjustment on Form 1099-B in more detail.

What’s the difference between short-term and long-term transactions on Form 1099-B?

The difference comes down to how long you owned the investment before selling it. Short-term transactions involve assets held for one year or less and are taxed as ordinary income. Long-term transactions are for assets held longer than one year and usually qualify for lower capital gains tax rates.

How does Form 1099-B information flow into Form 8949 and Schedule D?

Your Form 1099-B provides details for each investment sale, including dates, proceeds, and cost basis. Those details get reported on Form 8949 first. Totals from Form 8949 are then carried over to Schedule D, which summarizes your overall capital gains and losses.

TaxAct will do all the carrying over for you — all you need to do is answer our guided interview questions about your transactions.

How does Form 1099-B affect my refund or taxes owed?

If you sold investments for a gain, your tax bill may increase to cover your taxes on those sales. But if you sold at a loss, those losses can offset gains. Sometimes, losses can also reduce other taxable income, such as wages (up to $3,000), which may help increase your tax refund or reduce what you owe. Any remaining losses can then carry over to future tax years.

Does Coinbase® issue a 1099-B?

Coinbase may issue you Form 1099-B if you traded futures through Coinbase Finance Markets. However, if you sold or exchanged crypto in tax year 2025 or later, Coinbase and other crypto exchanges are required to send you Form 1099-DA, a newer tax form exclusively used to report digital asset transactions.

What’s the deadline for brokers to send 1099-B forms?

Brokers must typically send Form 1099-B by Feb. 15. Due to a weekend and federal holiday, the deadline this year is Feb. 17, 2026. That means you should receive your form (or a consolidated statement that includes it) by the end of February.

How to report Form 1099-B on your tax return with TaxAct

If you received a 1099-B, you’ll need to file Schedule D with your federal tax return. Schedule D reports your capital gains and losses for the tax year. When you e-file with us at TaxAct, we’ll ask you detailed interview questions about your capital gains and losses to help you accurately report the transactions from your 1099-B on Schedule D.

Do I file Form 1099-B with my tax return?

You don’t need to attach Form 1099-B to your return, but you will need to report your 1099-B transactions. To enter your Form 1099-B information in TaxAct, follow these steps and reference our TaxAct product screenshot if needed:

From within your TaxAct return, click Income. On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection.
Click the Investments & Savings drop-down.
Click Add beside Stocks, Mutual Funds & Other Investments as shown in the screenshot below.
Enter the form manually or search for a bank or financial provider, then complete the rest of the interview process.

A screenshot showing where to find and edit Form 1099-B in the TaxAct software

Noncovered securities

If you have received a Form 1099-B with box 5 checked, do the following when e-filing with TaxAct:

From within your Form 1099-B, continue with the interview process until the software asks for your transaction details.
Under Term and Type, click the Term and Type drop-down, then click “B-Short-term transaction in which basis was NOT reported to the IRS” or “E-Long-term transaction in which basis was NOT reported to the IRS.”

The bottom line

Form 1099-B provides detailed information on your capital gains and losses, which are essential for completing your tax return. Take the stress out of reporting your 1099-B gains and losses by using a tool like TaxAct, which can help you input your transactions step by step. Managing your 1099-B properly not only keeps you on the IRS’s good side but also helps you make the most of any potential tax benefits from your investments. For more information about Form 1099-B, head on over to the IRS website.

This article is for informational purposes only and not legal or financial advice.

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What Is Form 1099-B? Reporting Stocks and Other Investments