If you received money from the sale of timber, you'll probably get a Form 1099-S. Some people will get a 1099-MISC, which is (technically) the wrong reporting form for timber per the IRS.
Money from a timber sale is reported as investment income. Follow these steps:
- Open or continue your return in TurboTax.
- In the search box, search for investment sales and select the Jump to link.
- Answer Yes to the question Did you have investment income in 2023? (or Okay! to Time to kick off your investments!).
- If you land on the Investment sales summary or Your investments and savings screen, select Add More Sales or Add investments.
- Follow the instructions to either import your investment sale info or enter it yourself.
- If you don't import your form, on the OK, let's start with one investment type screen, select Other.
For your cost basis, most people will enter 0, but you can enter what you originally paid for seedlings or saplings.
TurboTax doesn't support IRS Form T (Timber), but you probably don't need this form. According to the IRS, it's only needed "...when a sale or deemed sale under sections 631(a), 631(b), or other exchange has occurred during the tax year."
