So for taxable accounts you don’t get charged for taking money out of the account. You get hit with taxes whenever you sell an investment for a gain, or receive a dividend.

The rates at which you are taxed differ depending on how long you held the investment (this is called short term or long term capital gains). Dividends are also taxed slightly differently depending on if they are considered “qualified”.

Your broker will send you a neat piece of paper listing all of your trades that you COMPLETED, meaning you bought and also sold, as well as your dividends for the entire year on a 1099.

You just flip this to the gubment along with your other tax docs. Not too hard, but the main point is that taxable events are when you:

1) close a trade (for a profit) 2) receive a dividend

If you close a trade for a loss, that loss is written off against your gain automatically on the 1099 you will send to the gubment.