Interesting bLog about Broker Statements

[dtlee]

I found this while investigating some inconsistencies with a client's statements.

It may be of interest to others. YMMV.

http://www.tradelogsoftware.com/tax-topics/1099b-problems/

[Koss]

Inaccurate Forms 1099-B

I only have a few clients with a large number of transactions, so I haven't seen a lot of this. But I suspected that some of these forms were really fouled up.

It's pretty clear what happened here.

The guy at the IRS who designed and implemented the new 1099-B reporting requirements is the same guy who developed the reporting rules and guidelines for Form 1098-T...



BMK

[JohnH]

OK. That makes perfect sense to me.

[Burke]

What gets me is WHY we have to go to all the trouble to either input every single transaction on the Sche D, and/or send in the statements if we summarize, when all this information is electronically sent to the IRS in the first place by the broker? If it "don't match," THEN send a letter! Just like they do for everything else that doesn't match. What in the world is the IRS going to do with all this paper? I'm writing Nina Olsen. Even the Commissioner is trying to streamline the reporting process so that the TP does not have to send in info they already have.

[JG EA]

What gets me is WHY we have to go to all the trouble to either input every single transaction on the Sche D, and/or send in the statements if we summarize, when all this information is electronically sent to the IRS in the first place by the broker? If it "don't match," THEN send a letter! Just like they do for everything else that doesn't match. What in the world is the IRS going to do with all this paper? I'm writing Nina Olsen. Even the Commissioner is trying to streamline the reporting process so that the TP does not have to send in info they already have.

Hopefully because they don't want to start doing client's returns on their own yet. It will be that way some day. (Scary music in the background.).

[origun]

"Moot Point"

A few years ago I was at an IRS seminar and the speaker said "It was a moot point" whether we listed individual stock sales,or just grouped sales appropriately as LT or ST and/or sent in brokerage statements with a 8453...as long as the totals matched the info they received electronically from broker. I remember his exact phraseology (and his name!) and keep recalling it when I'm deciding how to show stock sales on a Schedule D. I'm very careful with totals and ST vs LT but sometimes group (e.g., listing as Edward Jones and grouping all stock sales on their 1099-B together). I have never been questioned by the IRS, have been in this business 15 years and have a lot of retired clients with investments. I work for HRB and our billing is by the number of entries so I try to keep number of entries as low as possible to avoid astronomical bills.

I was recently looking at a CP 2000 received by the son of my client (it was a self-prepared return and sales were omitted!); the IRS listed both the brokerage and the name of the individual stock when enumerating what was missing on the return (e.g., Scott Trade and Microsoft).