Form 2439 Capital Gain Allocations

Mutual funds that receive capital gains normally pay them out as capital gain distributions. This page describes a rarely used alternative, in which the mutual fund retains the capital gain and pays tax on it, but makes a capital gain allocation, which passes along to its investors the tax consequences of these events.

Which Is which?

You shouldn’t have any difficulty telling whether you’ve received a capital gain distribution or a capital gain allocation. Capital gain distributions are reported in box 2a of Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions. If the mutual fund chooses to make a capital gain allocation, the allocation won’t appear on Form 1099-DIV. Instead, you’ll receive a special form: Form 2439, Notice to Shareholder of Undistributed Long-Term Capital Gains.

Where is it?

This form may arrive at a different time than other tax forms. You should receive Form 1099-DIV by the end of February. Mutual funds have 60 days after the end of their tax year (which isn’t necessarily December 31) to provide Form 2439, however. If your shares are held by a nominee, it may arrive even later.

What to do

When it arrives, you need to do four things:

• Report the capital gain on your income tax return for the year.
• Claim a credit for the tax paid by the mutual fund.
• Attach copy B of Form 2439 to your completed tax return.
• Adjust the basis of your shares in the mutual fund.

Overall, this tax treatment is neither good nor bad. It puts you in about the same place as if you received a capital gain dividend in cash, paid tax with part of that cash, and then bought additional shares with the cash that was left over.

Reporting the capital gain

Report the gain according to the instructions on the back of Form 2439. If your allocation contains any special categories of capital gain, check the Schedule D instructions for details on how to report these items.

Note: If you receive a capital gain allocation and subsequently incur a short-term capital loss on a sale of mutual fund shares you held six months or less, see Shares Held Six Months or Less for a special rule.

Credit for Tax Paid

Now for the good part. You get to claim credit for the tax paid by the mutual fund. As of this writing, that tax is paid at the rate of 21%, which is higher than the rate you pay on the capital gain allocation. So receiving a Form 2439 usually means paying less tax with your return, not more. If this additional credit means you have an overpayment, you can use it to claim a refund.

Add the amount from box 2 in every Form 2439 you receive and report the total on the appropriate line of Form 1040. (Look for a line near the end of the form, in the Payments section, where you can claim credits from various forms.) When you complete Form 1040, you’ll get credit for this amount just as if it were an additional amount of tax you paid to the IRS.

Attach Copy B to your return

You should receive two copies of Form 2439, called Copy B and Copy C. (The mutual fund sends Copy A to the IRS.) When your income tax return is completed, attach Copy B to your return. Retain Copy C for your records.

Basis adjustment

There’s one more piece of business that’s easy to overlook, and it’s an important one: if you overlook it, you’ll pay too much tax when you sell your shares.

When you receive a capital gain allocation on Form 2439, you get to increase the basis in your mutual fund shares by the difference between the total undistributed capital gain (box 1a) and the amount of tax the mutual fund paid on that gain (box 2). Be sure to record this basis adjustment in your records for this mutual fund. It’ll save you money when the time comes to sell your shares.

Example: Form 2439 says you’ve received a capital gain allocation of $200, and the mutual fund paid $42 of tax on this amount. Your basis allocation is $158.

If you’re using the average basis method to determine your basis, the basis adjustment is easy. Simply add this amount to your total basis in the shares.

If you’re using the separate lot method to determine your basis, you’ll need to take a few more steps:

• Find the difference between the amounts in box 1a and box 2 of Form 2439.
• Divide that result by the number of shares to which it applies. This tells you the amount of the adjustment per share.
• Use this per-share basis adjustment to increase the basis of each separate lot of shares you hold.

Be sure to retain Copy C of Form 2439 in your tax records as proof that you’re entitled to this basis adjustment.