Why does my Fidelity taxable brokerage 1099-B have missing cost basis info despite showing gain/loss data?

This is actually a common issue with brokerage 1099-Bs, and there's a specific reason for it. When you see that message about missing or incomplete cost basis, it's often referring to how that information is reported to the IRS, not necessarily what appears on your form. For securities purchased after certain dates (2011 for stocks, 2014 for bonds, etc.), brokers are required to report cost basis to the IRS. However, for securities purchased before those dates or transferred from another institution without cost basis info, Fidelity may show you the cost basis they have in their records but may not be reporting it to the IRS. The good news is that you can still use the cost basis information shown on your form when filing your taxes. You'll just need to make sure you enter both the proceeds and the cost basis on your Schedule D and Form 8949, and you'll need to check the appropriate box indicating the cost basis wasn't reported to the IRS.

I ran into this exact issue last year and found this awesome tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me sort through my Fidelity 1099-B confusion. I was freaking out because I had like 50+ trades and wasn't sure which ones had the "missing" cost basis even though the numbers were right there like you mentioned. What taxr.ai did was scan my entire 1099 document and automatically flagged which transactions needed that special code B treatment on Form 8949. It separated everything into the right categories and showed me exactly which boxes to check. Saved me hours of staring at tax forms trying to figure out which transactions Fidelity had reported differently to the IRS.

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. Holy crap it was helpful! My E*Trade 1099-B had the exact same issue with some transactions flagged as "missing cost basis" despite showing all the numbers. The tool instantly identified which transactions needed code B and which were already reported correctly to the IRS. It even explained why certain ones were tagged that way (most of mine were either from transfers or purchases before 2011). Literally took me 5 minutes to figure out what would have been hours of confusion. Just wanted to share since this thread helped me!

If you're having trouble getting clarification from Fidelity directly about which transactions they actually reported to the IRS, I'd recommend trying Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I used it to get through to Fidelity's tax department after spending days trying to reach them myself. They have this service where they get you to the front of the phone queue without having to wait on hold for hours. You can see how it works in this demo: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was in the same boat last year - confused about cost basis reporting on my 1099-B. After using Claimyr to actually reach a Fidelity tax specialist, they reviewed my specific transactions and confirmed exactly which ones needed manual entry on my 8949 and why they had the warning despite showing the numbers. Getting that direct confirmation from Fidelity gave me peace of mind when filing.

I need to eat crow here and admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself because I was still struggling with this exact 1099-B issue from Vanguard and couldn't get through to anyone. Not only did it work, but I got connected to a tax specialist at Vanguard in about 30 minutes when I'd previously wasted two afternoons trying. The rep explained that securities I'd transferred from an old Merrill account showed cost basis on my forms but weren't being reported to the IRS because Merrill never provided the official cost basis to Vanguard during the transfer. Mystery solved! Apparently this is super common with transfers between brokerages. So now I know exactly which transactions need code B on my 8949. Definitely worth it just for the peace of mind.

Just a tip from someone who deals with this every year: take screenshots of your cost basis from your brokerage account throughout the year, especially after you sell something. I've learned the hard way that sometimes what shows in your account activity doesn't match what ends up on the 1099-B. I keep a spreadsheet with all my transactions and relevant screenshots so when tax time comes, I can compare what's being reported against my own records. This is especially important for things like crypto or weird ETFs where cost basis reporting is still evolving.

This whole "missing cost basis" thing is a massive headache every year. It's gotten worse since I started doing more trades. Tax software doesn't handle it well either. Anyone tried importing their Fidelity data directly into tax software? Does it automatically mark the right boxes for these transactions or do you still have to manually identify which ones need code B?

FYI to everyone here: this whole issue with "missing cost basis" got a lot more complicated in recent years with fractional shares and dividend reinvestment plans. Many brokerages calculate cost basis differently for these situations. Fidelity specifically uses average cost for mutual funds but FIFO (first in, first out) for stocks unless you specify otherwise. If you have years of dividend reinvestments, you could literally have hundreds of tiny purchase lots with different basis amounts. This is often why the "missing cost basis" flag appears.

Just wanted to add my experience for anyone still confused about this. I had the exact same issue with my Fidelity 1099-B showing "missing cost basis" warnings but displaying all the numbers clearly on the form. After reading through this thread and doing some digging, I found that you can actually verify which specific transactions Fidelity reported to the IRS by looking at the "Cost Basis Reported to IRS" column on your 1099-B. If it shows "No" or is blank, that's the transaction triggering the warning - even though Fidelity shows you their calculated cost basis. What helped me was logging into my Fidelity account and going to Tax Center → Tax Forms & Information → Cost Basis Information. There's a section that breaks down exactly which securities have "covered" vs "non-covered" cost basis reporting. Non-covered are the ones that need code B on Form 8949. This saved me from having to call customer service or use third-party tools. Just thought I'd share since the answer was buried in Fidelity's own system the whole time!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I was pulling my hair out over the same issue with my Schwab 1099-B. I kept seeing gain/loss calculations right there on the form but getting warnings about missing cost basis info. After reading through everyone's explanations, I finally understand that it's all about what gets reported to the IRS versus what the brokerage shows me. The key insight about checking the "Cost Basis Reported to IRS" column on the 1099-B is gold - I wish they made that more obvious! For anyone else dealing with this, I found that most of my "non-covered" transactions were from stock purchases I made back in 2009-2010 (before the reporting requirements kicked in) and some transfers from an old Merrill account. Makes total sense now why those would need code B on Form 8949 even though Schwab calculated the gains correctly on my form. One thing I'd add is that if you're using tax software, double-check that it's not automatically importing these as "covered" transactions. I caught TaxAct trying to treat everything as if it was reported to the IRS, which would have been wrong for about half my trades.

I've been dealing with this exact same confusion for years and finally have a system that works! What really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track the status of each transaction before tax season even starts. Here's what I do: Every time I sell something, I immediately check Fidelity's "Positions" page to see if that security shows up as "covered" or "non-covered" for cost basis reporting. I log this in my spreadsheet along with the basic transaction details (date sold, proceeds, my calculated gain/loss). Then when my 1099-B arrives, I can quickly cross-reference my spreadsheet against the "Cost Basis Reported to IRS" column to make sure everything matches up. Any "No" entries in that column go straight to the "needs code B on Form 8949" pile. This has saved me so much stress during tax season because I'm not scrambling to figure out which transactions are causing the "missing cost basis" warnings. Plus it helps catch any discrepancies between what I calculated during the year versus what shows up on the actual 1099-B. The whole system takes maybe 5 minutes per transaction when I sell, but saves hours of confusion in March/April!