How do I report this 1099-DIV from my mutual fund?

Enter the ordinary dividends from Form 1099-DIV (PDF), box 1a, on line 9a of Form 1040 (PDF), U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Enter any qualified dividends from Form 1099-DIV, box 1b, on line 9b of Form 1040. If you have an amount entered in other boxes of your 1099-DIV refer to Form 1040, Schedule D Instructions to see where to report them. If your only capital gains and losses are from capital gain distributions, refer to Form 1040 Instructions.

If I anticipate a sizable capital gain on the sale of an investment during the year, do I need to make a quarterly estimated tax payment during the tax year?

You would be liable for estimated tax if the following applies:

General Rule

You must pay estimated tax for 2007 if both of the following apply.

1. You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for 2007, after subtracting your withholding and credits.
2. You expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of:

......... a. 90 % of the tax to be shown on your 2007 tax return, or

......... b. 100% of the tax shown on your 2006 tax return. * Your 2006 tax return must cover all 12 months.

*Certain taxpayers with higher adjusted gross income must substitute 110% for 100%. Refer to Chapter 2 of Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, for the income amounts that the higher percentage applies to.

You may be able to annualize your income. Please see Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, Chapter 2, for more information. If you are making estimated tax payments you can increase your quarterly estimated tax payments or increase your Federal income tax withholding to cover the tax liability. If you have the proper amount withheld you may not be required to make estimated tax payments nor have to file Form 2210 (PDF), Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates and Trusts, with your tax return (as you would if you just increased the remaining estimated tax payments). If you wait and make increased estimated tax payments in the later quarters, you would have to file Form 2210 with your tax return because we do not know when you received the income. Since you really did not receive the income evenly throughout the year, you have to tell us when the income was received by filing Form 2210.

References:

• Form 1040-ES (PDF), Estimated Tax for Individuals
• Tax Topic 306, Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax

I lived in a home as my principal residence for the first 2 of the last 5 years. For the last 3 years, the home was a rental property before selling it. Can I still avoid the capital gains tax and, if so, how should I deal with the depreciation I took while it was rented out?

If, during the 5-year period ending on the date of sale, you owned the home for at least 2 years and lived in it as your main home for at least 2 years, you can exclude up to the maximum dollar limit. However, you cannot exclude the portion of the gain equal to depreciation allowed or allowable for periods after May 6, 1997. This gain is reported on Form 4797 (PDF), Sale of Business Property. If you can show by adequate records or other evidence that the depreciation allowed was less that the amount allowable, the amount you cannot exclude is the amount allowed. Refer to Publication 523, Selling Your Home, and Form 4797 (PDF), Sale of Business Property, for specifics on calculating and reporting the amount of gain.

References:

• Publication 527, Residential Rental Property

How do I figure the cost basis of stock that has split, giving me more of the same stock, so I can figure my capital gain (or loss) on the sale of the stock?

When the old stock and the new stock are identical the basis of the old shares must be allocated to the old and new shares. Thus, you generally divide the adjusted basis of the old stock by the number of shares of old and new stock. The result is your new basis per share of stock. If the old shares were purchased in separate lots for differing amounts of money, the adjusted basis of the old stock must be allocated between the old and new stock on a lot by lot basis.

References:

• Publication 550, Investment Income and Expenses
• Tax Topic 409, Capital Gains and Losses

Do I need to pay taxes on that portion of stock I gained as a result of a split?

No, you generally do not need to pay tax on the additional shares of stock you received due to the stock split. You will need to adjust basis per share basis of the stock. Your overall cost basis has not changed, but your per share basis has changed.

You will have to pay taxes if you have gain when you sell the stock. Gain is the amount by which the proceeds from the sale, minus sales commissions, that exceeds the adjusted basis of the stock sold.

References:

• Publication 550, Investment Income and Expenses
• Tax Topic 409, Capital gains and losses

I have both purchased and sold shares in a money-market mutual fund. The fund is managed so the share price is constant. All gain is reported as dividends. Do I have to report the sale of these shares?

Yes, you report the sale of your shares on Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF), Capital Gains and Losses. Generally, whenever you sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of a capital asset, you report it on Schedule D.

If the share price were constant, you would have neither a gain nor a loss when you sell shares because you are selling the shares for the same price you purchased them.

If you actually owned shares that were later sold, the fund or the broker should have issued a Form 1099-B. That form is issued without regard to whether there is a gain or loss on the sale. It reports a sale or exchange of an investment asset and sales proceeds.

References:

• Publication 564, Mutual Fund Distributions

I received a 1099-DIV showing a capital gain. Why do I have to report capital gains from my mutual funds if I never sold any shares?

A mutual fund is a regulated investment company that pools funds of investors allowing them to take advantage of a diversity of investments and professional asset management. You own shares in the fund, but the fund owns assets such as shares of stock, corporate bonds, government obligations, etc. One of the ways the fund makes money for its investors is to sell these assets at a gain. If the asset was held by the mutual fund for more than one year, the nature of the income is capital gain, which gets passed on to you. These are called capital gain distributions, which are distinguished on Form 1099-DIV (PDF), from income that is from other profits, called ordinary dividends.

Capital gains distribution are taxed as long term capital gains regardless of how long you have owned the shares in the mutual fund. If your capital gains distribution is automatically reinvested, the reinvested amount is the basis of the additional shares purchased.

References:

• Publication 564, Mutual Fund Distributions