Updated September 30, 2026. Quick answer: Box 1d of Form 1099-B is the gross proceeds of the sale, reduced by commissions and transfer taxes. Box 1e is the adjusted cost basis, filled in for a covered security. A blank Box 1e usually means a noncovered security.
Related reading on this site: IRS Publication 551.
Read box by box from the IRS form text: Form 1099-CAP boxes 1 to 5.
Sales of business property (Form 4797), passive activity losses (Form 8582) and depreciation (Form 4562) for 2025, read line by line: Form 4797 line 1a and Form 4797 lines 19 to 24.
Schedule D and Schedule E (Form 1040) for 2025, read line by line: Schedule D line 1a, Schedule D lines 1b, 2 and 3 and Schedule D lines 8b, 9 and 10.
Form 8949 for 2025, read code by code: Form 8949 code B, Form 8949 code D and Form 8949 code Z.
Form 1040 for 2025, read line by line: Form 1040 line 7.
Read box by box from the IRS form text: Form 1099-DA box 1f, Form 1099-DA box 1g and Form 1099-DA box 6.
The IRS form or worksheet behind this, read line by line: Form 8949 instructions and the wash sale rule.
Box 1d: proceeds
The instruction to the broker reads: “Enter the gross cash proceeds from all dispositions (including short sales) of securities, commodities, options, securities futures contracts, or forward contracts.” It adds “You must reduce the proceeds by commissions and transfer taxes related to the sale.” The 1099-B instructions read here are the 2026 edition on irs.gov. Those are instructions to the payer that files the form, so they show what a box is meant to hold, not what tax follows from it.
Box 1e: cost or other basis
Box 1e reads: “Enter the adjusted basis of any securities sold unless the security is not a covered security and you check box 5.” and “If you check box 5 and are not reporting basis, leave box 1e blank.” A zero is different from a blank: “Enter -0- in box 1e only if the securities sold actually had a basis of zero.”
What makes a security covered
The instructions list several kinds. The stock cases below are quoted; the debt, option and futures cases in the same list are not reproduced here.
| Case | What the IRS says |
|---|---|
| Stock acquired for cash after 2010 | “Stock acquired for cash in an account after 2010 except stock for which the average basis method is available.” |
| Stock with average basis method, after 2011 | “Stock for which the average basis method is available and that is acquired for cash in an account after 2011.” |
| Stock received in a split or similar action | “A security acquired due to a stock dividend, stock split, reorganization, redemption, stock conversion, recapitalization, corporate division, or other similar action, if the basis of the acquired security is determined from the basis of a covered security.” |
Noncovered securities
When a security is not covered, the broker may check Box 5 and leave Box 1e blank. That case is on the Box 5 and Box 12 page.
What the instructions do not say
They do not tell you how to figure your own gain or what to do if the broker’s basis differs from your records. A related cost basis question is on the RSU cost basis page.
Common mistakes
- Reading a blank Box 1e as a zero basis. The instructions treat a true zero basis as -0-.
- Assuming Box 1d is what you netted. The instruction says the broker reduces proceeds by commissions and transfer taxes.
- Expecting every sale to have basis reported. That depends on whether the security is covered.
Related: 1099-B Box 1g Wash Sale Loss Disallowed Explained, 1099-B Box 5 Noncovered Security and Box 12 Basis Reported, and the RSU cost basis page.
Every box in one place: the 1099-DIV, 1099-INT and 1099-B boxes table. If your withdrawal came from an IRA or 401(k), see the Form 1099-R Box 7 codes.
Sources
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-DIV (Rev. January 2024): irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099div.pdf
- IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-INT and 1099-OID (Rev. January 2024): irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099int.pdf
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-B (2026): irs.gov/instructions/i1099b
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How our partner relationships workSource: the IRS instructions for the filer of each form, read at irs.gov on September 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.