I have non dividend income on my 1099 - line 3- the issuer website indicates this amount is a return of capital. do I just omit this item when reporting dividend income to the IRS? thx

it depedns; Nondividend Distributions reported on 1099-DIV Box 3 are generally considered return of your cost or other basis.Nondividend Distributions are generally considered return of your cost or other basis. They will not be taxed until you recover your cost or other basis. You must reduce your cost or other basis by these distributions. After you get back all of your cost or other basis, you must report these distributions as capital gains on Sch D. Say, you bought stock in 2009 for $100. In 2012, you received a nondividend distribution of $80. You did not include this amount in your income, but you reduced the basis of your stock to $20. You received a nondividend distribution of $30 in 2016. The first $20 of this amount reduced your basis to zero. You report the other $10 as a long-term capital gain for 2016. You must report as a long-term capital gain any nondividend distribution you receive on this stock in later years.