Robinhood missed an IRS deadline to give tax forms to its customers, sparking an uproar

May 2024 · 3 minute read

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It's shaping up to be another rough week for Robinhood. 

The stock trading platform missed an Internal Revenue Service deadline to deliver tax forms to customers, sparking backlash from some users on social media, as it attempts to navigate a separate scandal surrounding its involvement in a Gamestop stock rally earlier this year. 

Robinhood had promised to deliver the 1099 forms — which detail investors' earnings and losses through the previous calendar year — by the IRS deadline of Tuesday, but many customers still hadn't received the documents by Wednesday morning, Bloomberg reported. 

According to statements given to multiple news outlets, the forms were delayed by one day "due to some special processing requirements and delays with a vendor." Robinhood did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

Robinhood sought a 30-day extension from the IRS on Wednesday and said that the "vast majority" of users would receive their forms by the end of that day, according to Bloomberg. Users online noted that the language on Robinhood's website was amended to say that users will receive their forms "starting February 16," rather than "by February 16."

As the February 16 deadline came and went, Robinhood users took to social media to express their frustration with the delay and with the app's customer service more broadly. 

"Robinhood needs to get those 1099 forms out asap. That's the only tax form I'm waiting on. Absolutely horrendous service this year from them," one user tweeted Tuesday. 

Many users complained that they can't file their 2020 taxes until they get the form — and the earlier one is able to file, the earlier one can receive a tax return. Some said the 1099 snafu was enough for them to quit the app altogether. 

"I wonder how much business Robinhood is going to lose because they can't simply send out 1099 forms. My account is getting closed upon receipt," another person wrote Monday. 

The complaints about bad customer service come weeks after users hammered Robinhood for temporarily halting trading of certain stocks — including GameStop — seemingly without warning and, in their minds, without sufficiently explaining the move. The app restricted trading as a Reddit-fueled frenzy drove up shares of GameStop, AMC, Nokia, and Blackberry, and later explained why.

Robinhood's customer base has grown immensely over the past year to more than 13 million users, which could help to explain the sluggish customer service. 

The missed deadline also comes amid increasing scrutiny surrounding Robinhood's business model — including the controversial "payment for order flow" revenue the firm takes in from Wall Street clients. CEO Vlad Tenev and several other key players in the GameStop trading spree are set to testify during a congressional hearing Thursday

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