Tax and IRA Frequently Asked Questions

T. Rowe Price mails the following tax forms to shareholders:

For further information on tax forms, please visit the Tax Forms section.

The Tax Information Mailing Schedule lists the approximate dates the forms will be mailed to shareholders. In addition, you will receive, by mail or e-mail, your year-end statement in early January, which reports distributions and activity in each fund account for the year and year-end balances for accounts. Your T. Rowe Price tax form is available to view online at the same time it is mailed to you.

There may be several items that can result in your year-end statement not matching your tax forms. For example, reclassifications after the year-end statement is produced; foreign tax, which is reported on Form 1099-DIV but generally not on your year-end statement; and short-term capital gain distributions, which are reported separately from dividends on your statement, but are combined with dividends on Form 1099-DIV in Box 1a.

Because of these potential differences between your year-end statement and tax form, we strongly recommend waiting to receive your tax forms before preparing your tax returns, so that you have the most up-to-date and complete information.

Wash sale rules apply to mutual funds. If you sell shares at a loss, you cannot claim the loss if you purchased other shares in the same fund or a substantially identical fund within a 61-day period surrounding the sale. This period includes the day of the sale, 30 days before the sale, and 30 days after the sale. The disallowed loss is added to the basis of the purchased shares that resulted in wash sales.

A wash sale is indicated by a double asterisk (**) on Form 1099-B if T. Rowe Price is calculating cost basis on an account. T. Rowe Price reports to you wash sales involving the same fund only. Such information on your mutual funds is not reported to the IRS. If you are not sure if you have invested in a substantially identical fund, please consult a tax adviser. You should note that you are ultimately responsible for the accuracy of your tax return.

Log in to your account. In the "Statement & Records" section, select "Tax Forms" or "View Tax Forms," and select the tax form you would like to view. Here is an example of the Records section:

T. Rowe Price offers Intuit TurboTax to customers to help them prepare their tax returns. Interact with other TurboTax users, tax experts, and TurboTax employees to find answers to thousands of product and tax questions.

The T. Rowe Price website has fund distributions, dividends, and capital gains information for the current year and the prior two years. If you require older information, please call a customer service representative.

T. Rowe Price may provide average cost basis for your mutual funds. If T. Rowe Price currently is calculating your cost basis, you may view it in your online account by logging in to our website.

If T. Rowe Price currently is not tracking the cost basis for your T. Rowe Price nonretirement mutual fund accounts, and you would like us to track this information, you may complete the Cost Basis Information Form.

You also may find additional information regarding current cost basis information or the new cost basis reporting regulations by visiting our web page, Cost Basis Accounting and Calculation.

A reclassification means that the tax character of the dividend on your Form 1099-DIV is different than the tax character reported on your statement. Tax character indicates whether the dividend is from taxable or tax-exempt income or is a short-term or long-term gain.

A return of capital occurs if a T. Rowe Price fund pays out more in distributions than it earned during the year. In this case, you do not owe tax on your share of the excess amount, which is called a "nontaxable distribution" or "return of capital." We report this type of distribution in Box 3 of Form 1099-DIV.

Return of Capital and Reclassifications information is available in the Tax Planning section of our site.

Qualified dividends are the portion of dividends and short-term capital gains which may be qualified for a preferred tax rate instead of tax rates applicable to ordinary income. Qualified dividends are reported in Box 1b of Form 1099-DIV and are the portion of Box 1a (Total Ordinary Dividends) which may be qualified.

Qualified dividends generally are dividends paid from shares of common stock. Shareholders must hold shares for at least 61 days during the 121-day period beginning 60 days before the ex-dividend date of the distribution.

Visit Fund-Specific Tax and Reclassification Information section of our website for this information. It includes:

• Interest on Direct U.S. Government Securities
• Tax Reporting for Foreign Taxes Paid
• Return of Capital and Reclassifications
• Long-Term Capital Gains
• Qualified Dividend Income Percentage
• Dividends-Received Deductions
• Foreign Source Income for Virginia Corporations
• Tax Information for Tax-Free Funds (includes AMT information)

T. Rowe Price reports tax-free dividends to you on Form 1099-INT (for amounts of $10 or more). You must report your tax-free dividends on Form 1040, Line 8b. You also may need to report tax-free dividends on your state tax return. Consult a tax adviser to determine if any or all of your Form 1099-INT dividends are subject to alternative minimum tax or state tax reportable.

Although dividends paid by a tax-free fund are federally tax-free (note that the alternative minimum tax may apply), other payments are not tax-free. Capital gains distributions are subject to capital gains tax. This applies both to capital gains distributions made by the fund, as well as sales of fund shares made by you.

AMT is the federal alternative minimum tax. The AMT operates as a parallel tax system to the regular tax system with its own definition of taxable income, exemptions, and tax rates.

To determine if the AMT affects you, you must compute tax owed under the "regular" and AMT systems, and you are liable for whichever amount of tax owed is higher. We report possible AMT taxable income on Form 1099-INT, Box 9.

Each IRA type offers tax advantages, has certain eligibility requirements, and annual contribution limits. T. Rowe Price makes it easy to compare a Roth IRA to a Traditional IRA to see what best fits your retirement savings plan. Our IRA Selector Tool helps you select the appropriate IRA type for your age, marital status, and annual income. Or browse Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA for a general comparison.

Roth IRA contributions can be tracked by referencing past Form 5498s that report contributions to your IRA and by completing Form 8606.

Non-deductible contributions made to your Traditional IRA can be tracked by referencing your Form 5498s to determine your total contribution amount and by completing the Form 8606.

If you would like more information, please view the Traditional and Roth IRA Summary and Agreement.

Roth IRAs can provide many advantages, including potential tax-free withdrawals in retirement, no required minimum distributions (RMDs), and estate planning benefits. A key consideration is whether or not to pay taxes now in order to provide tax-free income potential in the future.

Please reference the Roth Conversion section of our website for additional information.

A conversion of T. Rowe Price Traditional IRA mutual fund accounts can be requested through the Internet, over the phone, or via the T. Rowe Price Conversion form.

If you have converted your IRA, you may recharacterize your conversion (i.e., cancel your conversion) prior to the due date (including extensions) for your tax return for the year during which the conversion was made. You will need to complete the T. Rowe Price IRA Recharacterization form. For more information, see Publication 590: Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).

If you exceeded the contribution limit

If you exceeded the contribution limit, you will need to complete an IRA Excess Contribution Removal form. If the excess is removed before the tax-filing deadline, any earnings from the excess contribution are reported as taxable income and a 10% penalty may apply on those earnings if you are under 59-1/2 years of age. If the excess is not removed by the tax-filing deadline (including extensions), you are subject to a 6% penalty tax each year on the excess amounts that remain in your IRA.

If you exceeded the income limits, but did not exceed the contribution limit

If you did not exceed the contribution limit but are not eligible to make a full contribution to your Roth IRA, you may be able to recharacterize the Roth contribution to a Traditional IRA. If you exceeded the deductibility limit to contribute to your Traditional IRA, you may be able to recharacterize the Traditional IRA contribution to a Roth contribution.

For more information, browse contributions and deductibility to a Traditional IRA.

Excess contributions, recharacterization distributions, and conversion distributions are reported on Form 1099-R, which is mailed in January. Recharacterization purchases and conversion purchases are reported on Form 5498, which is mailed in May. These transactions also will be reflected on your account statements. Log in to your account online to access your tax forms or account statements