Do I need to report stock purchases on Form 1099-B or Schedule D (Form 1040) if I haven't sold anything?

14 You don't need to report anything for stocks you've only purchased but haven't sold. Here's the simple breakdown: Form 1099-B is only issued when you sell securities, not when you buy them. Your brokerage will only send you a 1099-B for the tax year in which you actually sell something. Schedule D (Form 1040) is also only for reporting realized capital gains or losses, meaning you've actually sold the investment. Unrealized gains/losses (price fluctuations on stocks you still own) don't need to be reported on your tax return. The only exception would be if you received any dividends (which you said you didn't) or if your broker charged you fees that might be deductible in certain situations. So for now, just keep good records of your purchase dates and prices (your brokerage should track this for you anyway), and you won't need to report anything until you sell.

7 Just wanted to share my experience with this exact situation! I was also super confused about stock reporting requirements when I first started investing. After hours of research and talking to three different tax people, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which totally cleared this up for me. I uploaded my brokerage statements, and it immediately identified that I didn't need to report anything since I had only purchased stocks but hadn't sold any. It saved me from unnecessarily complicating my tax return! The tool explained the difference between realized and unrealized gains in a way that finally made sense to me.

18 I just wanted to follow up after trying taxr.ai. I was skeptical at first but decided to give it a shot with my crypto holdings question. Turns out I WAS supposed to be reporting my staking rewards even though I hadn't sold any crypto! The tool flagged this immediately and saved me from what could have been a headache later. It also explained that while my regular stock purchases don't need reporting until sold (confirming what others said here), some of my crypto activities were different. The interface was super straightforward and gave me specific guidance for my situation rather than generic advice. Definitely worth checking out if you have investment tax questions!

3 If you're struggling to get clear answers about your stock reporting requirements, I feel your pain! I spent THREE DAYS trying to get through to the IRS to ask nearly the exact same question about some employee stock purchases. After getting nowhere with the standard IRS number, I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and watched their demo (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own! The agent confirmed exactly what others here have said - buying stocks alone doesn't trigger any reporting requirements. You only report when you sell (Form 1099-B) or receive dividends (Form 1099-DIV). Made me feel so much better having it confirmed directly from the IRS.

22 I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it since I was desperate about this IRS letter situation. Not only did I get through to the IRS, but they connected me in about 20 minutes when I'd wasted DAYS trying on my own. The IRS agent I spoke with was actually super helpful - turns out the letter was sent in error and I didn't owe the additional tax they claimed. If I hadn't gotten through, I might have just paid it to avoid further hassle. So yeah, I'm eating my words here... sometimes things that sound too good to be true actually do work!

11 Quick tip for all new investors: keep a spreadsheet of all your stock purchases with dates and prices even if your brokerage tracks this info. I've had situations where brokerages merged or changed systems and some of my cost basis info disappeared. Really saved me when I finally sold those shares years later!

5 For anyone interested in the technical details: Form 1099-B reporting is governed by IRC section 6045, which specifically requires reporting of "gross proceeds" from sales or exchanges. The key word is "sales" - without a sale, there's no reporting requirement. Similarly, Schedule D is for reporting capital gains and losses under IRC section 1001, which only recognizes gain/loss when there's a "sale or other disposition of property." Mere ownership with price fluctuation doesn't constitute a "disposition" under the tax code.

One thing that helped me when I was starting out was understanding the concept of "realization" in tax law. The IRS only cares about transactions where you've actually realized a gain or loss - meaning money has changed hands. Just holding stocks that go up or down in value is like having a baseball card collection that becomes more valuable over time. You don't owe taxes on your baseball cards getting more expensive until you actually sell them to someone else. The same principle applies to your brokerage account. Your $10k paper gain is just that - on paper. Until you click "sell" and receive actual cash proceeds, it's not a taxable event. This is why people talk about "tax-loss harvesting" - strategically selling losing positions to offset gains, because you control when to realize those losses. Keep doing what you're doing - buy and hold is not only a solid investment strategy, but it's also very tax-efficient!

Just to add another perspective that might be helpful - I work as a tax preparer and see this confusion all the time with new investors. The key thing to remember is that the U.S. tax system is based on "realization," not "appreciation." Think of it this way: if you bought a house for $200k and it's now worth $300k, you don't pay taxes on that $100k increase until you actually sell the house. Stocks work exactly the same way. Your brokerage will automatically send you the appropriate tax forms when there's actually something to report. So if you only bought stocks in 2024 and didn't sell any, you won't receive a 1099-B for that tax year. When you do eventually sell in future years, that's when you'll get the 1099-B showing your proceeds, and that's when you'll report it on Schedule D. The only time you might need to think about taxes before selling is if you're doing strategic tax planning (like tax-loss harvesting near year-end), but that's an advanced strategy you don't need to worry about as a beginner. Keep good records of your purchases, but don't stress about reporting anything until you actually sell!