I e-filed my return. The filing instructions tell me to snail mail form 8453 & 8949 to some address in Austin, TX. Most posts say I don't. Why is this so confusing?

[AnthonyC · Accepted solution]

The answer below is going to assume that you choose to use the summary transaction method of reporting your 1099B transactions instead of entering individual sales.

Short Answer:  You do not really need to mail Form 8949, but you do need to mail your supporting statements, such as your brokerage statements (Form 1099B) and Form 8453.

When you use this summary method of reporting (i.e. you just entered your totals and not each individual transaction), in some cases, the IRS still wants the supporting details sent to them.  

Note:  In limited situations, you’re allowed to summarize investment sales without providing complete details.  If you are summarizing multiple investment sales that are either Box A sales or Box D sales, and there are no adjustments necessary (i.e. Code W for wash sales), then it is not necessary to mail in a statement with further details.  Turbotax will tell you this when your sales meet the criteria and will not prompt you to mail any statements.

So, if you are being prompted to mail further statements, Form 8453 says to attach Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets (or a statement with the same information), if you elect not to report your transactions electronically on Form 8949.

When you use the summary method, TurboTax only produces a Form 8949 with the summary totals that you entered, not the individual transactions, so the Form 8949 that is included in your return is NOT sufficient for this purpose.  (Though, you can include it with the mailing as a reference and a lot of people do)

You need to use Form 8453 to mail the brokerage statements that show the details of your transactions.  Statements should include the following items for each transaction (these are usually reported on your Form 1099-Bs:(  

• Description
• Date acquired, 
• Date sold, 
• Sales price, 
• Cost basis, 
• Gain or loss for each sale,
• Sale category based on how the sale was reported to you and the IRS, and
• In some cases, there will be an adjustment code and adjustment amount. 

NOTE: As discussed above, any sales summaries that include only Box A or Box D sales, and which have no adjustments to gain/loss, do not need to be included on a statement mailed to the IRS. 

If you are e-filing your tax return, then mail your statements along with Form 8453 to: 

Internal Revenue Service

Attn: Shipping and Receiving, 0254 

Receipt and Control Branch 

Austin, TX 73344-0254 

[don10]

Had the software told me that while entering the summary information that I need to send the transaction details - I would entered the individual transactions!! Why didn't it warn me? Now I have to do the additional work and then snail mail. Horrible service for something I had to pay!

[fanfare]

TurboTax changed the prompts last year and not in a good way.
If you enter Summary info for any Sales Category other than A and D, you will be making the mail-in election without realizing it. I think this year there is a warning but it is in very fine print i.e. easy to miss..

[jacobsfamily]

I fell into the same trap.  Any reason we shouldn't simply file an amended return once the original return has been accepted?

[don10]

May be you can. But i think amendements cannot be efiled and you will have to mail them anyway. I ended up filling 8949 and sent them along with supporting 1099s

[jacobahp]

delete

[Dave-N-]

I agree with Don.  It would have been very simple for me to enter the individual transactions, especially since there was only 1, rather than enter the summary.  I don't think I even realized I was entering a summary rather than the single transaction details.  Why didn't TT flag this concern in bright red letters during both entry and the error checking process and make sure I understood I needed to send a form BEFORE I e-filed rather than alerting me 10 seconds AFTER I hit the send button?  This is an unexpected major glitch from TT for sure.  Next year, might need to look elsewhere for software.

[wch5908]

I am being prompted to mail Form 8453 even though my summarized sales do not include any  adjustments (i.e. Code W for wash sales).  According to the instructions above, TT should not be prompting me to mail Form 8453.

I also agree that better instructions at the point of data entry are needed so that we are not surprised after e-filing our returns that we must also mail in additional forms and documentation.  

[fanfare]

examine carefully all the 8949s attached to your return, If there is no "M" anywhere in the Codes column, you don't have to mail anything
if you're using Online you have to pay the fee to do this, and possibly take another path before e-Filing.

[wch5908]

Thanks, fanfare.

I do have an M in the codes column F on Form 8949, however the amount of adjustment in column G is zero.  The instructions state:

If you enter an amount in column (g),
enter a code in column (f).

Seems to me if column G is zero, TT should not have entered the code M in column F.  I will mail it in with my supporting documentation any way just to be on the safe side.

[archiekregear]

I sent off form 8453 and the supporting documentation in April when I submitted my taxes electronically. The address TT gave me was to Austin, TX. This weekend I received a letter from IRS asking for the information. After talking to Dorthy at the IRS support center, it seems that form 8453 and supporting documentation should have gone to Fresno where TT sent my return. Getting the paperwork I sent five weeks ago from Austin returned to me or forwarded to Fresno would be easier than getting Trump to release his tax forms. So I need to resubmit the documentation. TurboTax did not get the address correct. Make sure you send the supporting documentation requested to where TT is electronically sending your return.
To TT - Get the addresses correct!