i think i spent about another minute taking out all my frustrations with HSBC on this guy. i told him how i checked under every nook and cranny (link) on the HSBC website and my accounts page, clicking every link and option there was available, even did a global search for "Tax Statement", "1099", and "tax" which resulted in links for business account holders, not personal account holders. i explained how i read every fine print at the bottom of every page on my online account, covering issues like downloading Adobe Reader, and signing up for other accounts and other useless info.
eventually, when i ran out of steam he explained that they (most non-intuitively!!) sneak the 1099INT "YEAR-END" statement into the first "MONTHLY" statement of the new year and, mind you, don't make any mention of it by way of a notification or an announcement or HSBC email or a neon flashing status message on the accounts page saying, "hey people, if you're looking for your 1099INT, we've hidden it on the 2nd page of your Jan statement", or some other clever way of conveying necessary information from business to client, like ALL the other FIVE financial institutions to which i belong _do_!! btw, no other institution combines the 1099 with a regular monthly statement. they all generate and issue the 1009INT as completely separate documents from the monthly statements.
in the most assuring way possible he explained that if i looked at my jan statement my 1099 would be there and he kindly offered to tell me the total amount on my 1099 if necessary. i said, "no thank you. i have my jan statement and will go check it now" feeling that he absorbed the hormonal attack quite well and should be granted something, like wings, or stripes.
just to summarize and drive home the point to all those who care (no one but me i know) that HSBC fails to deliver (literally) when stacked up against its competitors on the issue of making the 1099INT "findable":
- Ameritrade : they send an internal email notification to my online message center "Consolidated Form 1099 will be mailed by February 15" and they have a "Tax Center" link, listing the history of 1099INTs (tax forms are downloadable)
- Fidelity : right on the front of the accounts page, "Tax Info (Year-to-Date)" link (tax forms are downloadable)
- Emigrant : they have a separate tab right on the front of the accounts page "1099" (tax forms are downloadable)
- ING : before even logging in they have this announcement, "2008 tax forms are now online. Just login and click on the 'Tax Forms' icon." in a neon-ish, can't miss color (tax forms are downloadable)
- NFCU : From the main accounts page, under "Other Services" link they have a link, "Year-End Tax Information" which gives information about the status of my 1099INT. (tax forms are downloadable)
- CFCU : Every monthly statement has a running tally of "TOTAL DIVIDENDS YTD" so the last statement of the year shows the taxable interest for that year, but they also mail a separate 1099INT (tax forms are not downloadable)
- HSBC : no mention of tax forms or year end statement, no message, no link, no search result, no nothing. user has to guess or call and be told where to find the 1099INT or stumble up on it accidentally.
6 comments:
it is for all of this that i love you more than you will ever know. And that this is what clearly makes you a Falkenthal/Shunko with no doubt! and i caution you not to confuse a hormonal attack with internal, God granted, family inherited, real life passion. It is what we Falkenthal/Shunko's are made of. Can't deny it and you can't give it back! To the rest of the world, God help you!
hey sis, *high five*
love you
let's stick together, you and me!!
xo
After being on speaker-phone hold with HSBC for over 40 minutes - "...please remain on the line as we value your call" - I cursed at them, hung up and went to trusty Google. Your blog popped up, at which point I excitedly looked at page two of my January statement, only to find...nothing. Well, not nothing. It was the page dedicated to balancing the account, which 100% of all account holders ignore. Uggh. It makes me wonder what HSBC has to hide. You know, if they're hiding tax statements from their clients, what else are they up to? I'm not a conspiracy freak, but it seems to be a very large red flag, beating me about the head and shoulders! One of the world's largest banks, and they're this dysfunctional. Who are they kidding? No 1099s?! I mean...??? Probably time to switch banks.
I feel compelled to update, since this is the www, and I admit when I'm wrong. A rep at HSBC finally answered the phone, and I said I couldn't find my 1099s, and what was going on, and blah, blah, blah. Turns out, since I had only thrown in $2000 to open the HSBC account at the end of last year, there weren't enough days to earn enough interest to report. It has to be more than $10. Woops. Sorry, HSBC. Probably time to look for a new brain. But that doesn't let you off the hook for making the statements hard to find for everyone else! :)
hi Anonymous~ thanks for your comments and i'm glad that your mystery is solved. 40 mins!? that's madness.
no need for you to get a new brain ~ that kind of information (<10$ interest gets no 1099INT) could have easily been slapped on any one of their webpages, or plopped under the online HELP system, or ... drum roll please ... printed in plain English on the second page of the January Statement!
other financial institutions do this kind of thing because they know their online users what to and need to know how to access this info.
i share your earlier sentiment and fault HSBC for having a user-unfriendly website wrt 1099 information, which just does not exist on their website.
it does make me wonder about their tax reporting to the IRS.
anyway, now for the fun part, filing taxes ... good luck!
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