Vanguard won't send tax forms by US mail contrary to their statement when signing up for e-delivery

[water2357]

The notices that Vanguard sent out telling customers to sign up for e-delivery clearly stated that you could sign up for e-delivery to avoid the $20 per brokerage account fee and still customize the delivery of Tax Forms so that they would still be sent by US Mail.

Well Vanguard apparently did not tell the truth in that original letter about switching to e-delivery. They are now sending notices by email that Tax Forms are only available online if you signed up for e-delivery and that you won't get any Tax Forms by US Mail, apparently even if you customized your delivery preferences to select e-delivery for everything excelpt Tax Forms and for those selected US Mail.

So, has anyone else who has signed up for e-delivery but also want a mailed copy of their tax forms had this same thing happen to them?

Very disappointed that Vanguard would not tell the truth in the e-delivery letter or quickly change their process after you have signed up for e-delivery. Not great to have a financial institution of Vanguard's size go back on their word, particularly regarding tax information. They should have communicated immediately that they would not honor their promise to mail tax forms.

[Cheez-It Guy]

I feel like you make a lot of similar complaint threads and comments prematurely. Tax forms are always available online, even if you select to have them mailed. They are posted online when generated, whereas it takes time to physically print, mail, and receive. My parents have preferred paper tax forms for many years, whereas they are e-delivery for everything else. I download the digital copies as soon as available, and they get a mailed copy relatively shortly thereafter. So what is your current complaint or misunderstanding? Can you possibly paste the text of the email you received? It's not always a conspiracy to defraud you regardless of how many negative threads you read. Maybe it's different, but just be patient. I could be wrong as well, but I know what has happened in previous years at least.

[water2357]

The statement below was in the email notice of a tax form online.

"As a reminder, because you're signed up for e-delivery, you won't receive a paper copy of this form by mail."

You apparently are a very lucky Vanguard customer and have not had to spend days/weeks/months untangling the mess Vanguard has made with various accounts during the last few years. One's tolerance decreases exponentially with each new problem, that did not need to occur. I hope that you are correct and that the forms will appear in the mail, however none have to date. And one would hope that an email from Vanguard regarding tax forms would be accurate, based on the customer's actual choices.

[Cheez-It Guy]

I agree that it would be nice if automated mailings were always 100% accurate. That wording you quoted from the email is boilerplate. You should be able to look in your profile and account settings, and then mail preferences and alerts, and then delivery settings, and then customize mailing preferences to see what method is selected for tax forms for your accounts.

I go to Vanguard probably most often among financial sites, but as a result I am most familiar with it and perhaps see and experience changes more gradually. Sites I go to only a couple times a year like T. Rowe Price for my 401(k) seem to be drastically different virtually every time. I have to be adaptable. Getting really frustrated at every change a company makes doesn't hurt the company -- it only hurts me. If you are beyond your tipping point, seek better options elsewhere if such exist, but don't expect things to completely stop changing to suit your personal preferences. I tried for more than a year to get T. Rowe Price to stop mailing me paper statements. I had e-delivery selected everywhere that it was selectable, but paper copies just kept coming. Support agents didn't know how to fix. My current water utility is doing the same thing. I've been on e-delivery of bills for 3 cycles now, and they keep wasting the time, paper, and postage to mail me a bill I don't even want. Sometimes it takes a while to work out the kinks.

[Big Dog]

I believe that you get the tax forms by mail at no charge if you have $1m in assets.

[marcopolo]

The statement below was in the email notice of a tax form online.

"As a reminder, because you're signed up for e-delivery, you won't receive a paper copy of this form by mail."

You apparently are a very lucky Vanguard customer and have not had to spend days/weeks/months untangling the mess Vanguard has made with various accounts during the last few years. One's tolerance decreases exponentially with each new problem, that did not need to occur. I hope that you are correct and that the forms will appear in the mail, however none have to date. And one would hope that an email from Vanguard regarding tax forms would be accurate, based on the customer's actual choices.

If these kinds of problems have been going on for years, at some point, you really have no one else to blame but yourself, don't you think?
Why are these accounts still with Vanguard?

When someone shows you who they are, believe them - Maya Angelou (among others?)

[nalor511]

I believe that you get the tax forms by mail at no charge if you have $1m in assets.

I had edelivery for everything except tax forms, which were by mail, and I never had a fee

[galawdawg]

I feel like you make a lot of similar complaint threads and comments prematurely.

OP...quite a number of your posts since joining Bogleheads have described complaints, issues and concerns you have with Vanguard. Some of them dating back nearly two (2) years have been quite critical. Now you say that Vanguard does not tell you the truth. So I have to ask. Why are you still there?? Some of these chronic complaint threads about Vanguard from posters who nonetheless continue to give them their business and their money puzzle me.

As marcopolo observed, at this point you really have nobody to blame but yourself. There are many other well-regarded brokerage options that you could consider as alternatives to Vanguard. But then again, perhaps you prefer to stay, suffer and complain!

[legio XX]

The last word I got from a live human VG employee was that I could call and request mailed "duplicate" tax forms but if I didn't sign up for eEverything I would be dinged $20 per acc't since I do not now - and likely never will - have a 2 comma portfolio. This was only a slight variation on what I got from other such people - one of whom clearly said that I would get my tax info on paper.

The lack of clarity and consistency is annoying. The "We're trying to go green," mantra was seriously annoying. The recent paint-by-numbers "survey" went beyond annoying. Having to decide between wasting time on a telephone minefield to maybe get my tax forms mailed and wasting my time/money/paper to download and print them does not make for warm fuzzy feelings toward VG.

So why not pack and move? While Taylor still has a couple of decades on me, time is my most limited commodity and wasting it on a unicorn hunt doesn't offer a reasonable return on investment. It doesn't seem likely that anyone does notably better. "They're no worse than anyone else," is not a ringing endorsement.

Expect to keep hearing Bronx Cheers from the bleachers.

[celia]

The notices that Vanguard sent out telling customers to sign up for e-delivery clearly stated that you could sign up for e-delivery to avoid the $20 per brokerage account fee and still customize the delivery of Tax Forms so that they would still be sent by US Mail.

You should have checked that your e-delivery flags are set correctly when you were signed on. There are actually multiple e-delivery flags. You appear to have all of them set to e-delivery. But you can set some or all of them to postal mail.

I’m not signed in, but the flags are something like “quarterly statements”, “transactions”, “prospectuses and shareholder voting”, “tax forms” and “corporate actions”. Of course, this likely isn’t all correct, but is just an illustration of the multiple flags you can set.

So, yes, you can have e-delivery as well as just tax forms sent in the mail, since they are different settings.

[legio XX]

So, yes, you can have e-delivery as well as just tax forms sent in the mail, since they are different settings.

Does that hold for those with less than a million dollars with VG? Or will we get dinged $20 per acc't?

[exodusing]

deleted

[Prudence]

I copied Vanguard's policy below. If tax form is a "statement" then you need to have $1 million in your account to avoid the $20 fee. I live in an apartment where all the mail is delivered in a central box, so it may be safer for me to receive all statements by e-delivery.

If you’re the primary account owner, you can eliminate the fee on brokerage accounts by signing up for e-delivery of statements and the annual privacy policy notice; confirmations; reports, prospectuses, and proxy materials; and notices, amendments, and other important account updates. In addition, Vanguard Brokerage Services does not charge the fee to clients who have an organization or a trust account registered under an employee identification number (EIN) or brokerage accounts enrolled in an advisory program serviced by an affiliate of Vanguard.

[H-Town]

The notices that Vanguard sent out telling customers to sign up for e-delivery clearly stated that you could sign up for e-delivery to avoid the $20 per brokerage account fee and still customize the delivery of Tax Forms so that they would still be sent by US Mail.

Well Vanguard apparently did not tell the truth in that original letter about switching to e-delivery. They are now sending notices by email that Tax Forms are only available online if you signed up for e-delivery and that you won't get any Tax Forms by US Mail, apparently even if you customized your delivery preferences to select e-delivery for everything excelpt Tax Forms and for those selected US Mail.

So, has anyone else who has signed up for e-delivery but also want a mailed copy of their tax forms had this same thing happen to them?

Very disappointed that Vanguard would not tell the truth in the e-delivery letter or quickly change their process after you have signed up for e-delivery. Not great to have a financial institution of Vanguard's size go back on their word, particularly regarding tax information. They should have communicated immediately that they would not honor their promise to mail tax forms.

*stepping on my soap box*
Good for Vanguard! They have more than 30 million customers. Think about the cost of paper statement, tax statement, etc. Those documents can be downloaded online. Any effort to save trees and protect our planet is much appreciated.

[quantAndHold]

If they really won’t mail the tax forms without paying $20, you could just print them yourself. If you’ve got Treasury Direct or online bank accounts, you’re probably doing that anyway.

Mailing stuff is expensive.

[muffins14]

Why would you want it mailed anyway? You can view it online or print a PDF if you really want a paper copy.


In any case:

Well Vanguard apparently did not tell the truth in that original letter about switching to e-delivery. They are now sending notices by email that Tax Forms are only available online if you signed up for e-delivery and that you won't get any Tax Forms by US Mail, apparently even if you customized your delivery preferences to select e-delivery for everything excelpt Tax Forms and for those selected US Mail.

It sounds like you signed up for not-e-delivery for your tax forms. Why do you think you will not get them in the mail? Where is this new statement that says you won't get them?

, apparently even if you customized your delivery preferences to select e-delivery for everything excelpt Tax Forms and for those selected US Mail.

where did you see such a statement?


Most tax forms are not available yet anyway

[Cheez-It Guy]

Here are the five individually-selectable items for physical mail or e-delivery as categorized and delineated by Vanguard (wording below is verbatim):

- Statements and annual privacy policy notice
- Confirmations
- Reports, prospectuses, and proxy materials
- Notices, amendments, and other important account updates
- Tax forms

Tax forms are their own category and have been for years. It is possible to select mail for tax forms and e-delivery for everything else. In the post by Prudence quoting from Vanguard's policy, note that "Tax forms" is NOT listed as one of the e-delivery requirements for fee avoidance. All other categories ARE listed. Coincidence? Or conspiracy by evil corporate overlords to defraud honest hard-working people who love their paper statements?

[Faith20879]

I actually prefer PDF for multiple reasons:

1. I can cut/paste the numbers over to spreadsheets or tax software,
2. The printed statements often come in fonts too small for me. With PDF, I can zoom in to my hearts content.
3. I no longer have to ask myself every year, should i shred or keep.

And, I am not even tech-savvy.

[retiringwhen]

Here are the five individually-selectable items for physical mail or e-delivery as categorized and delineated by Vanguard (wording below is verbatim):

- Statements and annual privacy policy notice
- Confirmations
- Reports, prospectuses, and proxy materials
- Notices, amendments, and other important account updates
- Tax forms

Tax forms are their own category and have been for years. It is possible to select mail for tax forms and e-delivery for everything else. In the post by Prudence quoting from Vanguard's policy, note that "Tax forms" is NOT listed as one of the e-delivery requirements for fee avoidance. All other categories ARE listed. Coincidence? Or conspiracy by evil corporate overlords to defraud honest hard-working people who love their paper statements?

This.

BTW, for the conspiracy theorists in the room, my eDelivery options now are set to 100% electronic, but I don't remember turning off paper tax forms. Frankly, that is just okay with me since I import the the data into TurboTax and I download the PDF files and store them for posterity. Paper is just something to file away. I am more likely to just shred them actually.

[j.click]

Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me. As others have suggested, perhaps you would be happier with Fidelity or Schwab.

[Cheez-It Guy]

Who has been fooled by whom?

[ClevrChico]

So, has anyone else who has signed up for e-delivery but also want a mailed copy of their tax forms had this same thing happen to them?

I'm signed up for e-delivery for everything except my tax forms. The setting is still showing correctly on the website. I've received no emails indicating otherwise, so in my case everything is fine. My tax forms are available electronically now too.

Did you accidentally switch everything to e-delivery perhaps?

[water2357]

Interesting how so many jump on anyone who expresses some frustration with Vanguard and also make myriad assumptions that invariabley are not true.

I selected e-delivery, I customized it immediately so that for Tax Forms only e-delivery was unselected and US mail was selected, It has been set up that way for months.

Vanguard sent a letter months ago with the fees outlined and indicated that selecting e-delivery would eliminate fees for brokerage accounts, but that Tax Forms could still be customized to be sent by US Mail. I took them at their word, which is why I was surprised to receive an email stating that Vanguard would not be mailing out my tax form. Maybe this was generic wording, I have no way of knowing, I only know that I have not as yet received any tax forms in the mail for 2022.

My question was whether or not others have experienced this same issue since switching to a brokerage account and e-delivery in 2022.

And as for "complaining", if you don't "complain" you won't ever find out what the problem is and if you then don't let Vanguard know about the problem, they will not know that something needs to be corrected. I want Vanguard to continually get better.

I'm sure those bond investors at Fidelity and Schwab were glad I "complained" about not receiving bond interest at Vanguard that turned out to impact everyone at any brokerage who had purchased those bonds. So, Fidelity and Schwab, etc. have no guarantee of being better than Vanguard.

And please don't post if you don't have any helpful advice/information and only want to "complain" about someone's question.

[muffins14]

Could you share the email that told you that they refuse to mail your tax forms? Perhaps that will be helpful for people to see, in case they have a similar experience or have seen a similar email but come to a different conclusion

[nalor511]

...
And as for "complaining", if you don't "complain" you won't ever find out what the problem is and if you then don't let Vanguard know about the problem, they will not know that something needs to be corrected. I want Vanguard to continually get better.
...

But this forum has nothing to do with letting Vanguard know what the problem is or complaining to Vanguard

My elder family members still get free tax forms by mail from VG, FWIW

[Cheez-It Guy]

You were plenty confident enough to draw your conclusions and make a thread ostensibly castigating Vanguard without allowing ample time to get the facts. Most people only started receiving digital copies of their Vanguard brokerage tax forms yesterday, so how do you expect to have already received a printed and mailed tax form and use the current lack of such a physical copy as evidence that it will never come to pass? Yesterday, 1/23, was the first day it was even possible to file a federal tax return. Would you say this is a bit premature to be drawing conclusions based on a single line in an automated mass email? The likely answers to your queries have been posted here if you read the replies.

When you receive your tax form in the mail soon, will you come back to this thread and own it? Can you undo the additional reputational damage that authoritatively publishing misinformation can do to the target?

You got the standard notification that a digital copy was available for download. Sloppy wording aside, it doesn't follow that you won't also receive one in the mail if your delivery preferences are so configured.

[TropikThunder]

I only know that I have not as yet received any tax forms in the mail for 2022.

Nobody has! They only generated them yesterday (Jan 23), and Vanguard sends them by standard postal mail, not FedEx overnight.

[retiringwhen]

I only know that I have not as yet received any tax forms in the mail for 2022.

Nobody has! They only generated them yesterday (Jan 23), and Vanguard sends them by standard postal mail, not FedEx overnight.

This page: https://investor.vanguard.com/investor- ... -tax-forms

States that paper documents will be mailed on January 26th for the first batch of Consolidated 1099s.

[jeffyscott]

I selected e-delivery, I customized it immediately so that for Tax Forms only e-delivery was unselected and US mail was selected, It has been set up that way for months.

I imagine you have already checked to see that those selections are still set that way, but if not I would do so.

When we were with Vanguard, we had paper selected for statements as well as tax forms. Every time we did a transaction Vanguard attempted to trick us into going paperless for everything. There were 2 or three boxes on the screen with every transaction and by default the one to make everything paperless was checked. We had to manually choose the second box to maintain our choices.

I do not know if this trickery would extend to those who have selected paper only for tax forms.

[Cheez-It Guy]

^It does. A couple times a year. Although calling it trickery might be a bit harsh in this case. It's a reminder to see weather circumstances have changed and an attempt to drive a desired outcome, but if you pay attention to what you're doing, easy enough to maintain your selections. Vanguard is by far not the only company to do this. Chase does it regarding paper credit card statements, and many others do as well. What's really pretty devious lately is Amazon's attempts to force a "free trial" membership of Prime with every checkout. Knowing full well they already have all your credit card info for automatic billing when the trial runs out. You REALLY need to pay attention to the checkout process to avoid accidentally ending up with an undesired Prime membership.

[chinchin]

^It does. A couple times a year. Although calling trickery might be a bit harsh. It's a reminder and an attempt to drive a desired outcome, but if you pay attention to what you're doing, easy enough to maintain your selections. Vanguard is by far not the only company to do this. Chase does it regarding paper credit card statements, and many others do as well. What's really pretty devious lately is Amazon's attempts to force a "free trial" membership of Prime with every checkout. Knowing full well they already have all your credit card info for automatic billing when the trial runs out. You REALLY need to pay attention to the checkout process to avoid accidentally ending up with an undesired Prime membership.

I got tricked when I clicked on a "try Prime" link, thinking it was a free trial, but it was just a sign up for a monthly Prime subscription. I didn't realize it until I saw that my credit card got charged.

[jeffyscott]

^I think I remember why it was confusing, the default choice was something like "send this confirmation and all other documents by email". So since I did get confirmations by email, with just a quick glance I initially had thought the default was confirming my current choices. It would be one thing to have this sort of thing at log on, which is the sort of thing I have seen with credit cards, but to have it default to something I did not choose with every single transaction was very obnoxious, IMO.

I only use Amazon rarely and in addition to defaulting to a free trial of prime, I have also seen it default to expedited shipping for a fee on orders that qualify for free shipping. While, that was even more obnoxious than Vanguard, being not as bad as the Amazon check out process is a pretty low bar.

After leaving Vanguard, we finally did go paperless by choice and on our own schedule, with Schwab.

[Cheez-It Guy]

I got tricked when I clicked on a "try Prime" link, thinking it was a free trial, but it was just a sign up for a monthly Prime subscription. I didn't realize it until I saw that my credit card got charged.

Ouch! They got you. Sorry!

[Nate79]

Copy/paste the language of the email here and let's see what it says.

[bertilak]

I selected e-delivery, I customized it immediately so that for Tax Forms only e-delivery was unselected and US mail was selected, It has been set up that way for months.

Did you make the selections from https://personal1.vanguard.com/mp1-deli ... /customize ?
I note that it has a link to "set all to e-delivery" which you want to make sure to avoid.

Another page, https://personal1.vanguard.com/mp1-deli ... gs/welcome , has a link to "Switch all to e-delivery". You of course need to avoid that one.

[fourwaystreet]

I am not a techie type person but it took me less than 3 minutes to open the site, download and print the tax documents. Of course my wife reminded me that I forgot to turn off the printer. Your complaint seems like a first world problem to me but have at it.

[Pops1860]

This thread has run its course and is locked. OP has been given options to pursue, and some responses are becoming argumentative and personal.

Remember forum policy:

Discussions are about issues, not people. If you disagree with an idea, go ahead and marshal all your forces against it. But do not confuse ideas with the person posting them. At all times we must conduct ourselves in a respectful manner to other posters.

Moderator Pops1860