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Form 8824 – Like-Kind Exchange

Tax Reform Update: Generally, only real property qualifies for like-kind exchange treatment under current tax law. See the IRS instructions for exceptions. Certain exchanges of property are not taxable. This means any gain from the exchange is not recognized, and any loss cannot be deducted. For information on like-kind exchanges, see IRS Publication 544. Additional […]

Form 6781 – Section 1256 Contracts and Straddles – Futures Contracts

For futures contracts, the Form 1099-B that you receive needs to be reported on Part I of Form 6781, Gains and Losses From Section 1256 Contracts and Straddles.  You cannot import this type of transaction into the TaxAct program; you need to manually enter it. To access Form 6781 in the TaxAct program, follow the […]

Form 1099-B – Import Stock Information from CSV File

TaxAct customers can enter multiple Form 1099-B Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions quickly and easily by importing a CSV (comma separated values) file.  To import transactions, you will need to either:  obtain a spreadsheet file from your broker and import it using the steps below, or create your own spreadsheet – see Form […]

Form 4797 – Sale of Business Property – Force to Part II

To enter a loss for the sale of business property that was not previously entered as a depreciable asset, follow the steps below.  Online Dashboard From within your TaxAct return, click Income.  On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection. Click the Business & Self […]

Form 2439 – Undistributed Capital Gains

To enter undistributed capital gain information from Form 2439, Notice to Shareholder of Undistributed Long-Term Capital Gains, follow the steps below.  Online Dashboard From within your TaxAct return, click Income.  On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection. Click the Explore More drop-down. Click Add beside […]

Form 1099-S – Sale of Real Estate Property

Use Form 1099-S, Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions, to report proceeds from real estate transactions. You will report the information on a specific part of the form, depending on how you use the property: main home, timeshare/vacation home, investment property, business, or rental. To report your real estate proceeds in the TaxAct program, follow the steps below. […]

Form 1099-OID – Entering in Program

To report Form 1099-OID, follow the steps below.  Online Dashboard From within your TaxAct return, click Income.  On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection. Click the Explore More drop-down. Click Add beside Original Issue Discount.  Complete the rest of the interview process.  Classic From within […]

Sale of Home – Sale of Main Home

According to the IRS, you may not need to report the sale of your main home. Reporting is required only if either of the following is true:  You cannot exclude all the gain. You received Form 1099-S for the sale. If you are required to report the sale, follow the steps below.  Excluding Gain on […]

Form 8949 and Form 1099-B – Enter Stock Transactions

There are several options that you can use to enter or import your stock transactions and information from Form 1099-B. Once entered, the TaxAct program will complete Form 8949 Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, Schedule D Capital Gains and Losses, and Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Line 7, as applicable. If […]

Form 1099-B – Separate Line Reporting Exceptions (Schedule D or 8949 Summary Totals)

Generally, the IRS requires all sales and exchanges of capital assets, including stocks, bonds, etc., to be entered on separate lines on Form 8949, however, the Form 8949 Instructions provide two exceptions to this requirement.  Exception 1: When basis was reported to the IRS and no adjustments are needed, totals may be reported directly on […]

Form 1099-B – Entering in Program

Capital gains and losses are reported on Form 1099-B and are automatically carried to Schedule D and/or Form 8949, as applicable. The 1099-B form you received might not report the date acquired or the cost basis, but you are responsible for acquiring and entering that information to properly report the transactions. Sale Dates – If […]

Capital Gains and Losses – Dividends Received on Restricted Stock

Restricted stock is stock that you get from your employer for services you perform. It is non-transferable and subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. You do not have to include the value of the stock in your income when you receive it. If you get dividends on restricted stock, however, you must include them […]

Stock Assistant

Stock Assistant is a valuable tool to provide a quick entry (spreadsheet style) mechanism for capital gain transactions reported on Form 1099-B. You may quickly add new stock transactions by selecting the bottom table row. A new entry will be automatically created, and you may enter all the necessary details.  Follow the steps below to […]

Form 1099-B – Create Your Own Spreadsheet (CSV File)

Create Spreadsheet  When creating a spreadsheet to import information into your tax return, the following columns are required to report Form 1099-B: Description Date Sold Sales Proceeds Date Acquired Cost or Other Basis Some additional fields may also be needed: Additional Description: You may have a column in your file reflecting information such as the quantity […]

Form 1099-B – Restricted Stock Units and Backup Withholding

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are a form of compensation offered by some employers. These are generally taxed at the time of vesting, whereas employee stock options are usually taxed at the time of option exercise. The employer is required to withhold taxes as soon as the RSUs become vested. The employer will issue Form W-2 […]

Schedule D – Multiple Entries Direct Entry Forms – Desktop

Although you cannot enter information from Form 1099-B Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions directly onto Schedule D (Form 1040) Capital Gains and Losses, the following steps may help to streamline the entry process for TaxAct Desktop (download) customers. The information to be entered on Form 8949 Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets […]

Joint vs. Separate Capital Gain and Loss Summary

The Joint vs. Separate Analysis will separate the net capital gains or losses by taxpayer and spouse, up to the amounts allowed. You may deduct capital losses up to the amount of your capital gains plus $3,000 ($1,500 if married filing separately). There is no report in the program that shows separate capital gain transactions […]

Wash Sale Definition and Entry

A “Wash Sale” is trading activity in which shares of a security are sold at a loss and a substantially identical security is purchased within a 61-day window that extends from 30 days before the date of the sale to 30 days after the date of the sale. The portion of the loss associated with […]

Capital Gains and Losses – Bitcoin and Other Virtual Currency

Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin or other “cryptocurrencies” are taxed differently from cash or coin currency. The IRS generally recognizes virtual currency as property, not legal tender. As such, virtual currency received as payment by an individual or business must be included as miscellaneous income as an exchange of property or service. The value of […]

Royalties – General Information

To enter royalty income in the TaxAct program, go to our Form 1099-MISC – Royalties FAQ. Per IRS Publication 525 Taxable and Nontaxable Income, page 17: Royalties Royalties from copyrights; patents; and oil, gas, and mineral properties are taxable as ordinary income. In most cases, you report royalties on Schedule E (Form 1040). However, if […]

CUSIP Identification Number

The CUSIP acronym typically refers to both the Committee on Uniform Security Identification Procedures and the 9-character alphanumeric security identifiers that it distributes for all North American securities for the purposes of facilitating, clearing, and settlement of trades. This number is not the Federal Identification Number (FEIN) for a company. A CUSIP number identifies most […]

Form 1040 – Basis in Inherited Property

Generally, the basis in property you inherited from a decedent is the Fair Market Value (FMV) at the date of the individual’s death. However, you should refer to IRS Publication 551 Basis of Assets for additional information and exceptions. Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take […]

Schedule D – Sale of Inherited Property

To report sale of personal property (or inherited property that is considered personal property) on Schedule D (Form 1040) Capital Gains and Losses in the TaxAct program, you will report it in the Capital Gains and Losses section of the program, and select Adjustment Code “L” (if the inherited property is not considered “personal use” property, […]

Form 1099-OID – Number of Forms Supported

The TaxAct program supports the entry of 20 Forms 1099-OID Original Issue Discount. Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the webpage or document at the time it is accessed.

Schedule D – Viewing Tax Worksheet

If there is an amount on Line 18 (from the 28% Rate Gain Worksheet) or Line 19 (from the Unrecaptured Section 1250 Gain Worksheet) of Schedule D (Form 1040) Capital Gains and Losses, according to the IRS, the tax is calculated on the Schedule D Tax Worksheet instead of the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain […]

Capital Gains Reports – Long-Term and Short-Term Reports

In the TaxAct program, you can use Capital Gain Summary reports to review all of your capital gain transactions during the year. The transactions are organized by short-term and long-term. To review your short-term and/or long-term capital gains/losses summary report: From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Review, then click Reports (on smaller […]

Capital Gains and Losses – Capital Loss Carryover

You may deduct capital losses up to the amount of your capital gains, plus $3,000 ($1,500 if married filing separately). If part of the loss is still unused, you can carry it forward to later years until it is completely depleted. This “unused loss” includes any amount appearing on Line 7 of IRS Form 1040 […]

Capital Gains and Losses – Cost Basis

To properly report your capital gains and losses on Form 8949 Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets and Schedule D Capital Gains and Losses, you will need to determine your basis (cost) of your shares sold to enter in Purchase price or other basis. Your basis should be maintained in your records. Your plan […]

Cost or Other Basis – Expenses of Sale

You need to add expenses of sales and commissions to your original cost basis to calculate the cost or other basis amount. The TaxAct interview process does not ask for these items separately; you need to keep detailed records to complete this entry. To access Form 1099-B and report cost or other basis in the […]

Capital Gains and Losses – Various Purchase Dates

Per IRS Instructions for Form 8949, page 5: Stock acquired on various dates. If you sold a block of stock (or similar property) that you acquired through several different purchases, you may report the sale on one row and enter “VARIOUS” in column (b). However, you still must report the short-term gain or (loss) on the sale […]

Inherited Stock

If you are entering information for the sale of stock you inherited, in the Date Acquired entry field for Form 1099-B Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions, enter the word “Inherited” instead of an actual date (you will still be allowed to e-file your return). The program will then compute the transaction as long […]

Basis – Property Received as a Gift

Per IRS Publication 551 Basis of Assets, page 9: Property Received as a Gift To figure the basis of property you receive as a gift, you must know its adjusted basis (defined earlier) to the donor just before it was given to you, its FMV at the time it was given to you, and any […]

Capital Gains and Losses – Short-Term Capital Gain

All capital gains (long-term and short-term) are reported on Form 8949 Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets and Schedule D Capital Gains and Losses is used to calculate a net capital gain or loss. If there is a net gain that is all short-term, then the short-term gain will be taxed at the taxpayer’s […]

Export CSV File – Charles Schwab

To export a CSV file from Charles Schwab for import into your TaxAct® return: Go to the Charles Schwab website. Click Log In to log into your account. Click Accounts tab in the upper left corner. When the Accounts tab is displaying, click History submenu item, then click the Realized Gain/Loss tab. Select a date […]

Form 1042-S – Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding

Form 1042-S Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding is used to report amounts paid to foreign persons (including persons presumed to be foreign) who are subject to income tax withholding. For an individual taxpayer, Form 1042-S is a document provided to you (and the IRS) by the payer of the income reported. That […]

Form W-2 – ESOP Same Day Sale Income Included

Employee Stock Option Plan If you have done a same-day sale, all of the income and tax withholdings should be reported on your Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement. You should not have to report any gain or tax withholdings elsewhere on your return. You will want to verify with your employer that this information […]

Capital Gains and Losses – Sale of Vacation Home

A second home, or a timeshare, used as a vacation home is a personal use capital asset. A gain on the sale is reportable income, but a loss is NOT deductible. If you receive Form 1099-S Proceeds from Real Estate Transactions for the sale of your vacation home, you need to report it in the TaxAct program on Form […]

Gains and Losses – Short-Term and Long-Term

All capital gains (long-term and short-term) are reported on Form 8949 Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, and Schedule D Capital Gains and Losses is used to calculate a net capital gain or loss. If there is a net gain that is all short-term, then the short-term gain will be taxed at the taxpayer’s […]

Schedule D (Form 1040) – Capital Gains and Losses

Investors who sold stocks, bonds, options, or other securities will have to prepare Form 8949 Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets and Schedule D (Form 1040) Capital Gains and Losses for capital gains and losses, and file them along with Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. In the TaxAct program, you need to […]