how do investors know if the dividends they ve received are qualified or not 
the online trading platform or broker that an investor employs will break down the qualified and ordinary dividends paid in separate boxes on irs form 1099 div ordinary dividends are reported in box 1a and qualified dividends in box 1b the bottom linefor most individual investors qualified dividends offer the chance of a tax break the dividends of most american companies are qualified dividends the investor s only concern should be to qualify for the lower capital gains tax rate by purchasing shares before the ex dividend date and holding them for more than 60 days correction nov 28 2023 this article has been corrected to state that a shareholder must buy a stock before the ex dividend date and hold it for more than 60 days during a certain period in order for the dividend to be qualified correction july 19 2024 this article has been corrected to state that a qualified dividend is reported to the irs as a dividend and taxed at capital gains tax rates 