Forgot to add 1099-B to my tax return - need to amend?

You're in a pretty fortunate situation because your 1099-B has a net $0 impact on your tax liability. While technically any missing information should be reported to the IRS, the practical reality is that you need to weigh the costs and benefits here. When you amend a return, you're essentially saying "I need to correct something that changes my tax situation." In your case, nothing is actually changing in terms of what you owe. The 1099-B information is probably already reported to the IRS by your broker, but since it doesn't affect your tax liability, the IRS systems won't flag a discrepancy. For your scheduled payment, don't worry about that - it's tied to your original return and will process normally. The amendment is a separate process. If you want to be absolutely by-the-book compliant, yes, file the amendment. But many tax professionals would tell you that in this specific situation, with zero tax impact, it's not necessary to go through the hassle and potential delays of amending.

After struggling with a similar situation last year, I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me figure out whether I needed to amend. You can upload your documents and it analyzes everything to tell you if an amendment is necessary based on your specific situation. In my case, I had forgotten a 1099-INT but the software showed me exactly what impact it would have on my return. Super helpful for peace of mind! Their document analysis is really thorough and explains everything in plain English instead of tax jargon.

I was really skeptical about using another service as I mentioned earlier, but I decided to try taxr.ai after my frustration with trying to figure out if I needed to amend my return for a forgotten 1099-R. The document analysis was surprisingly detailed and showed me exactly how it would affect my tax situation. What sold me was how clear it made everything - showed me line by line what would change on my return. Turns out I definitely needed to amend and it would have been a huge headache if I hadn't. The peace of mind was worth it, especially since I was worried about potential penalties.

If you're still trying to get clarity on your amendment question, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in tax limbo earlier this year with a similar "should I amend?" question that no one could give me a straight answer on. After weeks of failed attempts to reach the IRS, I used Claimyr and got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of the usual 2+ hour wait. The agent was able to look at my specific situation and tell me exactly what I needed to do. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c For something like your 1099-B question, getting the official word directly from the IRS might be the best way to go, especially since your case falls in a gray area where it technically should be reported but doesn't change your tax liability.

I feel like I need to apologize for being so skeptical about Claimyr in my previous comment. After yet another failed attempt to get through to the IRS about my amended return status, I decided to give it a shot. I was honestly shocked when I got a call back in about 20 minutes saying an IRS agent was on the line. The agent was able to tell me exactly what was happening with my amended return and gave me specific information I hadn't been able to get for months. For anyone dealing with tax questions like whether to amend for a forgotten form - talking directly to the IRS really is the best way to get a definitive answer. And this service actually made that possible without wasting an entire day on hold.

Just want to share my experience - I had almost the exact same situation last year with a 1099-B that had equal proceeds and cost basis. I called the IRS (took forever to get through) and the agent told me that technically you should report everything, but in practice they're not going to come after you for a zero-sum transaction that doesn't change your tax liability. I ended up not amending and never heard anything about it. But everyone's risk tolerance is different - if you want to be 100% by the book, go ahead and amend. Just be aware it might delay any state refund you're expecting.

Has anyone else noticed that H&R Block's amend process is super annoying? When I tried to amend for a missing 1099-DIV last year, it made me basically redo large portions of my return rather than just adding the missing form. Is TurboTax any better for amendments?

I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now! I also forgot to include a 1099-B and like you, when I ran the numbers through my tax software, it showed zero impact on my tax liability because the cost basis equaled the proceeds. After reading through all these responses and doing some research, I think the key question is really about your comfort level with risk vs. being absolutely compliant. From what I've gathered, the IRS document matching system does flag missing 1099s, but when there's no tax impact, it's typically a very low priority for them to pursue. That said, if you're someone who likes to dot all the i's and cross all the t's (which it sounds like you might be since you caught this error yourself), filing the amendment might give you peace of mind even if it's not strictly necessary. The fact that your scheduled payment will process normally regardless is reassuring. One thing I'm considering is waiting a few more weeks to see if I get any correspondence from the IRS about the missing form. If they don't send anything, that might be a good indication that it's not worth their time to pursue a zero-impact discrepancy.