YEAR-END CONSOLIDATED 1099 TAX REPORTING STATEMENTS

 

Back when I still prepared 1040s (and 1040-SRs) I was fascinated by the differences in the Year-End Consolidated 1099 Tax Reporting Statements issued by the various brokerage and mutual fund “houses” – Ameritrade (before being bought by Chuck), Charles Schwab, JP Morgan, Prudential, Merrill Lynch, TIAA, Wells Fargo Advisors, etc. and Fidelity and Vanguard Brokerage Services.  Each house’s statement was different.

All started off with the basic required 1099-DIV, 1099-INT, 1099-OID, 1099-MISC, and 1099B format with summary numbers for total ordinary dividends, qualified dividends, capital gain distributions, Section 199a dividends, foreign tax paid, exempt (Municipal) interest and exempt interest dividends, Treasury and Savings Bond interest, bond premium, etc.  What was different was the format and information provided in the accompanying “supplemental” statements.  The format and extent of supplemental information is different for each “house” consolidated tax-reporting statement.

As a tax preparer the more extensive and detailed the information provided the better. 

The supplemental listings provided detailed individual information for the specific stocks, mutual funds, and interest sources.  For dividends the statements identify the total, non-qualified, qualified, capital gain, Section 199a, etc. components of each separate investment – some in “spreadsheet” format and some in separate listings.  Obviously, I preferred the spreadsheet format – I did not want to add up the separately listed components of a specific mutual fund investment to come up with the total ordinary dividends for that fund.

All 1099-B statements provided the individual short-term and long-term sales listed by specific investment broken down into Schedule D categories A, B, D, E, and F.  I wanted a summary compilation listing the totals on one page for the categories and sub-categories (like the one on the first page of the Fidelity Brokerage Services statement), which not all houses provided.

Some statements included a listing the percentage of qualified US government obligation income for specific mutual funds and the state and territory specific percentages for municipal bond mutual funds – and a few actually applied the appropriate percentages to the individual fund investments (more better).

Only one house provided everything I needed in the perfect format, with actual references to tax form and schedule lines – TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association).  And not on all statements, but only on the “enhanced” statement provided to “preferred” customers.  I only had one client, a former college professor, who received this statement for several years but, sadly for me, she changed brokerages toward the end of our association.

These statements are mailed to taxpayers and are also available to download online at the house website.  I found that there was a difference in the statement from Fidelity Brokerage Services mailed to customers and the one available online.  The one that was mailed did not include all the supplemental detail that the online statement did.  I told clients who invested with Fidelity to send me the online statement and not the one that was mailed to them.

I always wished all brokerage and mutual fund houses would produce their year-end tax reporting statement in the same format with the same amount of detailed information – preferably the format and information provided in the enhanced TIAA statement.

TTFN