Why did I receive a 1099 form?

This is provided for informational purposes only. Acorns does not provide tax or legal advice. You should consult with a tax or legal professional to address your particular situation.

You may be eligible to receive a 1099 form if your investment activity with Acorns last year meets IRS reporting requirements, described below. This means you may need to let the IRS know about the money you earned the previous year through Acorns.

Be sure to talk to your CPA or tax professional or visit the IRS website to help determine how you should report this information to the IRS.

Acorns provides three different types of 1099 forms, depending on your situation: A combined 1099-DIV/B, 1099-R, and 1099-MISC.

1099-B
You may be eligible to receive a 1099-B if you withdrew from your Acorns Invest account, or sold some of your investments for more than $20 last year. You may also be eligible to receive a 1099-B if there were any rebalances in your account(s). Your 1099-B lists all of your gains or losses from your investment activity.

1099-DIV
You will receive a 1099-DIV if you received more than $10 in dividends in the previous year. Dividends are companies’ ways of thanking you for investing with them. You get them simply for holding a stock or fund at a certain time. Acorns reinvests these for you in your portfolio, but you may still be taxed on them.

You can check to see what dividends you received by visiting the “Recent Activity” section of your Acorns Investment accounts. 

1099-R
The 1099-R form lists money withdrawn from a tax-advantaged retirement account, like your Later account or a 401(k). You'll get a 1099-R if you withdraw any money from your Acorns Later account during the tax year.

1099-MISC
You will receive a 1099-MISC if you earned more than $600 in referral bonuses or through Acorns Earn offers that didn’t require you purchase something. (Earn Rewards you earn as a result of purchasing a good or service may be considered a rebate for tax purposes, meaning you may not receive a 1099 tax form for that money from Acorns.)