Do I need Form 8949 with Schedule D when reporting long-term capital losses?
I just got my 1099B form this week and I'm confused about what forms I need to file. I only have 2 stock transactions from last year, both long term holdings that I sold at a loss (the total loss is about $4500, so over the $3K limit for the year). Do I actually need to fill out Form 8949 to go along with my Schedule D in this situation, or can I just use Schedule D alone since it's pretty straightforward? Also wondering about the excess loss - since I'm over the $3K limit by about $1500, can I carry over that remainder to next year's taxes even if I don't end up selling any stocks this year? Like if I don't get a 1099B for 2025, can I still claim that leftover loss from this year? Thanks for any help. This is my first time dealing with capital losses and want to make sure I'm doing it right!
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Tristan Carpenter
Yes, you do need to complete both Form 8949 and Schedule D even though you only have two transactions. Form 8949 is where you list the details of each stock sale (date acquired, date sold, proceeds, cost basis, etc.), while Schedule D summarizes those transactions and calculates your total capital gain or loss. For your situation with a $4,500 long-term capital loss, you can deduct up to $3,000 against your ordinary income on this year's return. The remaining $1,500 loss will carry forward to future tax years - and yes, you can absolutely use that carryover loss next year even if you don't sell any stocks in 2025. You don't need another 1099-B to claim your carried-over loss.
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Amaya Watson
•Thanks for explaining this! Just to make sure I understand - on Form 8949, do I need to check box D since these were long-term transactions that were reported to the IRS on my 1099-B? And then do I still need to enter each transaction separately on the form even though there are only two of them?
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Tristan Carpenter
•Yes, you should check Box D on Form 8949 if your transactions were reported to the IRS on Form 1099-B with basis reported to the IRS. If for some reason the cost basis wasn't reported to the IRS, you'd use Box E instead. You do need to enter each transaction separately on Form 8949, even though you only have two of them. List each stock, including the description, purchase date, sale date, proceeds, cost basis, and resulting gain or loss. Then transfer the totals to Schedule D. This creates the proper paper trail for the IRS to verify your capital loss claim.
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Grant Vikers
I went through something similar last year and discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which made this process so much easier! I was confused about Form 8949 and Schedule D requirements too. The tool analyzed my 1099-B and automatically populated all the right forms with my transaction data. It even calculated my carryover loss automatically and told me exactly where to report it on next year's return. Saved me from making errors that could've triggered IRS questions.
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Giovanni Martello
•Does it work if you have multiple 1099-Bs from different brokers? I've got like 5 different accounts and entering all those transactions manually is a nightmare.
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Savannah Weiner
•I'm skeptical about these tax tools. How accurate is it with the carryover loss calculations? I've been burned before with software that messed up my loss carryforwards.
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Grant Vikers
•It absolutely works with multiple 1099-Bs from different brokers. You can upload all your forms at once, and it consolidates everything properly. I had three different accounts last year and it handled them perfectly. The carryover loss calculations were spot-on in my experience. It applies the $3,000 annual limit against ordinary income correctly and tracks the remainder for future years. What I really liked is that it explains each step of the calculation, so you understand exactly how your carryover amount was determined. Much better than the "black box" approach of some other tax software I've used.
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Savannah Weiner
Just wanted to follow up - I ended up trying taxr.ai after my skeptical questions. Really impressed with how it handled my capital loss situation! It correctly applied my $3000 limit and calculated my carryforward amount. The form generation for 8949 was perfect - saved me hours of manual entry for all my transactions. It even flagged a wash sale I would have missed. Definitely using it again next year when I need to apply my carryover losses.
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Levi Parker
If you're having issues getting answers about your capital loss carryovers, try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent days trying to get through to the IRS about a similar capital loss question that wasn't covered in their publications. After multiple failed attempts, I used Claimyr and got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent clarified exactly how to report my carryover losses from previous years and confirmed I was completing Form 8949 correctly.
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Libby Hassan
•Wait, how does this actually work? The IRS phone lines are impossible to get through - are you saying this somehow gets you to the front of the queue?
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Hunter Hampton
•This sounds like BS. I've tried everything to reach the IRS and nothing works. No way some service can magically get you through when millions of people can't get answers.
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Levi Parker
•It's not about "cutting the line" - Claimyr uses an automated system that continually calls the IRS for you and navigates through the phone tree. When a spot opens up, it immediately connects you to that agent. It's basically doing the hold time for you. They use technology to monitor IRS wait times and call patterns to identify the best times to get through. It's completely legitimate - they're just handling the frustrating part of waiting on hold so you don't have to. The IRS doesn't even know you're using a service - you're just a regular caller who happened to get through.
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Hunter Hampton
I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I had a similar capital loss carryover question that I couldn't figure out. I was literally connected to an IRS agent in 15 minutes after trying for WEEKS on my own. The agent walked me through exactly how to report my carried-over losses on Schedule D and confirmed I needed Form 8949 even for just a few transactions. Sorry for being so negative before - this service actually delivered.
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Sofia Peña
One thing to remember about capital losses over the $3k limit - make sure you're tracking them properly year to year. I lost $7k on stocks in 2021, used $3k that year, then another $3k in 2022, and had $1k left for 2023. Almost forgot about that last $1k until my accountant reminded me! The IRS doesn't track this for you.
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Aaron Boston
•Is there a specific form for tracking capital loss carryovers between years or do you just need to keep your own records? I haven't been able to find an official worksheet for this.
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Sofia Peña
•There's no special IRS form specifically for tracking capital loss carryovers between years. You need to keep your own records - I recommend saving your Schedule D from each year since it shows the loss amount you're carrying forward. Many tax software programs will track this for you if you use the same one year after year. But if you switch software or tax preparers, you need to make sure this information gets transferred. I keep a simple spreadsheet showing my original loss amount, how much I've used each year, and how much is still available to carry forward.
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Sophia Carter
Does anyone know if TurboTax handles Form 8949 and Schedule D correctly for loss carryovers? Last time I used it, it seemed confused by my carryover amount.
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Chloe Zhang
•I use TurboTax Premier and it handles the capital loss carryovers correctly, but you need to pay for that higher tier. The basic version doesn't do investment stuff well. It automatically transfers your prior year carryover loss if you used TurboTax last year too.
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Justin Trejo
Just wanted to add my experience since I was in almost the exact same situation last year. I had $4,200 in long-term capital losses from just 3 stock sales and was also confused about the forms. You definitely need both Form 8949 AND Schedule D - there's no way around it. Form 8949 is where you list each individual transaction with all the details (purchase date, sale date, cost basis, proceeds, etc.), and Schedule D is where you summarize everything and calculate your total loss. For your $4,500 loss, you'll deduct $3,000 against ordinary income this year and carry forward $1,500 to next year. The carryover works indefinitely until you use it all up - doesn't matter if you don't trade stocks in 2025, you can still claim that $1,500 loss. One tip: double-check that your 1099-B shows the correct cost basis. My broker had the wrong purchase date on one of mine, which would have messed up my long-term vs short-term classification. Caught it just in time!
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Carmen Vega
•That's a great point about double-checking the 1099-B for accuracy! I'm curious - when you found the wrong purchase date on your 1099-B, how did you handle that with the IRS? Did you just use the correct date on Form 8949 and attach a statement explaining the discrepancy, or did you have to get your broker to issue a corrected 1099-B first? I want to make sure I'm prepared in case I run into the same issue.
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