FORM 1099-B QUESTION

[Pacun]

I have a form 1099-b with line 2 (stocks, bond, etc reported to IRS) $142,249.84 (sales) and $165,658.41 in buys. Nothing on lines 8, 9, 10, 11 where profits and losses are listed.

Do I have to report losses on Schedule D? If yes, do I have to group buys and sells by date?

Thank you in advance.

[jasdlm]

What do the 'buys' have to do with it? Do you mean cost basis? Do you have the cost basis for the $142,249.84 in sales?

[JRS]

My 1099B's list the stock, number of shares, sale date and gross proceeds. The costs are listed in the supplemental section of the broker's statement, separate from the actual 1099's. No lines 8>11?

[GraceNY]

I have a form 1099-b with line 2 (stocks, bond, etc reported to IRS) $142,249.84 (sales) and $165,658.41 in buys. Nothing on lines 8, 9, 10, 11 where profits and losses are listed.

Do I have to report losses on Schedule D? If yes, do I have to group buys and sells by date?

Thank you in advance.

Be careful with the "buys." Some brokerage firms list all the client's "buys" during the year and they may NOT necessarily be the same investments that were sold. But, it could happen if the client is just buying and selling constantly and not holding an investment for very long. The dollar amount that you need to be concerned is the 1099B line 2 amount of $142,249.84. That's the number the IRS is going to look to match on the taxpayer's return. Hopefully the brokerage statement contains a listing of the investments that were sold and the dollar amounts of the sales and that totals to the $142,249.84. Now, you need to match those up with the corresponding purchases ("buys") which may or may not be listed in the clients tax document statement. You may need to look at prior statements or the year end statement may list all activity for the year. Sometimes you'll have to go back to prior years if the purchase took place in an earlier year.

This whole process can be very time consuming and messy. I'll often advise a client upfront about the additional work and the estimated additional cost. If they balk, I tell them that they can go through the sales and match them with the purchases in the same format as a schedule D (i.e. description, date acquired, date sold, sales price, and purchase price), then all I need to do is input the info into the SCH D. The messy part comes with the determination and inputing when there are "wash sales" involved.

If this account should happen to be a "managed" account wherein the broker is rebalancing (selling and buying) and it involves mutual funds, I cheat. I don't have the time or inclination to input a gizzillion transactions. I group by short and long term, add up all the shares, sale price and cost basis which belong to that particular fund

and input on SCH D. It comes out with the correct bottom line, but I know that's not the way the IRS wants it. I have the back-up documentation to support the numbers on the return and that's all that matters to me.

Grace

[Pacun]

My 1099B's list the stock, number of shares, sale date and gross proceeds. The costs are listed in the supplemental section of the broker's statement, separate from the actual 1099's. No lines 8>11?

I have a 1099 with a little of dividens, then I have a 1099-B with a lot of sales and purchases. Lines 8-11 have nothing (zero losses or profits). To me, I only have to list the deviden income and nothing else. The previous preparer claimed a loss on similar transactions. Both 2008 and 2009 are very similar (zero losses or profits on lines 8-110). Except that for 2008 it had very few transactions, so the previous preparer claimed a loss on schedule D.

PS: I typed this before I saw Grace's answer above.

[JRS]

I must be missing something here. If the 1099 B has sales on it, they must be reported. I figure when you are saying lines 8 through 11 are showing zeros, you must be referring to the 1099 DIV or 1099 INT. Right now I have Fidelity, Wells Fargo and Ameritrade 1099's on my desk and none have any numbers other than 1a, 1b, 2 and 4 on the 1099 B.

[Pacun]

I must be missing something here. If the 1099 B has sales on it, they must be reported. I figure when you are saying lines 8 through 11 are showing zeros, you must be referring to the 1099 DIV or 1099 INT. Right now I have Fidelity, Wells Fargo and Ameritrade 1099's on my desk and none have any numbers other than 1a, 1b, 2 and 4 on the 1099 B.

I will post on this board all lines listed on the 1099-B tomorrow, but maybe I will start a new post. I am not in the office now, but the way I understand it is that the client had about 20K but since the stock company bought and sold all year, TP's money was recycled and the totals sales were, $142,249.84 and the purchases were 165,658.41. TP will have a loss.

[JRS]

Sounds good. I think my brain might be operating on fumes. That's I think I am missing something. With the "late" mailing of brokerage tax statements, I am getting buried.