Form 8949: Sales of Capital Assets, Boxes and Adjustment Codes

“Use Form 8949 to reconcile amounts that were reported to you and the IRS on Form 1099-B or 1099-S (or substitute statement) with the amounts you report on your return. The subtotals from this form will then be carried over to Schedule D (Form 1040), where gain or loss will be calculated in aggregate.”

“Use Form 8949 to report sales and exchanges of capital assets. Form 8949 allows you and the IRS to reconcile amounts that were reported to you and the IRS on Form 1099-B, Form 1099-DA, or Form 1099-S (or substitute statements) with the amounts you report on your return. If you receive Form 1099-B, Form 1099-DA, or Form 1099-S (or substitute statements), always report the proceeds (sales price) shown on the form (or statement) in column (d) of Form 8949. If Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement) shows that the cost or other basis was reported to the IRS, always report the basis shown on that form (or statement) in column (e). If any correction or adjustment to these amounts is needed, make it in column (g).”

“File Form 8949 with the Schedule D for the return you are filing. This includes Schedule D of Forms 1040, 1040-SR, 1041, 1065, 8865, 1120, 1120-S, 1120-C, 1120-F, 1120-FSC, 1120-H, 1120-IC-DISC, 1120-L, 1120-ND, 1120-PC, 1120-POL, 1120-REIT, 1120-RIC, 1120-SF, and certain Forms 990-T. Complete Form 8949 before you complete lines 1b, 2, 3, 8b, 9, or 10 of Schedule D.”

“File with your Schedule D to list your transactions for lines 1b, 2, 3, 8b, 9, and 10 of Schedule D.”

“Part I Short-Term. Transactions involving capital assets you held 1 year or less are generally short-term (see instructions). For long-term transactions, see page 2.”

“Part II Long-Term. Transactions involving capital assets you held more than 1 year are generally long-term (see instructions). For short-term transactions, see page 1.”

“The holding period for short-term capital gains and losses is generally 1 year or less. Taxpayers that hold certain partnership interests in connection with the performance of services may be subject to different holding period rules. See the Schedule D instructions for more information. Report these transactions on Part I of Form 8949 (or line 1a of Schedule D if you can use Exception 1 under the instructions for line 1, later). The holding period for long-term capital gains and losses is generally more than 1 year. Taxpayers that hold certain partnership interests in connection with the performance of services may be subject to different holding period rules. See the Schedule D instructions for more information. Report these transactions on Part II of Form 8949 (or line 8a of Schedule D if you can use Exception 1 under the instructions for line 1, later). To figure the holding period, begin counting on the day after you received the property and include the day you disposed of it.”

“Generally, if you disposed of property that you acquired by inheritance, report the disposition as a long-term gain (or loss) regardless of how long you held the property.”

“Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA. If you received a Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement) for a transaction, box 2 on Form 1099-B or box 6 on Form 1099-DA may help you determine whether your gain (or loss) is short term, long term, or subject to special rules. If box 2 on Form 1099-B or box 6 on Form 1099-DA is blank and code X is in the "Applicable checkbox on Form 8949" box near the top of Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA, your broker doesn't know whether your gain (or loss) is short term or long term. Use your own records to determine whether your gain (or loss) is short term or long term.”

“Before you check Box A, B, C, G, H, or I below, see whether you received any Form(s) 1099-B, Form(s) 1099-DA, or substitute statement(s) from your broker. A substitute statement will have the same information as Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA. They will show whether your basis (usually your cost) was reported to the IRS by your broker and may even tell you which box to check.”

“You must check Box A, B, C, G, H, or I below. Check only one box. If more than one box applies for your short-term transactions, complete a separate Form 8949, page 1, for each applicable box. If you have more short-term transactions than will fit on this page for one or more of the boxes, complete as many forms with the same box checked as you need.”

“2 Totals. Add the amounts in columns (d), (e), (g), and (h) (subtract negative amounts). Enter each total here and include on your Schedule D, line 1b (if Box A or Box G above is checked), line 2 (if Box B or Box H above is checked), or line 3 (if Box C or Box I above is checked)”

“2 Totals. Add the amounts in columns (d), (e), (g), and (h) (subtract negative amounts). Enter each total here and include on your Schedule D, line 8b (if Box D or Box J above is checked), line 9 (if Box E or Box K above is checked), or line 10 (if Box F or Box L above is checked)”

“Box A or Box G. Report on Part I with box A or box G checked all short-term transactions reported to you on Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement) with an amount shown for cost or other basis unless the statement indicates that amount wasn't reported to the IRS. If your statement shows cost or other basis but indicates it wasn't reported to the IRS (for example, if box 12 on Form 1099-B or box 2 on Form 1099-DA isn't checked), see Box B or Box H below.”

“Box B or Box H. Report on Part I with box B or box H checked all short-term transactions reported to you on Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement) without an amount shown for cost or other basis or showing that cost or other basis wasn't reported to the IRS. If your statement shows cost or other basis for the transaction was reported to the IRS (for example, if box 12 on Form 1099-B or box 2 on Form 1099-DA is checked), see Box A or Box G above.”

“If you received a Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA for a transaction, the “Applicable checkbox on Form 8949” box near the top of that form may help you determine which box to check on the Part I where you report that transaction. A substitute statement you get instead of Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA may also tell you which box to check.”

“New boxes G, H, and I for short-term digital asset transactions. Use box G, H, or I to report short-term digital asset transactions. Do not use box C to report short-term digital asset transactions. Boxes G, H, and I will apply to Part I of Form 8949. New boxes J, K, and L for long-term digital asset transactions. Use box J, K, or L to report long-term digital asset transactions. Do not use box F to report long-term digital asset transactions. Boxes J, K, and L will apply to Part II of Form 8949.”

“Box C or Box I. Report on Part I with box C or box I checked all short-term transactions for which you can't check box A, B, G or H because you didn't receive a Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement). Do not use box C to report digital asset transactions. Use box I.”

“Box F or Box L. Report on Part II with box F or box L checked all long-term transactions for which you can't check box D, E, J, or K because you didn't receive a Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement). Do not use box F to report digital asset transactions. Use box L.”

“A digital asset is any digital representation of value that is recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger (or any similar technology), without regard to whether each individual transaction involving that digital asset is actually recorded on that ledger. A digital asset is treated as property, and general tax principles that apply to property transactions apply to transactions using digital assets, including how to figure your holding period for short-term and long-term capital gains and losses explained earlier under Short-Term or Long-Term.”

“Note: You may aggregate all short-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-B and Form(s) 1099-DA showing basis was reported to the IRS and for which no adjustments or codes are required. Enter the totals directly on Schedule D, line 1a; you aren’t required to report these transactions on Form 8949 (see instructions).”

“Note: You may aggregate all long-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-B and Form(s) 1099-DA showing basis was reported to the IRS and for which no adjustments or codes are required. Enter the totals directly on Schedule D, line 8a; you aren’t required to report these transactions on Form 8949 (see instructions).”

“Enter the details of each transaction on a separate row (unless one of the Exceptions to reporting each transaction on a separate row, described later, applies to you).”

“Exception 1. Form 8949 isn’t required for certain transactions. You may be able to aggregate those transactions and report them directly on either line 1a (for short-term transactions) or line 8a (for long-term transactions) of Schedule D. This option applies only to transactions (other than sales of collectibles) for which:
You received a Form 1099-B (or substitute statement) that shows basis was reported to the IRS and doesn't show any adjustments in box 1f or 1g;
The Ordinary box in box 2 on Form 1099-B isn’t checked;
You received a Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement) that shows basis was reported to the IRS and doesn’t show any adjustments in box 1h or 1i;
The Ordinary box in box 6 on Form 1099-DA isn’t checked;
You don't need to make any adjustments to the basis or type of gain (or loss) reported on Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement), or to your gain (or loss); and
You aren’t electing to defer income due to an investment in a QOF and aren’t terminating deferral from an investment in a QOF.”

“Exception 2. Instead of reporting each of your transactions on a separate row of Part I or II, you can report them on an attached statement containing all the same information as Parts I and II and in a similar format (that is, description of property, dates of acquisition and disposition, proceeds, basis, adjustment and code(s), and gain (or loss)). Use as many attached statements as you need. Enter the combined totals from all your attached statements on Parts I and II with the appropriate box checked. For example, report on Part I with box B or box H checked all short-term gains and losses from transactions your broker reported to you on a statement showing basis wasn't reported to the IRS. Enter the name of the broker followed by the words “see attached statement” in column (a). Leave columns (b) and (c) blank. Enter “M” in column (f). If other codes also apply, enter all of them in column (f). Enter the totals that apply in columns (d), (e), (g), and (h). If you have statements from more than one broker, report the totals from each broker on a separate row. Don't enter “Available upon request” and summary totals in lieu of reporting the details of each transaction on Part I or II or attached statements.”

“In order to explain any adjustment to gain (or loss) in column (g), enter the appropriate code(s) in column (f). See How To Complete Form 8949, Columns (f) and (g), later. If more than one code applies, enter all the codes that apply in alphabetical order (for example, “BOQ”). Don't separate the codes by a space or comma.”

“More than one code. If you entered more than one code in column (f) on the same row, enter the net adjustment in column (g). For example, if one adjustment is $5,000 and another is ($1,000), enter $4,000 ($5,000 − $1,000).”

“You can round off cents to whole dollars on Form 8949. If you do round to whole dollars, round all amounts.”

“For most transactions, you don't need to complete columns (f) and (g) and can leave them blank. You may need to complete columns (f) and (g) if you got a Form 1099-B, Form 1099-DA, or Form 1099-S (or substitute statement) that is incorrect, if you are excluding or postponing a capital gain, if you have a disallowed loss, or in certain other situations. Details are in the table below. If you enter more than one code in column (f), see More than one code in the instructions for column (g) above.”

“Example. You sold your main home in 2025 for $320,000 and received a Form 1099-S showing the $320,000 gross proceeds. The home's basis was $100,000. You had selling expenses of $20,000 that weren’t included on your Form 1099-S. Under the tests described in Sale of Your Home in the Instructions for Schedule D (Form 1040), you can exclude the entire $200,000 gain from income. On Form 8949, Part II, check box F or box L at the top. Complete columns (a), (b), and (c). Enter $320,000 in column (d) and $100,000 in column (e). Enter “EH” in column (f). In column (g), enter $220,000 ($20,000 selling expenses + $200,000 exclusion) as a negative number. Put it in parentheses to show it is negative. In column (h), enter -0- ($320,000 − $100,000 − $220,000). If this is your only transaction on this Part II, enter $320,000 in column (d) on line 10 of Schedule D (Form 1040), $100,000 in column (e), ($220,000) in column (g), and -0- in column (h).”

“Example 4—Adjustment for incorrect basis. You sold stock for $1,000. You had owned the stock for 3 months. Your correct basis for the stock is $100, but you receive a Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA that shows your basis is $900 and shows your broker reported that basis to the IRS. Enter $900 on line 1 of the Worksheet for Basis Adjustments in Column (g), later. Enter $100 on line 2 of the worksheet. Because line 1 is larger than line 2, leave line 3 blank and enter $800 ($900 − $100) as a positive number on line 4. Also, enter $800 in column (g) of Part I with box A or box G checked at the top. Enter “B” in column (f). Enter $1,000 in column (d) and $900 in column (e). To figure your gain (or loss), subtract $900 from $1,000. Combine the result, $100, with the $800 adjustment in column (g). Your gain is $900 ($100 + $800). Enter $900 in column (h).”

“Caution: DRAFT—NOT FOR FILING This is an early release draft of an IRS tax form, instructions, or publication, which the IRS is providing for your information. Do not file draft forms.”