Who this page is for
US options traders running the wheel, CSPs, and covered calls.
The typical reader: an active US options trader in a taxable account at Schwab, Fidelity, IBKR, Tastytrade, or Robinhood who has sold a cash-secured put, been assigned, written a covered call, and either been called away or had the call expire. Or someone whose 1099-B booked an assignment premium as a separate option gain and a stock buy at full strike — two wrong lines instead of one basis adjustment. If you traded SPX, NDX, or RUT this year, you also need Form 6781 with the 60/40 split. AllInvestView handles both paths in one ledger.
The options tax problems
Six things your broker's 1099-B and most tax-software CSV imports get wrong about options. Each is a real Form 8949 or Form 6781 line-item the IRS expects you to fix.
1099-B + TurboTax CSV miss these six patterns — routinely.
This is not an edge-case list. Every wheel trader, every covered-call income strategy, and every SPX trader hits at least three of these in a normal tax year.
Assignments reduce stock basis
CSP premium isn't a separate gain — it reduces the acquired shares' basis under IRC §1234. Most tax software books premium as a closed short-option gain on expiration date and records the stock buy at strike × qty — two wrong lines instead of one basis adjustment.
Expirations book at expiration date
Worthless expiration realises the full premium as gain (writer) or loss (buyer) on the expiry date. Holding period: open → expiry. Options held more than a year are long-term — rare but possible on LEAPS.
Wheel cycle linkage
CSP premium → reduces acquired-stock basis. CC premium → realised gain at expiration or increases stock proceeds on call-away. AllInvestView carries the link across all three legs; the 1099-B does not.
Section 1256 contracts
Broad-based index options (SPX, NDX, RUT), futures options, and most non-equity options are §1256 — marked-to-market at year-end with an automatic 60% LT / 40% ST split regardless of holding period. Reported on Form 6781, not 8949. SPY, QQQ, and IWM are equity options, not §1256.
Wash sales on options
§1091 applies. Same underlying + same expiration + same strike is the strict safe-harbour match. Different strikes or expirations on the same underlying sit in an IRS gray area. AllInvestView flags strict matches and surfaces near-matches. See /wash-sale-tracker/.
Multi-leg strategies
Spreads, iron condors, butterflies — tracked per leg. Closing one leg of a credit spread is a separate taxable event with its own holding period and proceeds line. Most retail tools collapse the spread to one P&L line and lose the per-leg tax detail.
How it works: 3 steps
The flow is built around one principle: nothing leaves your hands. Brokers connect read-only, the consolidated ledger lives in your account, and the final artifacts are the actual filable Form 8949 and Form 6781 rows.
Connect → Link wheel cycles → Emit 8949 + 6781
Worked example: Alex's TSLA wheel cycle
Alex is a US options trader filing for the 2026 tax year, running the wheel on TSLA in a taxable account. Here are the four trades, the wrong answer the 1099-B produces, and the single tax-correct line AllInvestView emits.
The trade tape
Four trades, one wheel cycle
| # | Date | Action | Detail | P&L impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026-01-15 | Sell-to-open CSP | TSLA 2026-02-15 $200P | +$400 premium |
| 2 | 2026-02-15 | Assigned | Buy 100 sh TSLA @ $200 | $20,000 outlay |
| 3 | 2026-03-01 | Sell-to-open CC | TSLA 2026-04-01 $220C | +$300 premium |
| 4 | 2026-04-01 | Called away | Sell 100 sh TSLA @ $220 | $22,000 proceeds |
The two ways to report it
The total economic outcome is the same — +$2,700 — but the lines that produce that total are completely different. The 1099-B spreads it across three misclassified rows where every individual figure is wrong. AllInvestView nets it to one correct line under §1234.
Broker 1099-B — three wrong lines
| Line | What broker books | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Short option closed (CSP, 2026-02-15) | +$400 ST |
| A2 | Short option closed (CC, 2026-04-01) | +$300 ST |
| A3 | Stock: $22,000 proceeds − $20,000 basis | +$2,000 ST |
| Net | Total — ties by coincidence | $2,700 |
Every line is misclassified. The CSP premium should reduce stock basis, not stand alone. The CC premium should increase stock proceeds, not stand alone. The stock line uses the wrong basis ($20,000 instead of $19,600) and the wrong proceeds ($22,000 instead of $22,300). Holding-period analysis, wash-sale detection on the option legs, and downstream re-investment basis all break.
AllInvestView — one §1234-correct line
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | 100 sh TSLA (wheel) |
| Acquired | 2026-02-15 |
| Sold | 2026-04-01 |
| Proceeds ($22,000 + $300 CC) | $22,300 |
| Basis ($20,000 − $400 CSP) | $19,600 |
| Realised gain (ST, 45 days) | +$2,700 |
One Form 8949 row, Box A (ST, basis reported). Holding period 2026-02-15 → 2026-04-01 = 45 days, short-term. Premiums flow to basis and proceeds per IRC §1234. The wheel cycle resolves to a single equity gain — the way the IRS expects.
The arithmetic ties — the classification doesn't
Both methods sum to +$2,700 in 2026 taxable gain. But the IRS-correct treatment under §1234 is the single 8949 line, not three. Filing the 1099-B as-is is fine if you owe nothing extra — until a multi-cycle year stacks several wrong-basis stock lots together, or until a wash sale on one of the spurious option lines disallows a loss you never actually had. AllInvestView keeps every cycle §1234-correct from the start.
This is the kind of calculation we run for you. Read-only broker access, results in minutes, your portfolio stays private.
See your own wheel cycles reconciled
Connect your brokers (or import CSVs) and we will link every CSP, assignment, CC, and call-away into a single §1234-correct Form 8949 row.
How AllInvestView compares
An honest look at the tools US options traders actually use. We win on wheel-cycle linkage, §1234 basis handling, and §1256 / Form 6781 separation. Broker 1099-Bs win on raw fill data because they are the source — but every premium is misclassified before it leaves the broker.
| Capability | AllInvestView | Broker 1099-B | TurboTax CSV | OptionsAlpha tax tools | Wheel-Trader tracker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment cost basis flows to stock (§1234) | |||||
| CSP premium reduces acquired basis | |||||
| CC premium adjusts proceeds on call-away vs expire | |||||
| Wheel cycle linkage (CSP → assignment → CC → call-away) | |||||
| Section 1256 → Form 6781 60/40 split | |||||
| Multi-leg strategy tracking (per-leg holding periods) | |||||
| Greeks at trade time preserved | |||||
| Wash sale on options (substantially-identical heuristic) | |||||
| LT vs ST classification correct per §1234 | |||||
| Foreign-listed options (Eurex, LSE) | |||||
| Closed-position vs expired-worthless differentiation | |||||
| Audit-ready PDF (8949 + 6781 + trade tape) |
Comparison reflects publicly documented features of OptionsAlpha and Wheel-Trader as of 2026-05. AllInvestView is the only platform combining wheel-cycle linkage, §1256 separation, and cross-broker reconciliation.
Ready to generate your own Form 8949 + Form 6781?
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Section 1256 contracts — the 60/40 rule and Form 6781
Section 1256 isn't an option you elect — it's the law for certain contracts.
If you traded SPX, NDX, RUT, XSP, futures options (ES, NQ, RTY, CL, GC), or most non-equity options this year, those contracts are marked-to-market at year-end and the realised + unrealised P&L splits automatically into 60% long-term / 40% short-term regardless of how long you held them. They report on Form 6781, not Form 8949, and flow to Schedule D lines 4 and 11.
Important boundary: SPY, QQQ, and IWM options are equity options, not §1256. They look like index options but they are ETF options — standard IRC §1234 treatment, Form 8949. The tax software that does not distinguish §1256 from equity options ends up with index-option gains taxed entirely as short-term when 60% should have been long-term, or vice-versa. AllInvestView routes every option contract to the correct form based on the underlying.
Frequently asked questions
IRS-cited: §1234 · §1256 · §1091 · Form 8949 · Form 6781 · Pub 550
Cash-secured-put premium reduces the acquired shares' cost basis under IRC §1234. Sold a $200 put for $400 and assigned 100 shares at $200? Basis is $19,600 — not $20,000 with a separate $400 short-option gain. The premium is not a stand-alone realised gain on the assignment date; it flows into the stock lot. Most 1099-Bs and TurboTax CSV imports book it the wrong way.
Each wheel cycle resolves to a single equity gain or loss. CSP premium reduces the acquired-stock basis on assignment. CC premium increases the proceeds when the stock is called away, or is realised as short-term gain if the call expires worthless. The stock leg's holding period runs from the assignment date through the sale date — in the worked example above, 2026-02-15 to 2026-04-01 = 45 days = short-term.
§1256 contracts (broad-based index options such as SPX, NDX, RUT; futures options; most non-equity options) are marked-to-market at year-end with an automatic 60% long-term / 40% short-term split regardless of holding period, on Form 6781. Regular equity options — including SPY, QQQ, IWM, and single-stock options — report on Form 8949 with standard rules under IRC §1234. SPY/QQQ/IWM look like index options but they are ETF options, not §1256.
Yes — IRC §1091 applies. Same underlying + same expiration + same strike is the strict safe-harbour match. Different strikes or different expirations on the same underlying sit in an IRS gray area — Treasury has not issued a definitive ruling. AllInvestView flags strict matches with high confidence and surfaces near-matches for review. See /wash-sale-tracker/ for the full cross-broker §1091 implementation.
Regular equity options go on Form 8949, then flow to Schedule D. Section 1256 contracts go on Form 6781 with the mandatory 60/40 split, then flow to Schedule D lines 4 and 11. Wheel cycles resolve to single equity lines on 8949 with basis and proceeds adjusted for premiums under IRC §1234. The consolidated Schedule D is covered in detail at /schedule-d-portfolio-tracker/.
Worthless expiration realises the full premium on the expiration date. Short option that expires worthless: short-term gain regardless of how long it was open. Long option that expires worthless: capital loss, holding period running from open to expiry. LEAPS held more than a year qualify for long-term treatment if held to expiry as a long position.
Yes — a long option that expires worthless is a deductible capital loss on Form 8949, dated the expiration date, with $0 proceeds and the original premium as basis. The wash-sale rule still applies if you re-opened a substantially identical position within 30 days. See our tax-loss harvesting guide for the broader loss-harvesting framework and timing rules.
Covered-call premium is added to the stock-sale proceeds on call-away — not booked as a separate option gain. Sold 100 shares at $220 with a $300 premium? Reported proceeds are $22,300. If the call instead expires worthless, the premium is realised as a short-term gain on the expiration date and the stock keeps its original basis — ready for the next covered call in the cycle.
Yes — each leg is tracked with its own open and close dates, holding period, and premium. Closing one leg of a credit spread is a separate taxable event with its own Form 8949 row. The dashboard groups legs by strategy for P&L analysis, but the tax ledger stays leg-by-leg so each disposal lands on the correct form with the correct holding period. Spreads, iron condors, butterflies, and calendars all work the same way.