Are dividends claimed as income on an IRA even though nothing is withdrawn?

[jjb073]

I have both traditional and ROTH IRAs.  Do I have to claim dividends on either or both as income?  If they take a loss in a year, do they become deductible?

[KenH1]

No.  For retirement accounts (401k, IRA, Roth IRA, etc), the IRS only cares about funds contributed and withdrawn.  Earnings within the account don't matter.  If you did not withdraw money from your retirement account, there is no tax reporting. 

For taxable brokerage accounts (i.e., not a 401k or an IRA), the opposite is true:  funds in and out don't matter, but interest, dividends, and capital gains would be reported.

[KenH1]

Edited for clarity

[Susan Swann]

I have a Roth IRA in a Charles Schwab account which reports yearly Qualified Dividends, non qualified dividends, interest and Capital Gains on a 1099.  Is this taxable to me even if I did not take a distribution from the account?

[Susan Swann]

Then why would Schwab report this to me on a 1099 Year end summary, stating it is being reported to the IRS?

[macuser_22]

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@Susan Swann wrote:

Then why would Schwab report this to me on a 1099 Year end summary, stating it is being reported to the IRS?

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You must be confusing something.  Schwab does not report IRA's on 1099-INT or 1099-DIV forms.    Perhaps you have a brokerage account in addition the the Roth IRA account.   If not sure then  contact Schwab for an explanation.