Why the price doubled to include a 1099-B?

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
February 27, 2026
2 replies
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If a Brokerage CD, held for more than a year, generates a 1099-B, why does TurboTax double its fee for one more insignificant form? The form is so simple, and it is only so that the IRS can keep an eye on the Brokerage firm, hence the B in 1099-B. The interest is already being reported on a 1099-INT. It has nothing to do with income tax, but is just a tool so the IRS can confirm the Broker’s own reporting.

Not A Product Question

baldietax

Level 12

Unfortunately how they price it by forms required - gets expensive if you hit that one form that pushes you from Free to Deluxe or Deluxe to Premium and it doesn't matter if you have a 500 page 1099B or just a CD.

TT Desktop is a flat price for all forms in either of the versions, Desktop Premier just adds more help and tools but Desktop Deluxe has all forms. But you need Win 11 / Mac OS 14 or above to use the desktop version.

If this makes TT Online too expensive for your situation you might need to explore other options.

hetroAuthor

Level 2

It is not the added charge. The doubling of the fee, for the reason of this form’s use, is the issue. Just because the IRS lumped, reporting of the maturing of a CD bought through a Brokerage, with the sales of Stocks and Bonds, does not justify the amount of the upcharge by TT. There is no extra tax preparation expertise needed to include the form with the filing. To charge another $70 for this form's use is not warranted, when it is to merely acknowledge the maturing of a CD.

When a CD purchased through a bank matures, there is no report required. That is because it is simply informational to the IRS when a Brokerage is handling the transaction. Again, no tax expertise required by TT. There are no Stocks or Bonds involved; it’s simply a CD!

TT fee structure:

Maturing CD from a Bank….no charge.

Maturing CD from a Brokerage…. $70.

GS1

Level 2

I am agreeing with this. The fact is I got the amount in 1099-B is also way lesser than the $70 itself.

Is there any way to bypass this? If I need to pay @200 for the simple tax, I better go to HR Block or go to some freelance CPA.

baldietax

Level 12

it's how they price the online service, if you need Schedule D they don't care if you have a 1099B with one CD or 500 pages of trades. if you don't need the full capabilities of Premium and it's not a cost effective solution for you then use something else.

It's a relatively expensive service, $200 is a lot to file. I use their desktop s/w which includes all the forms in the Deluxe version you can file for around $75 including state e-file using that but desktop s/w can have install challenges and only works on Win 11 or Mac OS 14 or above.

HR Block online is similarly tiered but a bit cheaper but I believe you'll still need their Premium version to file Schedule D.

FreeTaxUSA is another popular option

There are other free file options here

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/browse-all-offers/

Good luck