It's ridiculous. To have the CPA "do" your taxes, you have to look over everything and be sure you have all of the forms. Then, he "enters the data you collected" and charges you a bundle. How stupid is that? The "effort" and "time" is in getting it all together. So... if the CPA enters the data, costs you $500. If YOU enter the data (takes what, 30 minutes?) it cost you $40? DUH! (You can buy LOTS of burritos for $460.) Not my business. Spend your $$$ the way you want. Just saying...
It takes a lot less time and effort to just make a $500 trade to pay for it. After all, we're profitable traders, yes? And it is better to spend the extra $460 on a CPA than burritos if you have a spouse. *think gaseous anomalies* Hehe, ok, we are just getting silly now. I think the OP has enough opining here to make his own choice. Peace out Scat, see you in the next thread.
I mentioned that before on here too. It's not fair, but it's what the system needs to survive. If everyone sold out in 2008, then tax revenues would have collapsed and the Fed would have had to print even more money to fill the gap. So then fine...how about only having to pay capital gains on $3000 / year? Let the rest of the gains carry-over and get taxed the next year? That would be fair. On the bright side, at least the government lets you keep more of your money if you hold it for a longer period of time. And they let you keep all of some of your money once you have paid a one-time tax on that money if it's in a ROTH IRA...at least for now until they change the rules.
Well, "we're all profitable traders"... So why not spend $200,000 on a platinum Rolex? Same argument.... but that's not really the subject of this thread.
Correct. If you realized your losses on or before December 31, they are effectively deductible against gains. If after December 31, they are not. The government "caught onto this" and came to the conclusion that "all big gains will be taxed", but certain "big losses" will not be deductible.
There's definitely some truth in that, but my Fed and state returns are many, many pages long. Largely my own fault, because of some deals I got involved in over the years that are still untangling. But I would rather spend the $2k/year than try to keep all that paperwork straight. I'm not a detail guy.
I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned it yet here, (...amateurs,) There's a loophole, or way, to skirt that $3000/year maximum loss deduction...in a little something called Trader Tax Status, and selecting Section 475 mark-to-market for accounting. (further look into it yourself for all the exact details.) If you trade full-time, you do it in significant amounts all day, then you're technically defined as a professional trader. And you can deduct All of your losses againsts your gains. This is only for US tax law though. You mentioned Forex, most forex traders are international people.
*sighs* Yes, it was mentioned LL... https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...-account-is-a-loss.317737/page-3#post-4596799 The OP did not indicate whether or not he was section 1256. If so, tax-trader status does not apply. Taxes are part art, part science, and part skulduggery!