Why are the proceeds and cost basis exactly the same on the 1099-B forms I'm seeing?

This is actually quite common! When proceeds equal cost basis on a 1099-B, it usually indicates one of several things: Wash sales are the most common reason. If someone sells a security at a loss and buys it back (or something substantially identical) within 30 days before or after the sale, it's considered a wash sale. The loss is disallowed for tax purposes and added to the cost basis of the replacement shares. When these replacement shares are later sold, the proceeds and cost basis might match. Another possibility is that these are cash-settled equity options that expired. When options expire worthless, the proceeds are $0 and the cost basis is adjusted to $0 as well. Some brokerages also report certain non-taxable transactions this way, like transfers between accounts or certain types of reorganizations where no gain or loss is recognized. Without seeing the actual transactions, it's hard to know exactly, but these are the most common explanations.

I discovered this exact same issue last year using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to analyze some of my clients' brokerage statements. One of my clients had a $2.3M proceeds/basis match that confused me too. The tool instantly identified that these were actually shares received from a corporate spinoff and then sold almost immediately. Since the basis gets allocated proportionally in a spinoff and the shares were sold right away, the proceeds and basis were virtually identical. Without that analysis I would've spent hours manually tracing the transactions. If you're seeing this regularly, it might be worth checking if your clients had any reorganizations, mergers or spinoffs in their portfolios.

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai on some of our brokerage statements with the matching proceeds/basis issue. It was incredibly helpful! Turned out our client with the $1.2M matching figures had done a specific type of bond swap through their advisor that was designed to be tax-neutral. The tool immediately identified the pattern and explained that certain types of municipal bond portfolio rebalancing can result in this exact scenario. It even provided the section of tax code that applied. Our tax department confirmed this was correct, and we've now updated our client's documents accordingly. Would've taken us days to figure this out manually!

If you're still stuck trying to figure this out, you might need to call the brokerage directly. I tried calling one of the major brokerages about a similar issue last month and spent THREE HOURS on hold. Finally gave up and tried using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get a callback - you can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - and they had the brokerage call me in about 20 minutes. The rep explained that in my case, the matching proceeds/basis was from a special dividend reinvestment program where the cost basis was being adjusted to match the proceeds for tax reporting purposes. Apparently it's a legitimate way of reporting certain types of transactions. Might be worth checking if you keep hitting walls with your research.

I have to apologize and follow up on my skeptical comment. After a particularly frustrating day trying to reach our client's brokerage about these matching basis/proceeds issues, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Within 35 minutes I had a brokerage tax specialist on the phone who explained everything. Turns out our specific situation was related to broker-assisted tax-loss harvesting where they were intentionally matching lots to create wash sales with zero net tax impact. The brokerage rep walked me through their entire reporting methodology and even sent documentation I never would have gotten otherwise. I'm genuinely impressed and feel a bit foolish for my initial reaction. It saved me an entire day of work and hold music torture. Sometimes it pays to be wrong!

Has anyone considered that these might be cryptocurrency transactions? I work in crypto tax compliance and we often see matching proceeds/basis for certain types of transactions: 1. Stablecoin trades where $1 USD = 1 USDC/USDT 2. Token swaps during certain blockchain migrations 3. Certain DeFi liquidity provision transactions The 1099-B reporting for crypto is still evolving, and many brokerages report these transactions with matching values to reflect the value-for-value exchange, especially with the new reporting requirements coming in 2025.

Just a quick tip from someone who's been in financial services for 20+ years - check if these accounts have automated dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs). When dividends are automatically reinvested, the cost basis often equals proceeds because the purchase price equals the sale price at that exact moment. If the account is high value ($1M+) and has been running on autopilot with DRIP for years, you can absolutely get these massive matching numbers. The tiny fractional differences might not even show up due to rounding on the 1099-B.

This is a great discussion with lots of helpful insights! I'm seeing similar patterns with some of our clients and wanted to add one more scenario I've encountered recently. Sometimes matching proceeds and cost basis can result from mutual fund exchanges within the same fund family. When clients do tax-free exchanges between funds (like moving from a growth fund to a value fund within the same company), the basis often transfers directly, resulting in identical numbers on the 1099-B. Also, for anyone dealing with these complex situations regularly, I'd recommend keeping a detailed spreadsheet tracking which clients have these matching figures and the eventual explanations. It's helped me identify patterns - for instance, I noticed that three clients with matching basis/proceeds all had the same financial advisor who was implementing a specific tax-loss harvesting strategy. The key is definitely not to panic when you see these numbers. There are legitimate reasons, but it's always worth investigating to make sure you're handling the tax implications correctly for your clients.