Many investors will receive their year-end tax statements later than in past years. A new law, enacted last fall, changed the deadline from Jan. 31 to Feb. 15, when brokers, including brokerage firms, mutual fund companies and barter exchanges, must furnish year-end Forms 1099-B to their clients.
This year, issuers get two extra days because Feb. 15 is a Sunday and the 16th is a holiday. The deadline refers to the date the forms need to be mailed, not received by the client. The change was needed to respond to the growing number of amended returns that were being processed due to revised year-end statements on stock sales and other transactions.
One client who received a revised 1099 late last year, after filing his 2007 taxes, asked if he could include the adjustment on the following year’s tax return. However, income and expenses have to be reported in the year in which they apply necessitating an amended return. The decision to file the amended return has to be weighed against the cost of filing the amendment, which in some cases can also be costly.
