posted
I just started day trading this year and my accountant sent me over the format the IRS wants for Short Term Capital Gains on my tax return. (a)Desription (b)Date Acquired (c)Date Sold (d)Sales Price (e)Cost (f)Gain or (Loss). Sounds simple enough if every trade was that clean...but you get in and partially out then decide to stay or increase shares...geez it seems like it could be a nightmare. I mean there are days when I trade 8-10 round trips per day on three different stocks. Is there an easy way?
-------------------- BE HUMBLE, DON'T STUMBLE!
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my brokerage website tracks all that for me. yours should too. i would start there. maybe a history page on your website? your 1099 may have all the trades too you might just have to match them up. b-section for sales and supplemental section may have purchases. mine does
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Yeah Ameritrade sends me alist of my trades but still matching a total purchase with a total sale if you don't fill entirely on your sale and then reposition yourself with more shares. I mean I've done that a few times now and if that keeps up following the money trail could be very difficult. The statment I get from Ameritrade has all my purchaes on one sheet and all my sells on another. Each sheet having gross figures then giving the net profits. The IRS wants each buy in detail and that transaction closed with a corresponding sell also detailed (same number of shares and prices for the sells) It's tuff if you are not able to buy in or sell out at the same price.
-------------------- BE HUMBLE, DON'T STUMBLE!
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Print out several copies of your Buy and Sells , and take them to your accountant. I've watched mine take a pair of scissors , cut out what he wanted and taped them where he needed. Helps when you know what your doing . Well worth the money I pay him to keep my head from hurting.
-------------------- TI AKERS , WHERE ARE YOU!!!
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use Quicken software. They even estimate the total taxes that will need to be paid from a certain sale. I love this software.
Just in case though I always set aside 30% of my gains and if I have to pay taxes I have the money sitting there making interest all yr. Then whats left over is vacation or Christmas money for next yr.
Quicken is excellentae!!!
lucid, no, the loss would offset your gains therefore you would not have to pay any tax on your 2k earned. The reason is, your still -$500.
-------------------- I buy fast and sell faster!
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Then I suggest TurboTax which will tie em together and input Quicken into TT. I use the 1099 Forms from my brokerages to check and make sure everything is right before printing and sending in to IRS.
Quicken also will tell you your capital gains per month, yr, quarter and other varying times. How much you've lost perday on each stock or per brokerage account.
-------------------- I buy fast and sell faster!
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The IRS finally got back to me. They said the summary statement IS acceptable even though they have previously given instructions to detail and itemize every transaction. So that makes that a lot easier. And Lucid, you are technically suppose to show the amount subject to capital gains or losses and when you figure your net gains or losses from that info you would just pay capital gains on the net. Also Pakbet, real estate is nice but it is a hard business as well. There is a lot to analyze and it takes a lot of commitment. Also it is not as liquid as the stock market. You can't do it totally from home. It's getting harder all the time as sellers and buyers become more savvy. I am in that business as well but it is cyclic like most things and now is not the best time for real estate with exceptions. With respect to taxes, good accountants are worth their weight in gold. I have not had a net income over $16,000 for years and years. Day trading with large amounts of money on small moves is so consistant and easy I don't know if I'll get back into the real estate market or not.
Good Luck to All!!
-------------------- BE HUMBLE, DON'T STUMBLE!
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