Although the Internal Revenue Service began accepting tax returns in the last week of January, you’re in good company if you haven’t started on yours.
One reason you might not have started your return is that you don’t have all the necessary tax forms. But you may have fewer excuses for procrastinating now that you should’ve received your investment forms.
February 15 was the date financial firms you used to buy or sell stocks and other tradeable securities besides cryptocurrencies that can appreciate were required to send you your completed 1099s.
There are many different types of 1099 forms. But when it comes to investing in stocks, the two main ones you should know about are the 1099-B and 1099-DIV.
Know your tax forms:1099, W-4, W-2, W-9, 1040: What are they used for?
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The 1099-B documents the proceeds from sales of stocks or similar commodities, regardless of whether you sold them at a loss or gain. This form is used as the basis for Schedule D, the form you’ll fill out to calculate the capital gains taxes you may owe.
The 1099-DIV documents any dividends you received from owning dividend-paying assets, or if an investment you own gives you a portion of its earnings. If your 1099-DIV indicated that you received more than $1,500 in interest or dividends, you may also be required to fill out a supplemental form known as Schedule B.
Where are my Robinhood tax documents?
If, for instance, you trade with Robinhood, you should’ve received an email by Feb. 15 with instructions on how to download your tax forms, according to information on Robinhood’s site. But if you can’t find the email you can also log into your account, click account then menu or setting followed by tax center. There you should be able to download the tax documents you need.
Robinhood, like many other brokerage firms, will give you a document ID for the forms which you can easily use to import this information into tax software like TurboTax and TaxAct.
More of your 2022 tax season questions answered
Elisabeth Buchwald is a personal finance and markets correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on Twitter @BuchElisabeth and sign up for our Daily Money newsletter here
Story Credit: usatoday.com