Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (2024)

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    Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (1)

    jamesevh Member ✭✭

    edited November 2023 in Investing (Mac)

    Quicken Deluxe 7.2.3 running on MacOS Monterey 12.7

    When short term T bills mature, the interest income is mistakenly shown as capital gains in tax reports. The interest is taxable on Fed, tax exempt on most states. T bills are short term zero coupon purchased at a discount and paid at face vale at maturity. Noticed the problem in 2023 when I started buying T bills.

    Jim

    • I have an account with Treasury Direct dealing with T Bills.

      ITransaxtions entered into Quicken manually as follows -

      Enter a Buy Bonds at the discount price.

      At maturity, enter a Sell Bonds at cost (no Cap Gains),

      Enter an Interest Income transaction for the interest earned (face value minus cost)

      The interest category carries Tax Line Item US government interest

      QWin & QMac (Deluxe) Subscription
      Quicken user since 1991

    • Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (3)

      jamesevh Member ✭✭

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      I’ve been purchasing T bills through my Fidelity brokerage account. The Quicken transaction is downloaded directly into Quicken from Fidelity, not manually entered. Quicken tax reports show the interest as a capital gain.

    • Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (4)

      J_Mike SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

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      Am curious - how does Fidelity account for the interest earned?

      Does your monthly statement reflect it?

      or. how is it accounted for in the year-end 1099 form?

      QWin & QMac (Deluxe) Subscription
      Quicken user since 1991

    • Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (5)

      jamesevh Member ✭✭

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      Fidelity shows the T-bill as interest on the monthly statements. I’m sure it will also show on the annual 1099, but this is the first year I’ve purchased them. Btw, T-bills are purchased in $1,000 increments, so 100 T-bills = $100,000. Quicken accounts for them in Quicken units of $100, or 1,000 units, but the math works out, except it’s miss classified as capital gain.

    • Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (6)

      J_Mike SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

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      Unfortunately QMac is mot able to properly process this transaction from the downloaded information. The FI is doing some manipulations in the background which QMac is not able to do.

      In this situation, I would edit the downloaded Sell and adjust the price to match the Buy. Then add the interest income transaction. Your cash balances out and QMac will properly report the tax related info.

      QWin & QMac (Deluxe) Subscription
      Quicken user since 1991

    • Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (7)

      jamesevh Member ✭✭

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      T-bills & zero coupon notes are very common and growing in popularity due to rising interest rates. It would be nice if Quicken could address the problem of reporting interest as capital gain.

      Thanks

    • Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (8)

      jamesevh Member ✭✭

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      is Quicken for Mac working on reporting interest being shown as capital gains when zero coupon bills/notes mature?

    • Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (9)

      BillB5150 Member

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      Actually, this is more of a Fidelity issue than a Quicken problem. I recently moved my brokerage account from Vanguard to Fidelity. When I was at Vanguard, a TBill sale triggered two downloadable transactions. The first transaction was a "Sold" transaction, and the amount was equal to my PURCHASE price of the TBill, so capital gain = 0. The second transaction was downloadable as a IntInc transaction, for the amount of the interest earned. The sum of the two transactions was equal to the face value of the TBill. With Fidelity, I get only one transaction for the full amount of the TBill redemption, which causes the short term capital gain to occur. Disappointing they do it that way, but unless Fidelity changes things on their end the only way to fix would be to delete the Fidelity sell transaction and enter two manual transactions to replicate the way Vanguard does it.

    This discussion has been closed.

    Treasury Bills Reported as capital Gain (2024)

    FAQs

    Do T bills count as capital gains? ›

    However, income earned from Treasury bills is not subject to state tax or local income taxes. Are Treasury bills taxed as capital gains? Normally no. However, if you buy a T-bill in the secondary market and then achieve a profit, you may be liable for capital gains depending on your exact purchase price.

    Are zero coupon Treasury bills taxed as capital gains? ›

    Although not paid until maturity, income from zero-coupon STRIPS is taxable in the year in which it accrues. Increases in TIPS principal value as a result of inflation adjustments are taxed as capital gains in the year they occur, even though an investor does not collect these gains until TIPS are sold or mature.

    How to report treasury bill interest on tax return? ›

    Interest from Treasury bills (T-bills) is subject to federal income taxes but not state or local taxes. The interest income received in a year is recorded on Form 1099-INT. Investors can opt to have up to 50% of their Treasury bills' interest earnings automatically withheld.

    How does IRS check capital gains? ›

    Taxpayers must use Form 8949 and Schedule D to report capital gains and losses. Completion of Form 8949 and Schedule D requires information from Form 1099-B and Form 1099-DIV or a 1099 Consolidated Statement and from taxpayer records.

    What if I sell a treasury bill before maturity? ›

    Treasury bonds, notes, and bills have no default risk since the U.S. government guarantees them. Investors will receive the bond's face value if they hold it to maturity. However, if sold before maturity, your gain or loss depends on the difference between the initial price and what you sold the Treasury for.

    What counts towards capital gains? ›

    What are capital gains? Any time you sell an investment for more than you bought it, you potentially create a taxable capital gain. Capital gains can apply to almost any investment that is sold at a profit, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, options contracts, or even cryptocurrency.

    Are returns from Treasury bills taxable? ›

    Interest income from Treasury bills, notes and bonds - This interest is subject to federal income tax, but is exempt from all state and local income taxes.

    How do you avoid tax on treasury bonds? ›

    You can skip paying taxes on interest earned with Series EE and Series I savings bonds if you're using the money to pay for qualified higher education costs. That includes expenses you pay for yourself, your spouse or a qualified dependent. Only certain qualified higher education costs are covered, including: Tuition.

    Why buy zero coupon Treasury bills? ›

    Zero-coupon bonds are more volatile than coupon bonds, so speculators can use them to profit more from anticipated short-term price movements. All other things being equal, the price of a zero-coupon bond will increase more than the price of a regular coupon bond when interest rates fall.

    Do you get a 1099 for Treasury bills? ›

    You get one 1099 for all your Treasury securities. The 1099 has different sections for: 1099 – INT (Shows interest income you received through the year) 1099 – B (Shows the proceeds you got for maturing securities not purchased at original issue)

    Is interest from the Treasury bills tax deductible? ›

    Interest from corporate bonds and U.S. Treasury bonds interest is typically taxable at the federal level. U.S. Treasuries are exempt from state and local income taxes. Most interest income earned on municipal bonds is exempt from federal income taxes.

    How do you account for interest on a Treasury bill? ›

    For example, if you buy a $1,000 bill at a price per $100 of $99.986111, then you would pay $999.86 ($1,000 x . 99986111 = $999.86111). * When the bill matures, you would be paid its face value, $1,000. Your interest is the face value minus the purchase price.

    How to avoid capital gains tax over 65? ›

    Utilize Tax-Advantaged Accounts: Tax-advantaged retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s, Charitable Remainder Trusts, or IRAs, can help seniors reduce their capital gains taxes. Money invested in these accounts grows tax-free, and withdrawals are not taxed until they are taken out in retirement.

    At what age do you not pay capital gains? ›

    Capital Gains Tax for People Over 65. For individuals over 65, capital gains tax applies at 0% for long-term gains on assets held over a year and 15% for short-term gains under a year. Despite age, the IRS determines tax based on asset sale profits, with no special breaks for those 65 and older.

    What can be excluded from capital gains? ›

    Avoiding capital gains tax on your primary residence

    You can sell your primary residence and avoid paying capital gains taxes on the first $250,000 of your profits if your tax-filing status is single, and up to $500,000 if married and filing jointly. The exemption is only available once every two years.

    Are I bonds taxed as capital gains? ›

    Is interest income from I bonds taxed as capital gains? No, the interest income earned from I bonds is not considered a capital gain and is therefore taxed differently. Instead, it is taxed as regular income at the federal level and exempt from state and local taxes.

    At what income do you not pay capital gains? ›

    Long-term capital gains tax rates for the 2023 tax year
    FILING STATUS0% RATE20% RATE
    Source: Internal Revenue Service
    SingleUp to $44,625Over $492,300
    Married filing jointlyUp to $89,250Over $553,850
    Married filing separatelyUp to $44,625Over $276,900
    1 more row
    Mar 13, 2024

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