Am I missing items in Form 8949? (How do I sanity check?)

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
March 23, 2022
1 reply
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I am confused by what TurboTax decides to list in 8949. It is listing only some of my trades, but not all of them. This is my first year trading and first year with TurboTax, so I am not sure what is correct.

I have read through some of the other questions on this topic, and one thing that is mentioned is trades without any adjustments that have their basis reported, do not need to be listed. But looking at what TurboTax is choosing to list for me, I didn't see the adjustment box on my 1099-B for many of these that TT picked. (And I'm not clear if/when they wouldn't have a cost basis.)

The most noticeable pattern I see is that all the listed items have net losses or 0. I never see a profitable trade listed.

Also, as an example, I had a bull-[product key removed]d that I closed for a profit. I see the short leg listed with its loss, but the profitable long leg is not listed on 8949.

I checked the imported 1099-B (from TD Ameritrade), and it seems that all the transactions are there. (I have a lot, so it is really hard to be completely sure.) But using the bull call debit spread example, both of those legs are present in this list. So I am confused why only one of the legs gets listed in 8949.

Can somebody help explain what I'm seeing and explain to me how I can do a sanity check to validate if TT is doing the right thing for my case. And if not, how can I fix this?

Best answer by GeorgeM777

There may not be anything to fix if the gross totals (whether a gain or loss) on Form 8949 and Schedule D match what you see on your 1099-B. Do you see any discrepancies between what has been reported on your 1099-B with regard to total gain/loss, whether short-term or long-term, and what is reported on your Form 8949 and Schedule D?

Also, are any of the option spreads you effected a section 1256 contract? Section 1256 contracts include nonequity options and those transactions are reported on Form 6781.

@befuddled4

GeorgeM777Answer

Level 11

Also, are any of the option spreads you effected a section 1256 contract? Section 1256 contracts include nonequity options and those transactions are reported on Form 6781.

@befuddled4

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