You filed in early February. Your broker sends a corrected 1099-B in mid-March — maybe just a small wash sale adjustment, maybe a cost basis revision on one lot. You open TurboTax to update the import. You click "re-import from broker" and TurboTax silently wipes out every other account's data you had already imported from that same broker. Now your carefully-reviewed 400-transaction import is gone, and you're staring at a blank return.
This is a documented behavior in TurboTax's broker import system, and it catches people every tax season. The issue isn't that your data is permanently lost — it's that TurboTax treats each broker import as a single atomic unit, and re-importing replaces the entire unit with the new data. If the corrected 1099-B only covers one account, the other accounts vanish.
Here's how to recover without starting over, and how to handle corrected 1099s safely going forward.
Why TurboTax Replaces Your Entire Broker Import
When you import from a broker, TurboTax stores the data as a single import "session" keyed to the broker name. Re-importing from the same broker deletes the old session and creates a new one — it doesn't merge data from the first import with data from the second.
This works fine when the broker only has one account per customer. But many brokers (Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, Merrill) let you link multiple accounts to a single login — a taxable account, an IRA, a 401(k) rollover, a joint account. The 1099-B import pulls data for all of them simultaneously. If one account gets a corrected 1099, the re-import pulls the corrected data for all accounts — and overwrites whatever manual edits you made.
The result: if you edited wash sale rows, applied RSU basis adjustments, or manually fixed cost basis problems in the initial import, all those changes are lost when you re-import.
Save a Copy First
Before you ever re-import a broker, always create a backup of your return:
TurboTax Online:
1. Click your name in the top right → Tax Home
2. Scroll down to Your Tax Returns & Documents
3. Select the current year and click Download / Print
4. Save the PDF of your current return to your computer
TurboTax Desktop:
1. Go to File → Save As
2. Save a copy with a descriptive name like return-before-corrected-1099.tax2025
3. Keep the original and work on a copy going forward
The PDF copy isn't editable, but it gives you a reference for every number in your return if the re-import destroys something. The .tax file copy in Desktop is better — you can open it to compare side-by-side.
Exporting Broker Data as CSV Before Re-Importing
Better than a PDF reference: export the current broker data as CSV before the re-import.
TurboTax Desktop:
1. Go to File → Export → Form 8949
2. Save as CSV
3. Open the CSV and verify all your current transactions are there
Now you have a structured copy of every transaction you had adjusted. If the re-import wipes out your adjustments, you can compare the CSV against the new import and manually re-apply changes.
TurboTax Online doesn't have a direct CSV export for Form 8949. The workaround is to generate the PDF, use it as a reference, and track corrections in a spreadsheet manually.
Diffing Original vs Corrected
Before you even re-import, figure out what actually changed between the two 1099 versions. Open both PDFs side by side and compare:
- Summary page: have the totals changed? By how much?
- Individual transaction rows: are there new rows? Deleted rows? Changed dollar amounts?
- Wash sale adjustments: are these new or modified?
- Cost basis: any basis values revised?
Most corrections are small — a wash sale adjustment that was missed, a basis revision on a handful of lots, a reclassification of holding period. If only 5 rows changed out of 200, you don't actually need to re-import the whole thing. You can edit those 5 rows individually and skip the re-import entirely.
When to re-import: only when the changes are too extensive to fix manually (more than ~20% of rows affected).
When to edit individually: small corrections, 1-10 changed rows, broker issued a clarification rather than a wholesale revision.
When a Corrected Form Requires an Amended Return
If your original return was already filed and the corrected 1099 changes your tax liability, you may need to file Form 1040-X:
- Tax owed increased: file an amended return ASAP to minimize interest and potential penalties
- Tax owed decreased: you can file an amended return to claim the refund (you have 3 years to amend)
- No change in tax owed: no amendment needed, just update your records
Most small corrected 1099 amounts (under $100 in gain/loss change) don't materially affect tax liability — IRS matching tolerances usually absorb them. But verify by rerunning the calculation in TurboTax with the corrected data.
Form 1040-X is a separate filing process from your original return. TurboTax supports it, but it's a fresh workflow — you don't re-file the whole return, you file the amendment document that references the original.
Workaround: Converter for a Clean TXF From the Corrected PDF
If you need to re-import and want to avoid the data-wipe problem entirely, skip TurboTax's direct broker import and use a converter instead:
- Download the corrected 1099-B PDF from your broker
- Upload to a PDF-to-TXF converter
- Download the TXF file
- In TurboTax Desktop, go to File → Import → From Accounting Software → TXF File
- The TXF imports as a separate entry — it doesn't overwrite your previous broker import
This lets you keep the original import's adjustments intact AND add the corrected data as a supplementary entry. You'll need to manually delete the original-version rows from your return to avoid double-counting, but at least you won't lose the whole initial import.
The TXF import approach also bypasses the broker connection entirely, which means you can correct one account without triggering a re-pull of all other accounts at the same broker.
FAQ
If I already re-imported and lost my data, is there any way to recover?
If you saved a copy (PDF or .tax file) before the re-import: yes, use the copy to manually re-enter the adjustments. If you didn't save a copy: you'll need to rebuild from the original 1099-B PDFs plus your notes on what adjustments you applied. This is painful but recoverable if you have the source documents.
Does this affect all brokers or just some?
All brokers that use the "import-replaces-all" model. Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, and Merrill are all affected. Robinhood and Webull less so because they typically don't issue multi-account imports.
What if my broker never issues a corrected 1099?
Then you probably don't need to worry about this. Most small brokers don't issue corrections unless there's a material error. Larger brokers (Schwab, Fidelity) do issue corrections more often because they have larger data pipelines with more opportunities for errors.
Can I file without the corrected 1099 and just use the original?
Technically no — the IRS gets the corrected version from your broker. If you file based on the original, you'll get a CP2000 notice when the IRS matches it against the corrected form. Always file based on the corrected 1099 if one was issued.
What if the correction only affects a wash sale amount by $50?
File based on the corrected form. The amount is trivial, but the match against what the IRS has is what matters. A $50 mismatch can still trigger a notice.
Does this happen with TaxAct or H&R Block?
TaxAct has similar behavior but less commonly, because TaxAct's CSV import lets you add transactions rather than replace them. H&R Block's behavior is similar to TurboTax's — a re-import replaces the broker session.
Bottom Line
Corrected 1099-Bs are a normal part of tax season, especially if you use a large broker. The TurboTax re-import-replaces-all behavior is a real gotcha that catches people every year. The three-part defense: save a copy (PDF or .tax file) before re-importing, diff the old vs new version to see if a re-import is even necessary, and use a TXF import through a converter if you want to preserve your existing data.
For small corrections, manual editing is usually faster than a full re-import. For large corrections, the TXF workaround preserves your adjustments while still getting the corrected data into your return.
Got a corrected 1099-B you don't want to re-import? Convert the corrected PDF free — generate a TXF file, import it into TurboTax Desktop as a supplementary entry, and keep your original adjustments intact. No re-import data wipe, no starting over.