Form 1099-B Instructions for 2026

Before you start: what you will need

Form 1099-B reports four categories of information: who effected the transaction, who the customer is, what was sold and when, and the proceeds and basis needed to figure gain or loss. Every box on the form supports one of these four categories.

Have the following ready before filing:

• Broker’s or barter exchange’s name, address, telephone number, and TIN
• Recipient’s name, address, TIN, and account number, if one is assigned
• The CUSIP number and description of each security sold
• Acquisition date, sale date, and gross proceeds net of commissions
• Adjusted cost basis, wash sale adjustments, and accrued market discount for covered securities
• Transfer statements received from other brokers and any Form 8937 issuer returns affecting basis
• Any federal or state tax withheld

If a recipient has not provided a TIN, request a completed Form W-9 before filing. Foreign recipients should provide the appropriate Form W-8. Without a TIN, backup withholding may be required.

What changed in the Form 1099-B instructions for 2026

Form 1099-B has no new boxes for 2026. The changes below affect data entry and filing.

• Address fields are separated into individual components

  Payer and recipient addresses are no longer a single line. Each component, such as street, city, state, country, and ZIP code, is now its own field.

• Digital assets stay on Form 1099-DA

  Brokers report each 2026 digital asset sale on Form 1099-DA. A digital asset that is also a security, called a dual classification asset, generally goes on Form 1099-DA as well, including tokenized securities.

• The FIRE system retires at the end of 2026

  Starting with tax year 2026 returns, IRIS is the only IRS intake system for information returns. Filers still using FIRE should complete the move to IRIS before the 2027 filing season. Learn More

Who must file Form 1099-B

A broker or barter exchange must file Form 1099-B for each person who:

• Sold stocks, bonds, commodities, regulated futures contracts, foreign currency contracts, forward contracts, options, securities futures contracts, or similar property through the broker for cash, including short sales
• Received cash, stock, or other property in an acquisition of control or substantial change in capital structure reportable on Form 8806
• Exchanged property or services through a barter exchange

A broker is anyone who, in the ordinary course of business, stands ready to effect sales for others. An obligor that regularly issues and retires its own debt, or a corporation that regularly redeems its own stock, is also a broker.

Dispositions of interests in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) are always reported, regardless of who made the disposition. Report each one on its own form, even for corporate holders.

When Form 1099-B is not required

Brokers are not required to file, but may file, for these transactions:

• Sales for exempt recipients, such as charitable organizations, IRAs, Archer MSAs, HSAs, governments, and most corporations
• Sales of money market fund shares
• Sales of fractional shares with gross proceeds under $20
• Spot or forward sales of agricultural commodities
• Sales of precious metals in forms or quantities that cannot satisfy a CFTC-approved regulated futures contract
• Sales of short-term obligations issued on or after January 1, 2014

An S corporation is not exempt for sales of covered securities it acquired after 2011.

Barter exchanges do not need to file when they had fewer than 100 transactions during the year, or for exchanges worth less than $1.00.

Broker and recipient information instructions

Address information must be entered as separate fields for 2026. Filers whose systems store addresses as one field should update their data mapping before their first 2026 submission to avoid validation errors.

The recipient’s TIN may be truncated on the recipient’s copy. It must appear in full on the copy filed with the IRS. The filer’s TIN can never be truncated.

Form 1099-B box-by-box instructions

• Box 1a, Description of property

  For stock and debt instruments, enter the issuer’s name and the number of shares or units sold. For stock, also enter the class, abbreviated as C for common, P for preferred, or O for other.

  For a non-Section 1256 option, enter the underlying security and the number of shares covered. For barter, describe the property or services provided. For futures and Section 1256 options, enter a description such as RFC or Section 1256 option.

• Box 1b, Date acquired

  Enter the acquisition date of the securities sold. Leave it blank if they were acquired on various dates, or if you check Box 5 and choose not to complete it.

• Box 1c, Date sold or disposed

  For broker transactions, enter the trade date, not the settlement date. For barter, enter the date cash, property, credit, or scrip was actually or constructively received.

• Box 1d, Proceeds

  Enter gross proceeds, reduced by commissions and transfer taxes on the sale. Show a loss, such as a closing transaction on a written option, as a negative amount in parentheses.

  Do not include accrued interest on bonds sold between payment dates, which goes on Form 1099-INT. Do not include amounts reported in Boxes 8 through 11.

• Box 1e, Cost or other basis

  Enter the adjusted basis of the securities sold. Leave it blank only for a noncovered security when you check Box 5 and choose not to report basis. Enter zero only when the basis was actually zero. Box 1e is covered in more detail in the cost basis section below.

• Box 1f, Accrued market discount

  Enter the amount of accrued market discount on a debt instrument sold.

• Box 1g, Wash sale loss disallowed

  Enter any loss disallowed under the wash sale rules of section 1091. Reporting is required when the sale and repurchase occur in the same account, for covered securities with the same CUSIP number.

  For example, a customer buys 100 shares for $1,000 and sells them for $600. Within 30 days, the customer buys 75 shares with the same CUSIP in the same account. Report $600 in Box 1d, $1,000 in Box 1e, and $300 in Box 1g, since the loss on 75 of the 100 shares is disallowed.

  Add the disallowed loss to the basis of the newly purchased shares.

• Box 2, Type of gain or loss

  Check whether the gain or loss is short-term or long-term. Also check Ordinary if any portion may be ordinary, such as transactions in a foreign currency or contingent payment debt instruments.

  Short-term and long-term gain or loss can never appear on the same form.

• Box 3, Collectibles or QOF

  Check Collectibles if the Box 1d proceeds are from collectibles. Check QOF for any disposition of an interest in a Qualified Opportunity Fund.

• Box 4, Federal income tax withheld

  Enter any backup withholding, which applies when the recipient did not provide a TIN in the required manner.

• Box 5, Noncovered security

  You may check this box when reporting the sale of a noncovered security. Never check it for a covered security. Box 5 is covered in more detail in the cost basis section below.

• Box 6, Reported to IRS: gross or net proceeds

  Check the first box if Box 1d shows gross proceeds. Check the second box if you reduced proceeds by option premiums.

• Box 7, Loss not allowed based on amount in Box 1d

  Check this box when reporting an acquisition of control or substantial change in capital structure. Enter the cash and fair market value of stock or property received in Box 1d.

• Box 8, Realized Profit or (Loss)

  Reports the realized profit or loss on contracts closed during the year.

• Box 9, Unrealized Profit or (Loss) at Year End

  Reports the unrealized profit or loss on open contracts as of December 31 of the previous year.

• Box 10, Unrealized Profit or (Loss) at Year End

  Reports the unrealized profit or loss on open contracts as of December 31 of the current year.

• Box 11, Aggregate Profit or (Loss)

  Reports the aggregate profit or loss from the amounts reported in Boxes 8, 9, and 10.

• Box 12, Basis reported to IRS

  Check this box if you are not checking Box 5, or if you are checking Box 5 but reporting basis in Box 1e anyway.

• Box 13, Bartering

  Enter the gross amounts a barter exchange member or client received. Include cash, the fair market value of property or services, and the fair market value of trade credits or scrip. Do not report negative amounts.

Form 1099-B cost basis instructions: Covered and noncovered securities explained

Whether a security is covered determines which basis-related information must generally be reported on Form 1099-B and affects the penalty treatment for certain reporting errors.

Covered or noncovered: which securities are which

A security transferred in with a transfer statement showing it as covered is also covered. So is a security received in a stock split, dividend, or reorganization when its basis comes from a covered security. Any security that does not meet these rules is noncovered.

One sale, several forms

Report each of these on a separate Form 1099-B, even when they come from a single sale:

1. Covered securities with short-term gain or loss
2. Covered securities with long-term gain or loss
3. Noncovered securities, if you check Box 5

For example, a customer bought shares of the same stock in April 2024, April 2025, and August 2025, then sold them all in June 2026. The April 2024 shares are noncovered. The April 2025 shares are long-term covered, and the August 2025 shares are short-term covered. This sale needs two forms for the covered shares. The noncovered shares go on a third form, where you may check Box 5, or on the long-term covered form.

State reporting instructions (Boxes 14 to 16)

These boxes are optional for the IRS. They are used by filers in the Combined Federal/State Filing Program or by filers whose state requires a paper copy.

The form holds information for up to two states, one per line. If a state requires a paper copy, send it Copy 1 and give Copy 2 to the recipient for their state return. Leave these boxes blank when no state reporting applies.

Common Form 1099-B filing mistakes

• Combining short-term and long-term sales on one form. Each form can show only one holding period. Split a mixed sale across separate forms.
• Reporting a noncovered security without checking Box 5. Without Box 5, basis-related boxes are held to covered-security accuracy standards and penalties.
• Checking Box 5 for a covered security. Box 5 is only for noncovered securities. Covered securities always need full basis reporting.
• Reporting settlement date in Box 1c. Box 1c takes the trade date for broker transactions.
• Missing wash sale adjustments. Same-account, same-CUSIP wash sales on covered securities must appear in Box 1g and carry into the new shares’ basis.
• Reporting digital asset sales on Form 1099-B. Most digital asset sales, including tokenized securities, belong on Form 1099-DA.
• Ignoring late transfer statements. A transfer statement showing a security is covered triggers a corrected Form 1099-B within 30 days.

Filing your 1099-B once it is complete

Once all applicable boxes are completed, Form 1099-B can be filed by paper or electronically. With the FIRE system retiring at the end of 2026, e-filing is the more sustainable option regardless of current filing volume.

To e-file with TaxBandits:

• Step 1: Create a free account.
• Step 2: Select or add the broker or barter exchange filing the return.
• Step 3: Enter the required Form 1099-B details, following the box-by-box instructions above.
• Step 4: Review all entries, then transmit to the IRS and any applicable states.

E-File Form 1099-B Now, starting as low as $0.80/form.

Frequently asked questions