Posts  / #POST-218368
REDDIT

Tax treatment of brokerage transfer bonus if clawed back

D
Jan 30, 2026 · 14:43

Robinhood is offering me this [3% transfer bonus on taxable accounts](https://robinhood.com/us/en/support/articles/transfer-bonus-jan-2026/). The bonus is paid immediately, but gets clawed back if I withdraw the assets within the next 5 years.

As I understand it, the bonus is reported on my 1099 and I’d pay taxes on it this year. But if I end up withdrawing the assets in a following year, RH would claw back the full amount of the bonus, not the after-tax amount, leaving me worse off than I started… right? Or would RH report the clawback as a negative amount on that year’s 1099 or something?

Has anyone here had experience with your brokerage clawing back a transfer bonus in a taxable account, and was the clawback (not the original bonus) reported on your 1099 somehow?