Bank of America Tax Reporting Letter: Forms, Timing, and Access

If you’re looking for the Bank of America tax reporting letter, you’re looking for the 1099s, 1098s, and related IRS information returns the bank issues each year. Bank of America posts most of these to the Statements & Documents section of online banking starting in late January. If you have investments through Merrill, your consolidated 1099 lives in a separate Merrill portal and can arrive as late as the end of February. Which forms you get depends entirely on what happened in your accounts last year.

Which Forms Bank of America Sends

There isn’t a single “tax letter.” Bank of America and Merrill issue whichever IRS information returns your account activity triggered:

For Merrill investment accounts, several of these are bundled into a single Consolidated 1099. Instead of separate 1099-B, 1099-DIV, and 1099-INT documents, you get one packet organized by form type. That’s convenient at tax time, but it’s also why brokerage forms tend to arrive later than banking forms: Merrill waits until all the underlying data is finalized before releasing the combined statement.

When Each Form Arrives

Different forms have different IRS-mandated delivery deadlines. For the 2025 tax year (filed in 2026):

  • January 31, 2026: Forms 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1098, and 1099-NEC must be mailed or made available electronically.7Internal Revenue Service. A Guide to Information Returns
  • February 17, 2026: Form 1099-B statements must reach you. The standard date is February 15, but in 2026 that falls on a Sunday followed by a Monday holiday, so the deadline shifts to Tuesday.8Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
  • March 15, 2026: Partnerships must issue Schedule K-1 forms. If you hold a master limited partnership through Merrill, expect the K-1 later than your other forms because it comes directly from the partnership.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1065 (2025)

The Merrill Consolidated 1099

Merrill’s consolidated statement runs on a longer production window than a standalone 1099-INT from your checking account. For the 2025 tax year, Merrill begins producing consolidated statements around January 26, 2026, with most ready by the end of February 2026. The regulatory due date (with extension) is March 19, 2026.10Merrill Edge. Tax Statement Mailing Dates So if your Merrill statement isn’t in the portal in early February, that’s normal. Opting into paperless delivery gets you a notification the moment documents post, which is a few days earlier than a mailed copy would arrive.11Merrill. Tax-related FAQs

Retirement Account Forms

Form 1099-R for retirement account distributions is produced between January 15 and January 31. Form 5498, which reports IRA contributions and year-end values, arrives much later, typically between mid-May and the end of May, with a regulatory due date of June 30.10Merrill Edge. Tax Statement Mailing Dates You don’t need the 5498 to file, but keep it as a record of what you contributed.

Where to Find Your Forms Online

Banking and investment forms live in two different places, so where you look depends on which account produced the form.

For checking, savings, CDs, and mortgages, sign in to Bank of America online banking, open the specific account, and go to the Statements & Documents tab. Your 1099-INT appears there for deposit accounts, and your 1098 is under Year-end Statements on the mortgage account.12Bank of America. Tax Preparation FAQs: Information and Required Forms Pick the correct tax year and download the PDF. Before you use it, check that the name, address, and Social Security number match what the IRS has on file. Mismatches are a common cause of processing delays.

For Merrill Edge or Merrill Lynch accounts, you log in through the Merrill portal with separate credentials, then open Documents or Statements and filter to Tax Documents. The consolidated 1099 lives here, organized by form type. Confirm the tax year displayed matches the return you’re preparing; pulling up a prior year’s statement by accident is easy if you’re filing late. Many tax software programs can import brokerage 1099 data directly from Merrill, which cuts down on data entry errors for complicated returns.

If a Form Is Missing or Wrong

If it’s past mid-February and a form you expected still hasn’t shown up, check the online portal first, since electronic copies usually beat mailed ones. If it’s not there either, call the bank’s Tax Reporting Services desk directly rather than the general customer service line. Merrill accounts route through their own wealth management and brokerage channels.

You can also request a mailed copy after opting into paperless delivery, though depending on your account type there may be a small convenience fee.

As a last resort, the IRS offers free wage and income transcripts showing the data from 1099s and other information returns that have been filed with the agency. Access these through your IRS Individual Online Account at irs.gov. For the current processing year, transcript data typically becomes available in the first week of February, and transcripts cover the current year plus nine prior years.13Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Types for Individuals and Ways to Order Them One catch: the transcript only shows forms already filed with the IRS, so brokerage forms that haven’t been submitted yet won’t appear.

Corrected Forms

Corrected 1099s are more common than most people expect, especially on investment accounts where corporate actions, mergers, or reclassified distributions can change the reporting. Merrill notes that amended forms for the 2025 tax year may go out between late February and April 15, 2026.10Merrill Edge. Tax Statement Mailing Dates If you spot an error yourself, contact the tax reporting department with your account details and a description of the problem, and they’ll review it.

The timing creates a real headache: if you already filed based on the original form and then receive a corrected one, you’ll need to file an amended return using Form 1040-X.14Internal Revenue Service. File an Amended Return You have three years from your original filing date, or two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later.15Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 308, Amended Returns It’s one reason taxpayers with complex investment accounts often wait until mid-March to file. If you’re still waiting on a consolidated 1099 or a K-1 as April 15 approaches, filing an extension is usually smarter than guessing.16Internal Revenue Service. IRS Opens 2026 Filing Season

Requesting Forms for a Deceased Account Holder

If you’re the personal representative or trustee for someone who has died, request their Bank of America tax documents through Estate Services. You’ll need the deceased customer’s full legal name and Social Security number so the bank can locate their accounts, and the bank will assign a case reference number. Expect to provide a death certificate and possibly additional documents such as a will, trust agreement, or proof of legal authority; requirements vary by state. Estate Servicing Operations is at 888-689-4466, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. Merrill and Private Bank accounts route through their own contact channels.17Bank of America. Estate Services

Keep the PDFs After You File

Every form the bank sends you also goes to the IRS, and the agency’s automated system matches what you report against what financial institutions filed. Before you file, pull up every form from every account and reconcile them against your return. After you file, keep the PDFs. The IRS recommends holding tax records at least three years from the date you filed, or two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later.18Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records? For investments, hold on to cost basis documentation longer than that, because you may need it years later when you sell.