Form 1099-DA field reference
Form 1099-DA Box 1e: Date sold or disposed
What to check
- Match the execution or disposition record
- Check the correct tax year
- Review timezone-sensitive transactions
Where Box 1e flows on your return
Box 1e's disposition date pairs with Box 1d to determine the Form 8949 Part I/Part II split, and it also confirms which tax year the transaction belongs in.
How Box 1e works
Box 1e reports the date of the sale, exchange, or other taxable disposition of the digital asset — the moment that actually triggers gain or loss recognition, not the date you initiated a withdrawal request or the date funds later settled into a bank account.
Because digital-asset markets trade continuously, a transaction executed close to midnight in your local time zone can post on a different calendar date than you expect, especially when the broker records transaction timestamps in UTC or another reference time zone rather than the time zone you file from.
When Box 1e is missing — which the instructions permit under certain optional stablecoin or NFT aggregate reporting methods — you need your own transaction records to establish the disposition date and confirm you're reporting the gain or loss in the correct tax year, since a sale that actually occurred in December of one year but posted in January of the next can otherwise get misreported.
Worked example
Priya initiates a sale at 11:52 p.m. on December 31 in her local time zone, but her broker's system logs the transaction in UTC, so Box 1e shows January 1 of the following year. Because Box 1e controls the tax year of the disposition for reporting purposes, Priya reports the sale on next year's return rather than the current one, matching what the broker actually reported to the IRS.
Continue the filing flow
Frequently asked questions
Is the date in Box 1e when I clicked "sell" or when the trade actually settled?
Box 1e reports the date of the sale, exchange, or other taxable disposition as the broker's system recorded it — generally the trade execution date, not a later settlement or withdrawal date. Confirm against your own trade confirmation if the timing matters for year-end planning.
Why might Box 1e show a different date than I expected for a late-December trade?
Brokers sometimes log transaction timestamps in UTC or another reference time zone rather than your local time zone, which can push a trade executed just before midnight your time onto the next calendar date on the 1099-DA.
What tax year does a transaction in Box 1e belong to?
The disposition date in Box 1e determines the tax year of the sale for Form 8949 reporting purposes — always check it against your own records, especially for trades made in the final days of December.