Tax Documents Questions

If your accounts meet the criteria for reporting, you will receive the appropriate tax documents from us. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires us to report certain information regarding the amount of interest, dividend or miscellaneous income, or gross proceeds from sales our customers receive from us, as well as certain mortgage interest our customers pay to us. We use specific forms, such as IRS Forms 1099 and 1098, to annually report income and interest paid. You may have the option to set your delivery preferences for how you would like to receive your tax documents depending on the types of accounts you have. To update delivery preferences for your tax documents, sign on to Wells Fargo Online^®.

Wells Fargo generally mails original tax documents no later than January 31, or by the IRS deadline of February 15 for brokerage accounts. Depending on the postal service delivery, you can usually expect to receive your tax documents by the third week of February or by the end of February for brokerage accounts. If you don’t receive your tax documents by then, please call us at 1-800-TO-WELLS (1-800-869-3557) or 1-866-281-7436 for brokerage customers.

You can view your last statement(s) of the year to determine if you have earned $10.00 or more in interest, dividends, or distribution(s) from retirement accounts. You may not receive a 1099 form in the amount is less than $10.00. Note: Certain lines of business may provide information under the IRS reportable threshold of $10.00 as part of a Consolidated Tax Package if other reportable information over $10.00 is present.

If your deposit accounts have the same primary Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and 5-digit ZIP code (from the statement address on file for each account), we will report the interest collectively on a combined Form 1099.

If you'd like to receive separate Form 1099 documents in the future, you can call us at 1-800-TO-WELLS (1-800-869-3557) to make your request. For business accounts, call 1-800-225-5935.

There are many reasons this can happen, including the possibility that your mortgage has an adjustable rate and the rate increased.

There are several possible reasons for the difference between these amounts:

• Your interest payments may have included fees that may be reportable as interest.
• If you paid any interest early, we report it in the year it’s actually due.

The tax law requires us to report this information on Form 1099. The interest may not be taxable but is required to be reported on your tax return and may affect other items, such as taxation of your Social Security benefits. In some situations, the interest may also be taxable at the state level.

IRS rules require us to report cost basis and holding period for some but not all sales of stocks and other  securities. IRS regulations require us to report cost basis and holding period information on any security sold during a given tax year if that security was purchased or acquired on or after specific dates as put forth in "The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008." Securities covered under these requirements include equities, mutual funds, and dividend reinvestment plans. Simple debt securities, such as fixed-rate bonds, zero coupon bonds, and original issue discount bonds, as well as some more complex debt securities, are also included.

IRS Form 1099R reports a taxpayer's distributions from pensions, annuities, IRAs, insurance contracts, profit sharing plans and other employer sponsored retirement plans.

You may receive more than one IRS form 1099-R, because distribution information on each form is limited to one account and one distribution code.

Your contribution will be reported on IRS form 5498.

The retirement section of Wells Fargo Online offers an informational page linking to tax-related retirement articles, from basic questions to discussions of special circumstances.

• Checking, Savings, or CD (Time Account): 1-800-TO-WELLS (1-800-869-3557)
• Destination^® IRA (Retirement CDs and savings accounts eligible for FDIC insurance): 1-800-BEST-IRA

  (1-800-237-8472)

• Mortgage: 1-800-357-6675
• Home Equity: 1-866-820-9199
• Small Business: 1-800-225-5935
• WellsTrade^®: 1-800-TRADERS (1-800-872-3377)
• Wells Fargo Advisors Full Service Brokerage Accounts: Contact your Financial Advisor or call 1-866-281-7436

Yes, you can view your last statement of the year to determine if you have earned interest.

If you are the secondary signer or joint account owner, you can contact 1-800-TO-WELLS (1-800-869-3557) 24 hours a day for a duplicate copy. If you are co-borrower on a mortgage or home equity loan or line of credit, sign on at Wells Fargo Online.

Yes, as long as you are the primary owner of the account, you can view electronic copies of your tax documents through Wells Fargo Online at your convenience. For security reasons, tax documents are available for online viewing only by the owner of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) associated with the IRS reporting. (However, co-borrowers have online access to mortgage and home equity tax documents beginning with the 2015 tax year.) 

• Checking, savings, brokerage, mortgage, home equity, and trust accounts: Sign on to Wells Fargo Online.
• Brokerage customers: You may not have access to all of your brokerage tax documents on Wells Fargo Online. Visit Wells Fargo Advisors for access to all of your brokerage tax documents. Select Statements & Documents, then Tax Docs/1099s.

Some tax documents may be available online earlier than others. For example, your mortgage tax document may be available several weeks before your savings account tax document. All applicable IRS-required tax reporting documents will generally be available online on or before January 31 or by mid-February for brokerage accounts.

No, we do not charge a fee to view your tax documents online.

You will still receive a copy of your tax document in the mail if the delivery preference for your eligible account is set to “Mail.” If the delivery preference for your eligible account is set to “Online,” you will not receive a paper copy in the mail and your tax document will be viewable only through Wells Fargo Online. To update delivery preference options for your tax documents, sign on to Wells Fargo Online. 

We issue tax documents to the primary account owner. For security reasons, tax documents are available for online viewing only by the owner of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) associated with the IRS reporting. (However, co-borrowers have online access to mortgage and home equity tax documents beginning with the 2015 tax year.) If you are the secondary signer or joint account owner for all other account types, you can contact 1-800-TO-WELLS (1-800-869-3557) 24 hours a day for a duplicate copy.

We issue tax documents to the primary account owner — in this case, the business. For security reasons, tax documents are available for online viewing only by the owner of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) associated with the IRS reporting.

Yes, we provide 24/7 fraud monitoring to help keep your information secure. Please review our programs for your online security.

You will need Adobe^® Reader^® software to view, save, or print documents. Download Adobe Reader for free. See the Wells Fargo Online Technical Requirements for more details.

Yes, your online tax documents can be printed and used as official tax documents. If you are signed on to Wells Fargo Online from a computer, you’ll also have the option to combine multiple tax documents in a single file for printing.

You can view up to 10 years of your Wells Fargo tax document history starting in 2014 through Wells Fargo Online, depending on the types of accounts you have. For tax documents available online, you’ll have less history available if you are not the primary account owner. Please note that we do not produce tax documents if your interest earned or interest paid is less than the amount the IRS requires us to report.

No, currently Wells Fargo does not provide that service.

No. For tax advice, please call your Tax Advisor or the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 (1-800-829-4059 TTY) or visit their website at http://www.irs.gov/faqs.