A 1099-B is a tax form that reports the proceeds from selling investments like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, commodities, and options through a broker. Your brokerage is required to send you this form and file a copy with the IRS whenever you sell securities for cash during the tax year. You use the information on it to calculate your capital gains or losses when filing your return.
What Triggers a 1099-B
A broker or barter exchange must file a 1099-B for each person who sold stocks, commodities, regulated futures contracts, foreign currency contracts, forward contracts, debt instruments, options, or securities futures contracts for cash. The form also applies if you received cash, stock, or other property from a corporation involved in an acquisition of control or a substantial change in capital structure. And if you exchanged property or services through a barter exchange (an organized marketplace where members trade goods or services instead of paying cash), that transaction gets reported on a 1099-B too.
In practical terms, the most common reason you’ll receive this form is because you sold shares of stock, ETFs, or mutual funds through a brokerage account. Even selling a single share triggers the reporting requirement. If you held investments all year and didn’t sell anything, you won’t get one.
Key Information on the Form
The 1099-B contains several important data points you need for your tax return. The proceeds box shows the total amount you received from the sale. The cost basis box shows what you originally paid for the investment, including commissions. The difference between these two numbers is your capital gain or loss.
The form also indicates whether a gain or loss is short-term or long-term. If you held the investment for one year or less before selling, it’s short-term and taxed at your ordinary income rate. If you held it for more than one year, it’s long-term and qualifies for lower capital gains tax rates. Your broker determines this based on the date you acquired the shares and the date you sold them, both of which appear on the form.
If your broker identified a wash sale on any transaction, that will be noted as well. A wash sale happens when you sell a security at a loss and buy a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after the sale. The disallowed loss gets added to the cost basis of the replacement shares rather than being deductible in the current year.
Covered vs. Noncovered Securities
Your 1099-B will indicate whether each security is “covered” or “noncovered,” and this distinction matters for how cost basis gets reported. A covered security is one your broker is required to track and report the cost basis for, both to you and to the IRS. Congress phased in this requirement starting in 2011, with different effective dates depending on the type of investment:
- Corporate stock and ADRs acquired on or after January 1, 2011
- Mutual funds acquired on or after January 1, 2012
- Stocks or ADRs acquired through dividend reinvestment plans on or after January 1, 2012
- Less complex bonds, derivatives, and options purchased on or after January 1, 2014
- More complex bonds, derivatives, and options purchased on or after January 1, 2016
Anything purchased before those dates is a noncovered security. For noncovered securities, your broker still reports the sale proceeds to the IRS but is not required to report the cost basis. The cost basis box on your 1099-B may be blank or marked as “not reported” for these holdings. You’re still responsible for figuring out and reporting your cost basis on your tax return, so keep your old purchase records.
How to Use It on Your Tax Return
When you file your taxes, the transactions from your 1099-B get reported on Form 8949 (Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets), which then flows into Schedule D of your Form 1040. Form 8949 has separate sections for short-term and long-term transactions, and separate categories depending on whether the cost basis was reported to the IRS.
For covered securities where the broker reported cost basis to the IRS, you can often just confirm the numbers match and carry them through. For noncovered securities, you’ll need to supply the cost basis yourself. If you inherited shares, received them as a gift, or transferred them between brokers, the cost basis on the form may be wrong or missing entirely. In those cases, you’ll need to adjust the figures on Form 8949 and note the correction.
Most tax software pulls in 1099-B data automatically if you import from your brokerage. Even so, review the numbers before filing. Brokers occasionally misclassify holding periods or report incorrect basis, especially for shares acquired through corporate mergers, stock splits, or reinvested dividends.
When You’ll Receive It
Brokers must deliver 1099-B forms to recipients by mid-February. For the 2025 tax year, the deadline is February 17, 2026. Many brokerages make the forms available online a few days earlier. If you had accounts at multiple brokerages, you’ll receive a separate 1099-B from each one.
Brokers sometimes issue corrected 1099-B forms weeks after the original, particularly when mutual funds reclassify distributions or when corporate actions require adjustments. If you file your return before receiving a corrected form, you may need to file an amended return.
Barter Exchange Transactions
The “B” in 1099-B stands for “broker,” but the form also covers barter exchanges. If you’re a member of an organized barter exchange where you trade services or goods with other members, the exchange reports the fair market value of what you received on a 1099-B. This income is taxable, and you report it on your return just like any other income. Informal swaps between individuals outside an organized exchange don’t generate a 1099-B, though the income may still be taxable.