Tax Center › ESPP Tax Returns

Learn the rules for reporting stock sales on your tax return, along with costly errors to avoid if the shares you sold came from stock options, restricted stock/RSUs, stock appreciation rights, or an employee stock purchase plan. Among other issues, you must understand your "cost basis" to avoid overpaying your taxes. Running time: 8:05.

Learn how to prevent costly tax return mistakes with this animated presentation on IRS Form 1099-B, IRS Form 8949, and Schedule D.

UPDATES! The stock-sale information provided by brokers on IRS Form 1099-B has changed. Cost-basis reporting, both for your broker on Form 1099-B and for you on your tax return, is now more complex, confusing, and vulnerable to errors. This article explains the crucial facts you must know to avoid overpaying tax or attracting unwanted IRS attention.

This PowerPoint presentation explains the top 10 most frequently occurring errors involving stock compensation on tax returns and answers common questions about related tax topics.

In any tax year, stock compensation income, such as from an NQSO exercise, an ISO or ESPP disqualifying disposition, or the vesting of restricted stock, can raise your income tax and make your return complex. Mistakes include not paying taxes owed with...

Major changes have occurred in tax-return reporting in recent years, making accurate tax-return reporting more complex and difficult...

Form 1099-B or the equivalent substitute statement is necessary for the accurate completion of your tax return. Five facts you must know about this reporting to avoid tax-return mistakes are...

This is an area in which mistakes often occur. The cost basis, also called the tax basis, is calculated in the following way...

When your W-2 income is added to the price you paid for the stock, this is your cost basis on your tax return. The table below presents the compensation portion of your tax basis for all types of stock grants and ESPPs...

From our interpretation of the forms and their instructions, myStockOptions.com recommends the following reporting steps to avoid overpaying taxes...

You report the sale on Form 8949 and Schedule D to show your capital gain or loss, regardless of any actual gain or loss. This is the difference between...

The sale of your ESPP shares is likely to trigger both ordinary income and capital gain income, as explained...

Form 8949 is where you list the details of each stock sale, while Schedule D aggregates the column totals from this form to report your total long-term and short-term capital gains and losses. However...

If you sold shares during the calendar year, your brokerage firm will issue IRS Form 1099-B by mid-February of the following year. This is an important document that you must have to complete your tax return for the year of sale...

Yes, when the market price of the stock has dropped after purchase and you make a disqualifying disposition of the shares...

Let's first review the tax rules and the W-2 reporting. The tax basis for...

A casualty or theft loss would allow you to deduct the lost amount against your ordinary income, subject to some limits. However, Treasury regulations and court rulings would probably stand in your way. Nevertheless, what you can do is...