Can't find line 12 on 1099-B form I downloaded, please help me locate it
I downloaded a 1099-B form from my brokerage's website to report my stock sales for this year, but I'm completely confused because I can't find line 12 anywhere on it. I've been staring at this thing for an hour and it's driving me crazy! According to the tax software I'm using, I need to input information from line 12 of the 1099-B to correctly report my capital gains, but the form I have doesn't seem to have this line at all. I'm worried I might have downloaded the wrong version or maybe my brokerage uses a different format? Has anyone else run into this problem before? Is line 12 called something else on newer versions of the form? I really don't want to mess up my taxes because I couldn't find the right line on this form. Any help would be really appreciated because I'm on a deadline to file soon!
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MoonlightSonata
The 1099-B form has actually gone through some revisions over the years, so what you're experiencing is pretty common confusion. Line 12 used to refer to whether the basis was reported to the IRS, but the form has been restructured. In the current version of 1099-B, this information is usually indicated in Box 3, which shows whether the basis was reported to the IRS. You might also see a checkbox or code in column (g) of the transactions listing that indicates whether the cost basis was reported to the IRS. The important thing is to make sure you're entering the correct cost basis for your transactions regardless of what the form looks like. If your brokerage reported the basis to the IRS (which most do these days), you'll want to use exactly the numbers they provided to avoid any mismatches that could trigger IRS questions.
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Mateo Gonzalez
•Thanks for explaining that. I'm also working with a 1099-B right now and was confused. Do you know if there's a way to tell which version of the form I have? Also, if my brokerage didn't report the basis to the IRS, do I need to calculate it myself?
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MoonlightSonata
•The form version is usually printed at the bottom of the form with something like "Form 1099-B (Rev. 2024)" or similar. You can use that to identify which version you have. If your brokerage didn't report the basis to the IRS, yes, you'll need to calculate it yourself. In that case, you'll need to find your original purchase records to determine what you paid for the securities. Make sure to include any commissions or fees in your cost basis. This is especially important for older securities or those transferred from another brokerage.
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Nia Williams
I had this exact same issue last year! The 1099-B forms are super confusing now. I found this amazing tool that helped me make sense of all my tax documents, especially investment forms like 1099-B. I used https://taxr.ai and it literally saved me hours of frustration. The tool scanned my 1099-B and showed me exactly where all the information needed to be entered in my tax software. It highlighted the relevant boxes and explained what each one meant in plain English. Since the forms change so often, it was really helpful to have something that's always up to date.
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Luca Ricci
•That sounds helpful, but does it work with all brokerages? I have accounts with both Fidelity and a smaller local investment firm, and their 1099-B forms look completely different.
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Aisha Mohammed
•I'm a bit skeptical about tools like this. How does it handle complicated situations like wash sales or inherited stocks where the basis reporting gets really tricky?
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Nia Williams
•It works with all the major brokerages including Fidelity, and I've seen people use it with smaller firms too. The system is trained on all the different variations of tax forms, so it can recognize and interpret different layouts. As for complicated situations like wash sales or inherited stocks, that's actually where it really shines. It can identify wash sale adjustments on your 1099-B and explain how they affect your reporting. For inherited stocks, it guides you through the special basis rules and helps you report them correctly. I had a bunch of wash sales last year and it saved me from making some pretty big mistakes.
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Aisha Mohammed
I was really skeptical about using another tax tool, but after struggling with my complicated 1099-B forms for hours, I decided to try https://taxr.ai that someone mentioned here. I'm actually shocked at how helpful it was! The form I downloaded from my brokerage had sections labeled completely differently than what my tax software was asking for. The tool immediately identified the right information and told me exactly what to enter where. It even flagged a few transactions that had special tax treatment I would have missed. Definitely going to use this for all my tax documents next year instead of wasting an entire weekend trying to decipher these forms myself!
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Ethan Campbell
If you're still having trouble with your 1099-B after trying the suggestions here, you might need to call the IRS directly for guidance. I know that sounds terrifying (it was for me), but I found a service that makes it so much easier to actually reach a human at the IRS instead of waiting on hold forever. I used https://claimyr.com after being on hold with the IRS for over 2 hours trying to get help with a similar issue. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - it's basically a system that waits on hold for you and then calls when an agent is available. The IRS agent I spoke with explained exactly how to handle my situation with the 1099-B form and saved me from making a major error on my return.
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Yuki Watanabe
•How does this actually work? Do they somehow have a special line to the IRS or something? Seems too good to be true considering how impossible it is to reach anyone there.
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Carmen Sanchez
•This sounds like a scam. There's no way to "skip the line" with the IRS. They're chronically understaffed and everyone has to wait. I don't believe this would actually work.
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Ethan Campbell
•They don't have a special line to the IRS. What they do is use an automated system that dials in and navigates the phone tree, then waits on hold so you don't have to. When a real person answers, their system calls you and connects you to that IRS agent who's already on the line. It's basically like having someone wait on hold for you. The service doesn't let you skip ahead of others in the queue. You're still in the same line as everyone else, but you don't have to personally sit there listening to the hold music for hours. I was able to go about my day and just got a call when an agent was ready to talk.
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Carmen Sanchez
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I tried the Claimyr service that someone recommended here and it actually worked! I was convinced it was going to be a waste of money but I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my 1099-B issue. The service called me back after about 45 minutes and connected me directly to an IRS representative who was already on the line. The agent was able to explain that the current 1099-B forms don't have a "line 12" anymore and showed me exactly what information I needed to look for on my form. Sorry for being so skeptical before, but after years of struggling to get through to the IRS, I was pretty jaded. This seriously saved me hours of frustration and probably prevented me from making a mistake on my return.
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Andre Dupont
Another thing to check - sometimes brokerages send supplemental information with the 1099-B that explains where to find certain information. Did your form come with any additional pages or an instruction sheet? My Schwab account always includes a guide that shows how their form maps to the tax software questions.
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Zara Khan
•I didn't see any supplemental info but I'll double check! I was just looking at the downloaded PDF without really checking if there were additional pages. That's a really good point. I did notice there's a tiny footnote at the bottom of one page that mentions something about basis reporting, so maybe that's related to what used to be on line 12? I'll look more carefully through all the documents they provided.
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Andre Dupont
•Definitely check for those extra pages! They're easy to miss, especially if you downloaded the forms. Sometimes they're separate files or included at the end of the PDF. The footnote you mentioned sounds promising - those often contain important details about how the brokerage reports certain information. Also, most brokerages have a "tax help" section on their website that explains how to read their specific versions of tax forms. That might give you the exact mapping from their form to what your tax software is asking for.
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Zoe Papadakis
Has anyone noticed that the 1099-B forms look different depending on which tax year they're for? I still have last year's form and it definitely had something labeled as line 12, but this year's form from the same brokerage doesn't have it anymore.
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ThunderBolt7
•Yes! The IRS redesigned several tax forms for this filing season. I think they're trying to make them clearer but it just causes confusion when you're used to the old format. My accountant said it happens every few years.
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