Need help with E*Trade 1099-B Wash Sale Disallowed Column on TurboTax

The good news is that your Realized Gain amount of $37,220 is already the correct taxable amount. The Wash Sale Loss Disallowed column on your E*Trade 1099-B is showing you information about wash sales that occurred during the year, but that amount has already been factored into your Cost Basis calculation. When E*Trade calculates the Cost Basis, they've already adjusted it by adding back any disallowed losses from wash sales. This is why your Cost Basis is higher than it would be without wash sales, which in turn reduces your Realized Gain to the correct taxable amount. If you were to add the Wash Sale Loss Disallowed amount to your Realized Gain, you would be double-counting those wash sale adjustments and overpaying on your taxes. When entering this into TurboTax, you should use the Realized Gain amount ($37,220) as your taxable capital gain. TurboTax is designed to work with the formatted data from E*Trade, so it understands how these values are reported.

After struggling with a similar E*Trade 1099-B wash sale situation last year, I finally found a solution that saved me tons of time and potential errors. I used https://taxr.ai to analyze my brokerage statements and tax forms. Their system automatically identified how E*Trade reports wash sales and explained exactly how to handle it in TurboTax. What really helped was uploading my E*Trade 1099-B directly - their software parsed all the wash sale information and explained that the Realized Gain already includes the wash sale adjustments, exactly as the previous commenter mentioned. They even showed me where in TurboTax to enter the information correctly without double-counting. For complicated brokerage statements with lots of trades and wash sales like yours, having an automated system analyze the document formatting was way easier than trying to figure it out manually.

I have to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after being skeptical in my earlier comment. I decided to try it with my complicated E*Trade 1099-B that had multiple wash sales across different securities. The system immediately identified that E*Trade's reporting format already incorporates wash sale adjustments into the cost basis calculation - meaning the realized gain amount ($37,220 in your case) is indeed the correct taxable amount. It even generated a detailed explanation I could save for my records explaining why adding the wash sale disallowed amount would be incorrect double-counting. Honestly, it was way more straightforward than the conflicting advice I'd been getting online. The analysis matched exactly what my tax preparer told me last year but with much more detailed explanation about E*Trade's specific reporting method.

If you're still struggling after trying to figure this out, I'd recommend using Claimyr to get through to an actual IRS agent for clarification. I had a similar issue with wash sales on my E*Trade account last year and spent weeks trying to get through to the IRS helpline with no luck. Used https://claimyr.com and got connected to an IRS rep in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that with E*Trade 1099-Bs, the Realized Gain amount already accounts for wash sale adjustments through the adjusted cost basis. They explained that different brokerages report this differently, but E*Trade specifically builds the wash sale adjustments into the cost basis calculation, resulting in the correct Realized Gain amount for tax purposes. Saved me a ton of stress and potentially overpaying my taxes by a significant amount.

I have to admit I was completely wrong in my skeptical comment earlier. After struggling with my own E*Trade wash sale issues and getting nowhere with online research, I finally used Claimyr to connect with the IRS. Got through to an agent in about 20 minutes who was surprisingly knowledgeable. She confirmed that with E*Trade specifically, the Realized Gain figure on the 1099-B is the correct amount to report because wash sale adjustments are already factored into the cost basis calculation. She explained that adding the Wash Sale Loss Disallowed amount would result in double-counting and overpaying taxes. The agent even directed me to specific IRS publications that explain how brokerages should report wash sales on 1099-B forms. Genuinely shocked at how helpful and efficient this was compared to the conflicting info I found online.

Something nobody has mentioned yet - if you're using TurboTax, you can actually import your E*Trade 1099-B electronically rather than manually entering everything. When you do this, TurboTax automatically handles all the wash sale calculations correctly based on how E*Trade reports them. I've done this for the past three years and it's saved me tons of time and worry. The import function correctly recognizes that E*Trade's Realized Gain already includes the wash sale adjustments.

For anyone facing E*Trade 1099-B wash sale reporting issues, here's what I learned after calling E*Trade's tax support line: 1) The Realized Gain on your 1099-B ($37,220 in your case) is ALREADY the correct taxable amount 2) The Wash Sale Loss Disallowed amount is shown separately just for informational purposes 3) E*Trade has already adjusted your Cost Basis by adding back the disallowed wash sales 4) Adding the Wash Sale Loss Disallowed to your Realized Gain would be DOUBLE COUNTING I literally spent hours researching this last year and ended up calling E*Trade directly. Their tax specialist confirmed this is how their 1099-Bs work. Hope this helps!

I went through this exact same confusion with my E*Trade 1099-B last year and can confirm what everyone is saying - the answer is definitely (a) $37,220. The key insight that helped me understand this: E*Trade uses what's called "adjusted cost basis reporting." When you have wash sales, they automatically add the disallowed loss amount back to your cost basis for the replacement securities. This increases your cost basis, which in turn reduces your realized gain to the correct taxable amount. So when you see: - Proceeds: $876,450 - Cost Basis: $839,230 (this is ALREADY adjusted for wash sales) - Realized Gain: $37,220 That $37,220 is your final taxable amount. The $89,700 in the "Wash Sale Loss Disallowed" column is just showing you how much in losses were disallowed during the year, but those adjustments are already baked into your cost basis. I made the mistake of trying to add them together my first year and nearly overpaid by thousands. Thankfully caught it during review. The IRS expects you to report the realized gain as calculated by your broker when they're doing proper adjusted cost basis reporting like E*Trade does.

This whole thread has been incredibly helpful! I had the exact same confusion with my E*Trade 1099-B and was leaning toward answer (b) before reading everyone's explanations. What really clicked for me was understanding that E*Trade is essentially doing the math for you behind the scenes. When they show that $839,230 cost basis, they've already factored in all the wash sale adjustments that happened throughout the year. So that $89,700 "Wash Sale Loss Disallowed" figure represents adjustments that are already reflected in your cost basis - it's not something you need to add separately. I think the confusion comes from the fact that this column exists at all. It feels like it should be part of the calculation somehow, but really it's just there for transparency so you can see how much in losses were disallowed during the tax year. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with E*Trade support, the IRS, and tax professionals. It's reassuring to see the same answer confirmed through multiple sources. I'm definitely going with the $37,220 realized gain amount when I file!

This has been such a valuable thread! I'm dealing with the exact same E*Trade 1099-B situation and was completely lost until reading everyone's explanations. What really helped me understand this was the analogy about the receipt - the "Wash Sale Loss Disallowed" column is like documentation showing what adjustments were made, but those adjustments are already incorporated into the cost basis figure. E*Trade has done all the heavy lifting by automatically adjusting the cost basis upward to account for disallowed wash sale losses. I was initially leaning toward answer (b) and adding the $89,700 to the realized gain, but now I clearly see that would be double-counting. The $37,220 realized gain is already the correct taxable amount because it's calculated using the wash-sale-adjusted cost basis. Thanks to everyone who called E*Trade support, used the IRS callback services, and shared their experiences with tax professionals. Having multiple independent confirmations of the same answer gives me confidence to file correctly. This community really came through with practical, actionable advice!