topic My 1099-B does not have a sales section. What should I select for the "Sales section" drop down menu? in Retirement tax questions

My 1099-B does not have a sales section. What should I select for the "Sales section" drop down menu?

bsegaltaxes — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:05:05 GMT

My 1099-B does not have a sales section. What should I select for the "Sales section" drop down menu?

Re: My 1099-B does not have a sales section. What should I select for the "Sales section" drop do...

JohnB5677 — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:05:11 GMT

If there is no sale of Stocks, Bonds, or Mutual Funds you will not have to post anything to that area.

However, the 1099-B is specifically for the sale of stocks. Please check it closely.

You may have a consolidated 1099-B that may have a 1099-INT or a 1099-DIV included. You should check closely for that also.

Re: My 1099-B does not have a sales section. What should I select for the "Sales section" drop do...

bsegaltaxes — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:30:30 GMT

Thank you for your reply. My form is titled "From 1099-B - Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions". While the form does not specify this, it covers the sale of stock appreciation rights (SARs).

Follow-up question: In the "What type of investment did you sell?" drop-down menu, there is no option for SARs, nor is there an option for "Other." What should I select?

Re: My 1099-B does not have a sales section. What should I select for the "Sales section" drop do...

DianeW777 — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:54:31 GMT

Your selection should be one of the following if this is from your employer plan. Otherwise select 'Stock (nonemployee).

ESPP, NQSO, ISO, RS, RSU,

There is a great example and information on this situation as provided by @TomYoung below and at the link.

It appears that you've been awarded some amount of your employer's stock and the "fair market value" of the award, (or, if you paid something for the stock, the "spread" between the amount you paid and the "fair market value" of the award), has been reported as compensation on your W-2.

Further, I appears that some of that stock has been sold. It's been sold either "for taxes", (i.e., you paid nothing for the stock), for a "cashless exercise", (i.e., you did need to pay some amount for the stock and the sale funds that payment plus the taxes), or you personally sold some stock "for cash". It doesn't really matter why you sold the stock, your basis in the stock in all cases is the same: it's the per share "fair market value" used by the employer to calculate the compensation reported on the W-2 for the GROSS amount of the award.

Click 'Examples' for more information.