The IRS recently released its 2024 Instructions for Form 1099-B, the form for reporting proceeds from broker and barter exchange transactions. The updates to the instructions were primarily editorial in nature, including removing references to the yearly General Instructions for Certain Information Returns and replacing them with references to the “current” year, and replacing some terms with the acronym that represents them. The most notable change was that instructions have been added under the Exceptions for the Sales of Digital Assets. The instructions point to Form 1099-B as the proper form for reporting sales of digital assets that are also securities, commodities, or other financial instruments at this time. For other digital asset sales effected by a broker for clients, a Form 1099-B is not required but may be voluntarily filed with the IRS. Such a filing would not be subject to penalties under Sections 6721 or 6722 for failure to report or furnish the information correctly (see REG-1122793-19 for rules on penalty relief for voluntary reporting).
For more information about Form 1099-B and its instructions as well as links to the documents, click here.
