Which TurboTax Does a Stock Market Investor Need?
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If you bought and sold stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds during the year, your brokerage sends a consolidated 1099 that reports your sales, dividends, and interest. Each sale has a gain or loss based on what you paid versus what you sold for, and those flow onto Schedule D and Form 8949. Your dividends and interest get reported too. The result can raise your tax, or your losses can offset gains and even a bit of ordinary income.
The complexity scales with how active you are. A handful of long-term holds you sold is simple; hundreds of trades, wash sales, or assets with missing cost basis take more care. The good news is that most major brokerages can import directly into TurboTax, which saves you from typing in every transaction by hand.
TurboTax Premium (Online)
Premium is the online edition that handles investment income, capital gains, dividends, and your 1099-B, and it absorbed the old Premier tier for online filers. It supports brokerage imports so you don't have to enter every trade by hand, and it sorts short-term versus long-term gains automatically. For most investors, this is the right online choice.
Alternatives to consider
Short-term versus long-term gains
How long you held an investment before selling makes a difference. Assets you held more than a year usually qualify for lower long-term capital gains rates, while those held a year or less are taxed at your ordinary rate. TurboTax sorts your sales into the right buckets from your 1099-B, but always double-check that the holding periods imported correctly, especially for shares you bought in batches.
Losses can work in your favor
Capital losses offset capital gains, and if your losses come in higher than your gains, you can deduct a limited amount against ordinary income and then carry the rest forward to future years. Watch out for wash sales, where selling at a loss and rebuying the same security within a short window disallows the loss. Premium handles the carryover math and flags wash-sale situations reported on your 1099.
Frequently asked questions
Can I import my trades instead of typing them?＋
In most cases, yes. Premium supports importing from many major brokerages, which is a huge time-saver if you had a lot of transactions. Always review the imported data for accuracy before you file.
I only sold a few shares. Do I really need Premium?＋
If you sold any investments, you need an edition that supports capital gains, which online means Premium. Even one reportable sale calls for Schedule D and Form 8949.
What if my broker didn't report my cost basis?＋
You'll need to supply it yourself from your purchase records. TurboTax lets you enter the missing basis so your gain or loss is calculated correctly instead of defaulting to a higher taxable gain.
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