I never file my tax returns too early. The last time I did so, I had to file an extra amended return as my stock brokerage sent me a late corrected 1099 form shortly afterward. What a hassle. It seems that every year one of these forms shows up in my mailbox in March. Indeed, TD Ameritrade just send me an e-mail today (2/25) that a corrected 1099 is on its way. Why?
IRS mailing deadlines
The official IRS mailing deadline for 1099-B forms (reporting sales from brokerage firms and mutual fund companies) is normally February 15th. This is 15 days later than the mailing deadline for most other tax forms like W-2s. However, this year February 15th falls on a Saturday and Presidents Day is Monday, February 17th. This results in the adjusted mailing deadline being Monday, February 18th, 2014.
So how can they arrive even later?
Many brokerage firms will only send a “preliminary” 1099 by this date to satisfy the IRS requirement. Because some securities (commonly certain REITs or foreign stocks) may not report their numbers to the broker in time, brokers often delay sending out their corrected or “final” 1099 until a month or more later. So while I start preparing my return ahead of time, I usually wait to file until I’m confident that all my 1099 forms are finalized.
In my case, it was the Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ) that caused my corrected 1099 form.
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Good post. E-Trade is notorious for doing this I have gotten revisions all the way up into the Summer. I have had to start waiting till the 1st of April before I even think about filing.
McLaughlin Ryder is consistently late each year! We usually get it in March!
Ugh, tax time again already!
I’ve bumped my head against this issue for a few years now. I’ve slowly weeded out investments that cause these 1099s to be late, but it kind of seems silly to limit your investments so that you can get your taxes done in time. All this in the age of computers. I did get to explain this to the IRS once in a paper audit. I literally got my last tax form on April 14th. I had already filed by then with what I had and let them know their rules weren’t working.
Very informative as usual.
Jonathan, how long do you wait?
Another cause for filing delay. Printed out my tax forms from TaxAct and got message that I should not file because the IRS has not finalized form 8960 instructions. Do you have any experience with IRS caused delays?
I have a small investment in a REIT trust…and i just got a notice that they’ll be sending out their tax forms by March!! I don’t think it’s ever been this late.
If you can, keep your REITs in a tax advantaged account like an IRA or ROTH. That way, you don’t pay ordinary income taxes on the interest.
TD Ameritrade sent a corrected 1099 on 3/11/14. This is ridiculous.
Received a corrected 1099 from etrade the hours after I already e-filed. I wish there was some kind of fee they had to pay for causing us to have to file an amended return. Postage reimbursement at least? Jeez.
Etrade has sent me 3 amended 1099Bs for 2013. The last one was in September 2014. This one had gross errors in it and I brought it to their attention and was told that they would send me a corrected 1099 soon. It’s November 20th 2014 and I still haven’t received the corrected one for 2013! Every time I call I am told that a third party vendor is handling them and I should get one soon. This is very frustrating as the IRS is going to go by the last 1099 B sent to them, which had huge errors.
Any other Etrade customer having the same experience?
For 2015 Etrade appears to have a large problem with vendor gnerated 1099’s for Global Trading Accounts…Do not have even a Prelim at this late date and no promise as to when it will be available. As soo as I can I will dump this outfit entirely.
My accountant filed my taxes last week, and today (April 7th 2015), I got the corrected 1099 from Etrade. I will have to pay my accountant extra to file an amended tax return. This never happened with Fidelity. I will report the issue to IRS in writing and write a demand letter to Etrade to get a refund for my extra accounting cost.
In a few months, I will switch my account somewhere else.
I have had enough with them.
Received yesterday 4/9/15 another (3rd) corrected 1099 from Etrade.
Does this happen with other brokerages too or it’s only Etrade.
Somebody suggest me a good brokerage firm please I have had it with Etrade.
VANGUARD ORIGINALLY TOLD US OUR COMBINED 1099 WOULD BE LATE BUT AVAILABLE ON FEB 17.
NOT SO FAST…NOW ITS MID MARCH! MY TAXES ARE READY TO FILE BUT FOR THIS MISSING BIT. SO OUR REFUND WILL BE DELAYED AS WELL.