It's just the screwball terminology that the IRS has chosen....that seem s warped to us all. I'd like them to be listed completely separately, but they didn't ask me or would have ignored me anyhow.
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THUS
On a 1099-DIV form, the total of ALL potentially-taxable dividends are included in box1a .
....then a subset of 1a are also considered "qualified" for special tax treatment, and those entered in 1b.....
.............so 1a and 1b can occasionally be the same number,
........................but while 1b can be less than 1a, it can never be greater than 1a
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(Except tax-exempt in box 11, those are entirely separate)
____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*
