Since my 1099-B has more than 3000 transactions from Motif Investing, TT cannot import it and tells me to mail in 8453 form with 1099-B. But the 1099-B is 326 pages long.

[psk]

 All i did was buy and see a few motifs. So am I supposed to print 326 pages and mail them all to IRS? Shouldn't we be able to upload the 1099-b pdf as attachment to return like TaxAct allows users to do? This is crazy...

[fanfare]

what is a Motif and how does it turn into thousands of transactions ?
Are there any wash sales itemized in your consolidated 1099-B ?

[psk]

Each Motif has 20-45 stocks in it. SO everytime you buy sell a motif, it trades all of these in it. I see wash sales. further each sale seems to be fulfilled in fractions, so in 1099-b i see 8 transactions listed for 1 stock (0.1,0.1,0.2 etc). Its weird but i didn't have this issue in 2017 as I only sold 3 motifs and thts it.

[Critter]

Using the summary entry option use the "short hand" entry method ... make ONE entry called Short Term covered, one called Long term covered.... and use the word Various for date purchase & 12/31/18 for sale date.

Then enter the non covered sales either individually OR  again make the general short/long term entries by doing this  you ONLY have to mail in the non covered  pages from the broker statement which should only be a few pages which is very easy to do. I have done this in my business for years successfully.

[fanfare]

the filer probably has NO uncovered transactions

[psk]

I entered the summary totals and there are lots of tiny wash sales. Everything I have in 1099-B is listed as -
Short-Term Transactions for Which Basis Is Reported to the IRS - Report on Form 8949, Part I, with Box A checked.
Short-Term Covered Totals-Proceeds(1d)-Cost/Other Basis(1e)-Wash Sale Loss(1f)

[psk]

Are you saying there is no need to mail in 8453 form if everything I have is "Short term Covered" ?

[Critter]

Yep.... make one line entry and you are done ... the IRS already has the information on their copy of the 1099-B the broker sends them as well   so  since they are COVERED sales... they do not require another copy of the 1099-B.

This is a short cut tax  professionals have used for years now.

[fanfare]

You are referring to Exception 1 in the instructions. Here's what it says.
your shortcut is basically pretending 100% of the transactions have no adjustments
You are also reporting the information on the wrong line.


Exception 1. Form 8949 isn't required
for certain transactions. You may be able
to aggregate those transactions and report
them directly on either line 1a (for
short-term transactions) or line 8a (for
long-term transactions) of Schedule D.
This option applies only to transactions
(other than sales of collectibles) for which:
You received a Form 1099-B (or
substitute statement) that shows basis
was reported to the IRS and doesn't show
any adjustments in box 1g, and
You don't need to make any
adjustments to the basis or type of gain or
loss (short term or long term) reported on
Form 1099-B (or substitute statement), or
to your gain or loss.

[Critter]

We have even used it  even if there is a Wash sale amount to report without issues.

[psk]

I read the exceptions and since there are wash sales all over, i was worried about not filing 8453 which turbotax prints out with the return and asks me to mail it within 3 days of efiling approval. What I don't get though is why irs needs a copy from me when broker already sends them one as Critter#2 said doesn't make sense... I spoke with a CPA/EA from turbotax and he said there is no way to attach the pdf to return n i just have to print it and mail in the 300+ pages...

[Critter]

Do what you like but the IRS already has all that info so mailing it in is a waste of time ... if they want they can ask for it later.

[fanfare]

Why does IRS need a W-2 attached by you when the employer already sends them one? It's the same conundrum.
Please keep in mind that the IRS data processing technology is still fifty years old (tape drives and all that).

[fanfare]

If I had a 300 page document I think I'd let @Critter#2 's argument prevail.

[psk]

I read a note that "An electronically transmitted return will not be considered complete until a Form 8453 is received by the IRS." So I decided to mail the form with only the last page of my 1099-B which shows the Totals for Short term covered 1d, 1e, 1g and the 1st page of 1099-b which shows Summary of Form1099-B. IF they don't like it and require the full 300 pgs, I will send it in when they ask for it but i think this is a little ridiculous and tt should allow pdf attachments like tax act's attachment mgr which allows 3MB pdf;s specifically for 8453. Thanks for all your responses!!