There is no "sales section title" on my 1099-B, but turbo tax is requiring the information. How do I leave this section blank?

[KarenM90]

You won't be able to leave that section blank, Form 8949 uses that information.

Some brokers just only use the Letters as identification (see the list below.) so please look for those, or check with your broker.

 (A) Short-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-B showing basis was reported to the IRS (see Note above)

 (B) Short-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-B showing basis wasn’t reported to the IRS

 (C) Short-term transactions not reported to you on Form 1099-B

(D) Long-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-B showing basis was reported to the IRS (see Note above) 

(E) Long-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-B showing basis wasn’t reported to the IRS

(F) Long-term transactions not reported to you on Form 1099-B

[natalie-scheidle]

Hi,

There is also no letter indicating the category. I checked with my brokerage firm and they told me that they are not required to supply that information ("The securities you owned were non-covered securities which means that there is no reporting requirement for cost basis on a 1099"). Box 5 is checked for Noncovered Security, but I do not know if was long-term or short-term. How do I proceed? 

[prestong05]

I get a tax statement that has long-term, short-term, reported, and not reported on there. Which one am I supposed to choose? 

[ColeenD3]

Is it a straddle?

Just enter Box 11 (gain or loss) in the appropriate TurboTax box.

To do this:
 

Under Investment Income, click Start/Update on "Contracts and Straddles"

Continue twice and check the box for Section 1256 contracts marked to market.

You will find that TurboTax offers only two boxes for Line 11 (gain or loss) and that is all that has to be entered.

Just in case you need this:
 

Below are the steps to enter the Regulated Futures Contracts and Options 1099-B information in TurboTax:

• Click on the Federal Taxes tab
• Select the Wages and Income tab
• Select  the EXPLORE ON MY OWN option (this may require you to click through one or two other screens beforehand)
• Scroll down to the  Investment Income subgroup
• Next the Contracts and Straddles line, and click the start button
• Answer YES that you had Sec. 1256 contracts
• Don't make any special elections selections unless they apply to you
• On the Contracts and Straddles page, choose the box next to the Sec. 1256 Contracts marked-to-market
• Click continue, and from there TurboTax will take you through the necessary questions and answers tree.

[jayw78]

I have the same problem. It is NOT a straddle. It is a futures contract. The form we receive is a substitute 1099 from the broker. After filling out everything the way it says in the instructions the "review" requires us to enter whether it is short or long term and the total proceeds and total cost. The only information we get is total realized and unrealized profit and loss. As a futures contract it is also considered 60/40. 60 percent long term and 40 percent short term. There is only an option for long or short term. How do we proceed?

[GeorgeM777]

Just to clarify, did you follow these steps when entering your profit and loss information for your Section 1256 contracts (futures)

1. Select Contracts and Straddles under Investment Income (TurboTax CD/download) or 
2. Select Contracts and Straddles under the section Less Common Investments and Savings (TurboTax online).
3. At the screen, Section 1256 Contracts, you entered your Total Profits, and/or Total Losses.  

Assuming you followed the above steps, are you still seeing error messages indicating that these Section 1256 contracts need further review? Also, which version of TurboTax are you using?  If you have TurboTax CD/download, you can select Forms (upper right of screen) and review the amounts on Form 6781, lines 8 and 9.

@jayw78