Form 8949 and Schedule D

If you sold property such as stocks, bonds, or certain commodities through a broker, you should receive Form 1099 B or a substitute statement. You use that document to complete Form 8949 and/or Schedule D, as applicable.

Your obligation to report taxable sales does not depend on receiving Form 1099 B. Without that broker document, you still account for each taxable stock, bond, commodity, or comparable property sale using whichever filing applies: Form 8949, Schedule D, or both.

If you receive Form 1099 B, Form 1099 DA, Form 1099 S, or a substitute statement, you always report the proceeds shown on that document in column (d) of Form 8949. You use the proceeds, or sales price, shown on the form or statement.

Your instruction for column (e) depends on whether basis was reported to the IRS. For cost or other basis disclosed to the IRS on Form 1099 B, Form 1099 DA, or a substitute statement, you copy the document's amount into column (e) without changing it.

If you need to correct or adjust these amounts, you make the correction or adjustment in column (g). When your document shows that basis was reported to the IRS, you therefore enter the reported basis in column (e) and make any needed correction in column (g).

You enter the date you sold or disposed of the property in the sale or disposition date column. For stocks and bonds traded on an exchange or in the over the counter market, you use the trade date.

If you are reporting a short sale, you enter the date you delivered the property to the broker or lender to close the short sale. Your date entry for that transaction follows the delivery that closes the short sale.

If your Form 1099 B or Form 1099 DA shows proceeds of $6,000 and cost or other basis of $2,000, the reporting instruction also depends on the basis reporting checkbox. When box 12 on Form 1099 B or box 2 on Form 1099 DA is unchecked, your basis was not reported to the IRS.

For that transaction, you report the sale on Form 8949. You do not report it on Schedule D line 1a or line 8a. This instruction applies to the stated example even though your document includes both proceeds and cost or other basis.

You report the sale or exchange of your main home on Form 8949 if you cannot exclude all of your gain from income. Your receipt of Form 1099 S also requires you to include that home transaction on Form 8949.

If you have gain from your home that cannot be excluded, you must generally report it on both Form 8949 and Schedule D. You report the sale in Part I or Part II of Form 8949 as a short term or long term transaction, depending on how long you owned the home.

If you received Form 1099 S for your home sale, you enter the proceeds shown on that form in column (d) of Form 8949. You use column (g) for any change needed to correct or adjust the sales price.

For a 2025 sale, trade, exchange, payment, or other transfer involving a digital asset you owned as a capital asset, select "Yes" and calculate the resulting capital gain or loss using Form 8949. You then report that gain or loss on Schedule D.

Your covered dispositions under this instruction include a sale, trade, exchange, payment, or other transfer. The instruction applies when you held the digital asset as a capital asset. For more information about reporting your digital asset transactions, you are directed to the Form 1040 instructions.

For a loss you cannot deduct, choose Form 8949 Part I or Part II according to your property's holding period. You complete all columns for the transaction.

Unless you received Form 1099 B or Form 1099 DA for the sale or exchange, you check box C or box I at the top of Part I, or box F or box L at the top of Part II. Your applicable part depends on how long you owned the property.

You receive capital gains distributions reported in box 2a of Form 1099 DIV. If you have no other capital gains or losses, that amount generally flows to Schedule D line 13 and then to Form 1040.

When you are not otherwise required to file Schedule D, the IRS allows you to enter the distribution directly on your return. Your reporting therefore includes an exception to the general route through Schedule D.

To elect out of the installment method, you report the full amount of your gain on Form 8949 on a timely filed return for the year of the sale. Your timely filing period for this election includes extensions.

If you filed your original return on time, you can make the election on an amended return filed no later than 6 months after your return's due date. For this amended return deadline, you exclude extensions.

You enter "Filed pursuant to section 301.9100-2" at the top of the amended return. Your ability to use this amended return election depends on having filed the original return on time and meeting the 6 month deadline.