TaxAct® allows you to enter up to 2,000 items on Form 1099-B Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions for capital gain and loss transactions. If your number of transactions is greater than 2,000, attach a summary totals statement to represent each brokerage statement.
Instead of entering each sales transaction individually, list the details of each sale on a statement similar in format to Form 8949 Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets. If you choose this option, you can attach a PDF of each statement when you e-file.
The Form 8949 format is similar to Schedule D-1 Continuation Sheet for Schedule D (Form 1040). Your attached statement should include the following columns:
- Description of property
- Date acquired
- Date sold
- Sales price
- Cost or other basis
- Code, if applicable
- Gain or loss
Form 8949 is used with Schedule D (Form 1040) Capital Gains and Losses due to new reporting requirements for capital gain (loss) transactions outlined by the IRS. Now, the taxpayer must differentiate whether the transactions had a cost basis reported on Form 1099-B.
There are six reporting options on Form 1099-B:
- For the short-term category, there are three options:
- (A) Received a Form 1099-B showing basis was reported to the IRS
- (B) Received a Form 1099-B showing basis was NOT reported to the IRS
- (C) Did not receive a Form 1099-B
- For the long-term category, there are three options:
- (D) Received a Form 1099-B showing basis was reported to the IRS
- (E) Received a Form 1099-B showing basis was NOT reported to the IRS
- (F) Did not receive a Form 1099-B
TaxAct allows up to six Form 8949 attachments to be entered into your tax return to represent each brokerage statement received. Each Form 8949 attachment will allow you to enter totals for both the taxpayer and spouse for all six reporting options. If you have more than six brokerage statements, enter the six containing the most transactions by this method and then enter the transactions on the other statements via another method (see Form 1099-B - Entering in Program).
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, enter each statement's totals separately. You cannot combine brokerage statement totals onto one attachment, unless you have already combined these through a third-party software vendor.
If you've already made entries for transactions (Form 1099-B or Form 1099-S Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions) in the program, verify these transactions are 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 or delete previous entries:
- From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click Federal.
- Click Investment Income to expand, click Gain or loss on the sale of investments to expand, then click Capital gain or loss (Form 1099-B).
- Click + Add Form 1099-B to create a new copy of the form or click Edit to review a form already created.
- Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.
- On the screen titled Investment Sales - Summary, click Delete All below the entries to remove them all, or click the trash can icon on individual entries, then click OK to confirm (Desktop users click Delete Forms).
Note. If all transactions will be reflected on the statements you're going to mail, click Delete All.
If you have a lot of transactions listed, scroll down the screen to see the Delete All option. Once you click OK or Delete Forms, the transactions selected will be deleted and the only way to get them back is to enter them again or reimport the CSV file.
To enter the information for the Form 8949 attachments:
- From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click Federal.
- Click Investment Income to expand, click Gain or loss on the sale of investments to expand, then click Enter totals from a statement of transactions you will attach to your return.
- Click + Add Form 8949 Attachment to create a new copy of the attached statement or click Edit to review a copy already created.
- Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.
- On the screen titled Form 8949 Attachment - Attach a Statement, check Attach a statement of transactions instead of entering them individually., then click Continue.
- On the screen titled Form 8949 Attachment - Brokerage Name, enter the Name of brokerage firm (e.g. TD Ameritrade, E*Trade) or software vendor (e.g. GainsKeeper, TradeLog, Form8949.com) who supplied you with the attachment, then click Continue.
- Click + Add Form 8949 Attachment to create a new copy of the attached statement or click Edit to review a copy already created.
- On the screen titled Form 8949 Attachment - Reporting Category, select from the Form 8949 reporting category drop-down, then click Continue.
- On the screen titled Form 8949 Attachment - B Amounts, enter the summary totals for the selected reporting category, then click Continue.
- On the screen titled Form 8949 Attachment - B Summary, click Continue to enter the information for the next brokerage statement.
Note. If you have more than six brokerage statements, you would want to enter the six containing the most transactions by this method and then enter the transactions on the other statements via another method (see Form 1099-B - Entering in Program). Before entering your summary totals, separate the transactions based on the reporting category as defined previously.
- Form 1099-B received from your broker may report adjustment amounts to be entered on Form 8949, Column G. Enter this information using the total adjustment amount fields.
- If filing electronically, you'll have the option to add your Form 8949 attachment as a PDF. If you don't have a PDF version of your Form 8949 attachment, you can still e-file.
- After completing the e-file steps, you'll be prompted to print Form 8453 U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return. On Form 8453, there will be a box marked that indicates you have a Form 8949 attachment. Mail Form 8453 and your Form 8949 attachment to the IRS. If you have multiple Form 8949 attachments and include one of these attachments as a PDF during the e-file steps, mail only the Form 8949 attachment that was not attached as a PDF.
- If filing a paper return, include the Form 8949 attachments with your tax return.
Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the document at the time it is accessed.