My understanding is that Schedule D requires an attachment which would list each individual trade showing the following detailed information:the security traded, the gross sales price, the acquired cost(including purchase commissions plus selling commisssions), the sale date and the purchase date, and the resultant net profit or loss. Also, the IRS rules require that the trader identify and compute wash sales (any sale occuring within 30 days before, to 30 days after). My CPA is required to tediously enter the data for each daytrade transaction by hand into his tax program in order to account for these requirments. He has not found a software program that will do this automatically from the data on a EXCEL spreadsheet such as supplied from an online broker account. The CPA also indicated that only a few of the bigger brokers supply a summary 1099 that does all this work and supplies the required summary data. Because most of the online brokers provide the account data by way of a 1099 that list sales only, which they mail out at the end of the year. And they also have available the daytrade transactions in EXCEL, but not in the summary form required by the IRS. I argue with him that this is STUPID!! If you daytrade and have hundres of trades, it takes FOREVER to enter the data!! I argue that if I start the year on Jan 1, with all cash, and end the year with all cash, it's a simple process to subtract the two numbers to compute the profit for the year. The CPA says he knows, but TOO BAD. In order for him to keep his ability to submit taxes to the IRS, he MUST comply with the IRS requirements to tediously list each individual daytrade transaction with the data that the IRS requires. He has discussed this with other CPA's at seminars and they all wish the rules were different, but they are all required to do it this way. Anybody know of an accounting software program available that will take the EXCEL account spreadsheet data and compute the attachment sheet for shedule D automatically without requiring you to manualy enter the data?? Thanks in advance, Kowboy
I could probably use the totals, but the CPA won't do my taxes without the summary page as per the IRS rules. Could you expand on this some? Thanks, Kowboy
who here uses Interactive Brokers? to my amazement i found out recently that they include 1/2 of commission cost in the total gross proceeds. what the hell is up with that? now trade.log figures don't match 1099. this looks like a real problem. someone else must have encountered this too --i would appreciate any solution or advice.
Your CPA is incorrect. You can post totals in the schedule D and note the attached summary schedule of each transaction printed out using Excel in the Sch "D" format, thus, tieing the numbers. This is one of those anally retentive areas that CPA's don't like to let go. I should know as I'm a CPA.......... Total waste of time to input each line into the Sch. "D". A proceeds number that jives with the 1099 total will do just fine. Later, Cracked
"Total waste of time to input each line into the Sch. "D". not if you are getting paid $150 an hour to do it.