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Topic: Form 1099-B Summary Totals

TaxACT supports the entry of 2,000 Forms 1099-B for capital gain and loss transactions. If the total transactions you need to enter are greater than 2,000, per the IRS instructions, it is possible to attach a statement. Instead of entering each of the sales transactions individually in to the TaxACT program, list the details of each sale on a statement similar in format to Form 8949.

The Form 8949 format is similar to the previous Schedule D-1. If attaching a statement along with your return (or with Form 8453 if electronically filing), then that statement should include the following columns:

Description of property
Date Acquired
Date Sold
Sales Price
Cost or other basis
Code, if applicable
Adjustments to gain (loss), if applicable
Gain or Loss

Form 8949 is used in conjunction with Schedule D due to new reporting requirements for capital gain (loss) transactions outlined by the IRS. Now, the taxpayer must differentiate whether or not the transactions had a cost basis reported to them on Form 1099-B. There are three Reporting Categories:

(A) Received a Form 1099-B showing basis (box 3) was reported to the IRS
(B) Received a Form 1099-B showing basis (box 3) was NOT reported to the IRS
(C) Did not receive a Form 1099-B

A separate Form 8949 Attachment Summary should be completed for each Reporting Category and the transactions will continue to be broken into Short-Term and Long-Term transactions depending upon the date purchased and date sold for each transaction.

When you choose to attach a statement for Form 8949 in TaxACT, Form 8453 U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return will automatically be created when you complete the Filing steps. At that time, there will be a screen titled E-filing - Print 8453 where you will be prompted to print Form 8453. When the form prints, a box will be checked at the bottom of the form, Form 8949, Continuation Sheet... or long-term capital gain (loss) records. This enables the return to still be electronically filed and the statements sent to the IRS along with Form 8453.

If you have already made entries for transactions (Forms 1099-B or 1099-S) in the program, you will need to verify these transactions are NOT included in the statements you plan to include with your return. If your previously entered transactions are listed on the statement you plan to attach with your return, you will need to delete those entries from the program before entering your statement totals. To review and/or delete these previous entries, follow the steps below:

From within your TaxACT return (Online or Desktop), click on the Federal Q&A tab
Click Investment Income to expand the category and then click Gain or loss on the sale of investments
Click Capital gain or loss (Form 1099-B) and on the screen Investment Sales - Summary all transactions will be listed, whether they were entered through the manual Form 1099-B entry section in the Q&A or uploaded from a .CSV file
Click Select All above the entries (or you can make the selection of only those you wish to delete). Note: If all of the transactions will be reflected on the statements you are going to mail, you would want to click Select All.
Click Delete at the bottom of the screen, then click OK to confirm deletion.

Note: If you have a large quantity of transactions listed you may need to scroll down the screen to see the delete option. Once you select OK, the transactions selected will be deleted and the only way to get them back would be to enter them again or re-import the .CSV file.

To enter the summary amounts which will represent the sum total of the statement(s) you will send with Form 8453:

From within your TaxACT return (Online or Desktop), click on the Federal Q&A tab
Click Investment Income to expand the category and then click Gain or loss on the sale of investments
Click Enter totals from a statement of transactions you will attach to your return
Click Add to create a new copy of the attached statement or click Review to review a copy already created
On the following screen, check the box, then click Continue
Select the appropriate Reporting Category from the drop-down menu, then enter the Short-Term summary totals. When you are done, click Continue and do the same for your Long-Term summary totals.
The following screen, titled Form 8949 Attachment - Summary, will show what will be reported on Federal Schedule D in the return

Before entering your totals, you will need to separate them between short-term and long-term transactions. In addition, you will need to separate the transaction totals based upon the reporting category as defined above. Your totals will be entered based upon the reporting category and holding period (short-term or long-term).

TaxACT allows up to twelve statement totals to be entered for each spouse (up to six statements for each spouse with short-term and long-term totals on each statement).

If you are entering totals from a statement you received from your brokerage, you must separate and enter the totals based upon the reporting category the transactions fall under for Form 8949. If you have multiple brokerage statements, each brokerage statement totals must be entered separately and separated by reporting category. You CANNOT combine brokerage statement totals into one entry.

Note that the Form 1099-B received from your broker may report adjustment amounts to be entered on Form 8949, Column (g). You can enter this information using the adjustment amount field on the screens for short-term and long-term totals.

Additional Information:

Per the IRS Instructions for Schedule D Capital Gains and Losses, page D-8:

Exception to reporting each transaction on a separate line. Instead of reporting each of your transactions on a separate line of Form 8949, you can report them on an attached statement containing all the same information as Form 8949 and in a similar format. Use as many attached statements as you need. Enter the combined totals from all your attached statements on a Form 8949 with the appropriate box checked. For example, report on Line 3 of Form 8949 with Box A checked all long-term gains and losses from transactions your broker reported to you on a statement showing that the basis of the property sold was reported to the IRS. If you have more than one attachment (for example, statements from more than one broker), report the totals from each attachment on a separate line.

Do not enter "available upon request" and summary totals in lieu of reporting the details of each transaction on Form(s) 8949 or attached statements.

E-File. If you e-file your return but choose not to include your transactions on the electronic short-term capital gain (or loss) or long-term capital gain (or loss) records, you must attach Form 8949 (or a statement with the same information) to Form 8453 and mail the forms to the IRS.