I'm wondering why I did not see anything for long term gains on the 1099b. Should they be taxed at a lower rate?

[ThomasM · Accepted solution]

The 1099-B forms will usually have separate sections for long-term and short-term trades.  Ultimately it depends on the dates of acquisition and sale whether a trade is short-term (held one year or less) or long-term (held more than one year).  So if you don't see a section on your 1099-B for long-term -- and you think there were some -- then look at the buy/sell dates of your trades to see if any were held longer than a year.

Short-term capital gains are taxed as Ordinary income (your tax bracket rate), while long term capital gains have preferential tax treatment, from 0-20% (excluding any Net Investment income Tax).