You mean "1099-B", I'm sure.
The problem here is that you are using the wrong basis to report the sale.
The "step by step" interviews are still available but I generally don't advise using them as people frequently get confused by these interviews.
To give you both an understanding and a fix:
When you sell stock acquired via an employer stock incentive program your basis for the sale is the sum of:
- Any amount you paid to receive the stock, which might be $0, plus
- Compensation income created either by the acquisition or sale of the stock
The compensation income created by either the acquisition or sale of the stock, (different stock options have different rules here), should be included in your W-2 and reported to you in either Box 12 or Box 14.
If the sale is "covered" - broker reports basis to IRS - then since 2014 brokers are only required to report the "purchase price" element of the sale. The basis reported by the broker omits the "compensation" element of the sale and therefore the "compensation" amount gets reported twice if you enter the 1099-B as it reads: once via the W-2 and then again as an overstatement of gain on the sale of the stock.
Clearly the "fix" here is to add back the compensation element to the basis of the stock being sold. Of course if the sale is not for all of the stock granted under an employer stock incentive plan award, you then you need to convert the compensation element to a "per-share" figure which you use in reporting the sale.
If the 1099-B is reporting the basis to the IRS and is not using the correct basis then enter the 1099-B as it reads on the default 1099-B entry form but then click on the "I'll enter additional info on my own " blue button. On the next page enter the correct basis in the "Corrected cost basis" box. The correct basis is (number of shares sold) x (correct per share basis, which included the compensation per share)
TurboTax will report the sale on Form 8949 "as reported by the broker" but will put an adjustment figure into column (g) of the Form, a code "B" into column (f) of the Form, and the correct amount of gain or loss which includes the adjustment.
Tom Young
