Yes, Webull reports to the IRS. As a registered broker-dealer, Webull is required by federal law to file information returns showing your sale proceeds, dividends, interest, and retirement account contributions, and the IRS receives the same tax documents you do. Anything you leave off your return is likely to get flagged by the IRS’s automated matching system.
What Webull Sends to the IRS
The legal basis is 26 U.S.C. §6045, which requires every broker to file returns showing each customer’s name, address, and gross proceeds from sales. The same statute requires brokers to report adjusted cost basis and holding period for “covered securities,” which includes most stocks acquired in a brokerage account after 2010 and mutual fund shares acquired after 2011.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6045 – Returns of Brokers Webull sends this information both to you and to the IRS, so there is a matched record of your investment activity before you sit down to file.
The statute also sets the delivery deadline. Brokers must furnish consolidated reporting statements to customers by February 15 of the year following the tax year.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6045 – Returns of Brokers Some forms in your Webull tax package may arrive slightly later if the broker needs to incorporate corrected data from issuers.
The Forms Webull Issues
Webull bundles several IRS information returns into one consolidated tax package. You’ll only receive the forms that match your account activity.
Form 1099-B for Sales
If you sold stocks, ETFs, or options during the year, Form 1099-B reports the gross proceeds from each sale and, for covered securities, the cost basis you paid.2Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-B, Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions The form marks each gain or loss as short-term (held one year or less) or long-term (held more than one year), which determines the rate you pay.3Internal Revenue Service. Form 8949 – Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets Box 1g flags any wash sale losses Webull disallowed.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-B
Form 1099-DIV for Dividends
Form 1099-DIV reports dividend income when total dividends reach $10 or more. Box 1a shows total ordinary dividends, taxed at your regular income rate. Box 1b breaks out qualified dividends, which get the lower long-term capital gains rates. Box 3 shows return-of-capital distributions, which aren’t taxed immediately but reduce your cost basis in the stock. If Webull withheld foreign taxes on international dividends, Boxes 7 and 8 show the amount and the country that collected it.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-DIV
Form 1099-INT for Interest
Form 1099-INT reports interest earned in your brokerage account, such as interest on uninvested cash or on bonds and other debt securities. Brokers file this form when they pay at least $10 in interest during the year.6Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-INT Interest income is taxed at your ordinary rate. One point of confusion worth flagging: margin interest you pay is not on the 1099-INT. It appears on your year-end brokerage statement and may be deductible as an investment expense, but it’s separate from interest income.
Form 1099-DA for Crypto
Starting with the 2025 tax year, brokers that facilitate cryptocurrency sales report those transactions on the new Form 1099-DA rather than on a 1099-B.7Internal Revenue Service. Reminders for Taxpayers About Digital Assets Webull issues a 1099-DA to customers who had reportable crypto activity, such as selling or exchanging digital assets.8Webull. When Will I Receive My Tax Documents If you only bought and held, you won’t receive one.
The cost basis rules for crypto are phasing in. For digital assets sold in 2025, brokers were not required to report cost basis, so many 1099-DAs show proceeds but not what you originally paid. For digital assets acquired after 2025 and sold in 2026 or later, brokers must report basis if the asset qualifies as a covered security. Assets acquired before January 1, 2026, or transferred in from another platform, are treated as noncovered, and basis reporting is optional.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-DA When your 1099-DA doesn’t include basis, you’re responsible for calculating and reporting it from your own purchase records.
Form 5498 for IRA Contributions
Form 5498 applies to Webull retirement accounts like Traditional or Roth IRAs. It reports your contributions for the tax year, including amounts contributed during the following year’s grace period through April 15, and the fair market value of the account as of December 31.10Internal Revenue Service. Form 5498 – IRA Contribution Information The form is informational; it goes to the IRS so the agency can verify you stayed within annual contribution limits.
Trades Inside an IRA Aren’t Reported to the IRS
If your Webull account is a Traditional or Roth IRA, buying and selling stocks, receiving dividends, and earning interest inside that account do not trigger any tax reporting for the year. You won’t get a 1099-B or 1099-DIV for activity inside the IRA. The only reporting is the Form 5498 for contributions and, eventually, Form 1099-R when you take distributions.11Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-R Traditional IRA withdrawals are generally taxed as ordinary income. Qualified Roth withdrawals come out tax-free. Early withdrawals before age 59½ from either account type usually trigger both income tax and a 10% penalty, with limited exceptions.
The Wash Sale Gap Webull Can’t See
Under 26 U.S.C. §1091, if you sell a stock at a loss and buy substantially identical shares within 30 days before or after, you cannot deduct the loss. The disallowed loss gets added to the basis of the replacement shares.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1091 – Loss From Wash Sales of Stock or Securities Webull tracks wash sales within your Webull account, on the same CUSIP, and reports the disallowed amount in Box 1g of your 1099-B.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-B
Here’s the catch. If you sell a stock at a loss in your Webull taxable account and buy it back in a different broker’s account, that’s still a wash sale under the tax code, but Webull has no way to see it. You’re responsible for identifying those cross-account wash sales yourself and adjusting basis on Form 8949 when you file.
You Still Owe Tax If No Form Arrives
A common misconception is that if you don’t receive a 1099, you don’t owe tax. The IRS is clear that you must report all income on your return regardless of whether you receive a tax form.13Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your Form 1099-K Webull uses the $10 minimum for dividends and interest before it issues a 1099, but earning $8 in dividends doesn’t make that $8 tax-free. It still counts as income.
What Happens If Your Return Doesn’t Match
Because the IRS receives the same 1099 data Webull sends you, an automated system matches what third parties reported against what shows up on your return. When there’s a mismatch, the IRS issues a CP2000 notice identifying the discrepancy and proposing changes.14Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 652, Notice of Underreported Income – CP2000 A CP2000 isn’t a bill on arrival, but if you don’t respond or can’t explain the gap, the IRS will assess additional tax, plus interest and potential penalties.15Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP2000 Series Notice
The rough part of a CP2000 for investors is that the IRS usually calculates the proposed tax without accounting for cost basis. If you sold $50,000 worth of stock that you originally bought for $48,000, your real gain was $2,000. If you never reported the sale, the IRS sees $50,000 in unreported proceeds and proposes tax on the full amount. You can usually resolve this by responding with your basis documentation, but reporting correctly the first time is far easier than untangling a notice months later.