Common Tax Questions
First, we recommend updating to the latest version of the app for the 2021 tax season. We made changes to the app to improve the tax experience and we don’t want you to miss out on them. Tax forms may be issued by two entities this year: Robinhood Securities and Robinhood Crypto. Once you’ve navigated to the Tax Documents section of the app, you should see a list of your tax documents for this year. The name of the issuing entity will be in the title of each document. If you are in the latest version of the app, a document will be titled one of the following:
Your Form 1099 tax document will also have the name of the issuing entity. Look for “Robinhood Securities” or “Robinhood Crypto” in the top, left corner of the first page of your Form 1099 to figure out who issued it. Each of these entities will also issue a different account number with your 1099.
If your Form 1099 tax form excludes cost basis for uncovered stocks, you'll need to determine the cost basis. These securities may include recently converted stock funds, limited partnerships, and certain exchange-traded funds. To manually calculate your cost basis, please request a .csv file of your yearly transaction history. With your transaction history, you can calculate your cost basis and review the acquisition date of your stocks. Please consult a professional tax service or personal tax advisor if you need instructions on how to calculate cost basis.
Even though your Robinhood account is closed, you can still view your monthly statements and tax documents in your mobile app:
In your statement you’ll find your account activity, including transfers and executed trades.
Monthly statements are made available the following month.
For more information about accessing documents in the app, check out Account Documents.
We can provide you with a .csv file of your yearly transaction history if you submit a request and include the following verification information:
Once we receive this information, we’ll send over your transaction history.
If you’d like to claim a loss for a worthless stock, please submit a request for a copy of your yearly transaction history. We’ll reach out with a .csv file you can use to prove a loss on your taxes. In your request please include the following verification information:
Once we receive this information, we’ll send over your transaction history.
There are a number of reasons why your tax document may not load properly. To resolve the issue, try the following troubleshooting steps:
If these steps don’t resolve the issue, please submit a service request for the document you’d like us to send. For account verification purposes, please include your date of birth and the last four digits of your social security number.
A wash sale is the sale of a stock at a loss, followed by the purchase of the same stock within thirty calendar days.
You’re unable to claim a loss on a transaction the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers a wash sale.
You can find a list of your wash sales in box 1G of your Form 1099 tax document.
Here is an example that might help illustrate how the wash rule operates:
A customer purchases 100 shares of XYZ on Day 1 for $1,000.00. The customer then sells the 100 shares on Day 10 for $900.00, a loss of $100.00. The customer then went ahead and repurchases 50 shares of XYZ again on Day 15 for $400.00 and 50 more shares on Day 16 for $350.00.
This means that the 100 shares sold on Day 10 were sold with a “wash sale disallowed” of $100.00 according the wash sale rule. This amount is broken up and carried forward in the customer’s next sale in the following way: $100.00 / 100 shares = $1.00 wash sale / share.
The customer will not see a taxable loss for this wash sale. Rather, the customer will see that the cost basis of their future purchases are adjusted upwards, so the purchase made on Day 15 and Day 16 will show a cost basis of $450.00 and $400.00, respectively:
Day 15: $400.00 + wash sale disallowed(50 shares x $1.00) = adjusted cost basis of $450.00
Day 16: $350.00 + wash sale disallowed(50 shares x $1.00) = adjusted cost basis of $400.00
Keep in mind, you may have accrued wash sales from partial executions. Partial executions occur when there are not enough shares available in the market to fill an entire order at once. This happens most commonly with limit orders placed on low-volume stocks.
There is no correlation between the amount reported on the Form 1099 and the amount of money that you deposited or withdrew. From a Form 1099 reporting perspective, we are required to report any proceeds/losses for any positions that are closed during the tax year.
For example, let's use an account that had a $200K deposit in a scenario:
As a broker-dealer for this example, we are required to report a proceeds of $210K + $185K = $395K and a cost of $200K + $175K = $375K. While the customer only deposited $200K, their reported proceeds must be $395K.
The stocks you receive through the referral program may be reported as miscellaneous income in your Form 1099-MISC. There is an IRS de minimis rule for other income. The threshold to report stocks received through the referral program is $600. Customers with referral shares valued at less than $600 may not be issued a Form 1099-MISC.
As with all tax forms, you’ll be able to download a consolidated Form 1099 (which includes the Form 1099-MISC) starting in mid-February of every year.
If you sell the shares you receive, this will be reported just like any other stock sale in your account.
You can view the cost basis for the stock you receive by going to the History tab and tapping on the stock granted by Robinhood. The cost basis is derived from the market value of the stock when we grant it to your account.
Robinhood Securities, LLC’s' Employer Identification Number (EIN), or Federal Tax ID Number, is 38-4019216.
You can also find this number on your Form 1099 tax document.
Robinhood Crypto, LLC's Employer Identification Number (EIN), or Federal Tax ID Number, is 46-4364776 .
You can also find this number on your Form 1099 tax document.
Tax documents will be sent to the IRS by April 15th.
All of the 1099 forms you will need from Robinhood this year will be ready starting February 16, 2021. You may receive more than one 1099 if you had taxable events at both Robinhood Securities (for example, if you sold stocks or options) and Robinhood Crypto (if you sold cryptocurrency) in 2020. If you need a corrected 1099 this year, you can expect to receive it by March 31, 2021. If you don't need any tax documents from us for 2020, we'll email you by mid-February.
You’ll only receive a 1099 tax document from Robinhood if the proceeds from dividends exceed $10, the value of referral stock grants exceed $600, or you sell a position. If you don’t meet any of these criteria, you will not receive a 1099.
When conducting 1099 reporting, we are required to report the proceeds and costs for any positions that were closed during the tax year.
For example, let's use an account that had a $200,000 deposit in a scenario:
In this example, Robinhood is required to report proceeds of $210,000 + $185,000 = $395,000 and a cost of $200,000 + $175,000 = $375,000. While the customer only deposited $200,000, his or her reported proceeds will be $395,000.
Furthermore, there is no correlation between the amount of money that you deposited to your account and the proceeds reported in your 1099.
Non-dividend distributions are reported on your statement in case you are reconciling your monthly account statements against the 1099 and cannot find cash dividends that were reclassified as nondividend distributions.
Yes. You can change your filing status by contacting our support at support@robinhood.com.
If the social security number listed on your 1099 tax document is incorrect, you’ll need to submit an updated W-9 form to us as soon as possible to prevent backup withholding. Please email us at support@robinhood.com so we can help you make the corrections securely.
Yes, you can request a paper copy of your 1099 by emailing support@robinhood.com. After we receive your request, we’ll mail a copy to the address associated with your Robinhood account. Please note that we won’t be able to mail your paper 1099 to any other addresses.
If you were recently issued a corrected Form 1099 tax document, you can find it in the app alongside your other tax documents. You can identify the corrected Form 1099 by looking for the word "corrected" in the file's title or subtitle in the app. If you don't see it, you may need to update to the latest version of the app. Tax forms are also available for download on the website under the “Account” menu by selecting “Documents.” You will generally be able to view the corrected copy 1-2 weeks after the correction has been made.
When viewing your corrected 1099, each correction will be marked by a symbol "C" in the RHS 1099.
Not all corrections require amending your tax filing. If you have already filed your taxes for 2020, you may want to speak with a qualified tax professional regarding whether or not to amend your 2020 tax return.
There are a few reasons why you may not have received a Form 1099 DIV, even though it looks like you received more than $10 in dividends in 2020. Here are some reasons why you may not have received a 1099 Div:
Taxability is generally determined by the company going through the corporate action. In the case of a merger, it can be the acquiring company that makes that determination. If it’s a taxable event, the cash in lieu (CIL) will be taxable in the year it is paid.
Robinhood does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult your tax advisor for questions regarding your specific tax situation.