Form 1099-B: Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchanges

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What is a 1099-B?
Who receives a 1099-B?
- Stocks.
- Bonds and other debt instruments.
- Short sales.
- Commodities.
- Regulated futures contracts.
- Foreign currency contracts.
- Forward contracts.
- Options.
- Securities futures contracts for cash
.
- You participated in a barter exchange. The IRS considers the value of the trade taxable earned income
. - You received cash, stock or another type of property from a corporation that your broker knows or “has reason to know
.” This can be a little complicated, but the instructions for Form 1099-B have more details.
How a 1099-B form works
- When you acquired a security and how much you paid for it.
- When you sold the security and for how much.
- Whether the brokerage withheld any state or federal taxes on your behalf.

- Capital gains: When you sell a security for more than you originally paid for it, you may have to pay either long-term or short-term capital gains tax on your profit. Which tax rate applies to your sale depends on how long you held the asset before deciding to sell.
- Capital losses: If you sell something for less than it was worth when you purchased it, that’s called a capital loss. Because the IRS taxes you on your net capital gains (your total gains minus your total losses), capital losses can potentially help to reduce your capital gains and even ordinary income.
What if there’s more information on my 1099-B?
When will I get a 1099-B form?
Article sources
- 1. Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-B, Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions. Accessed Dec 12, 2024.
- 2. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525: Taxable and Nontaxable Income. Accessed Dec 12, 2024.
- 3. Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-B. Accessed Sep 14, 2023.
- 4. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1179 General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Forms 1096, 1098, 1099, 5498, and Certain Other Information Returns. Accessed Dec 12, 2024.
- 5. Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2023). Accessed Dec 12, 2024.