Anybody got any idea of what I can use to keep track of my e-mini day trading for tax purposes. It would be nice to download from IB to something I could make a schedule D with. I'll also check with IB, but I don't have a download option in the statement/download section, and I was wondering if that's because I only trade e-minis and futures can't be downloaded in Quicken (this is also a question if anybody knows).
You don't file a sched D for futures trading. They will send you a 1099 and you file it on a form 6781. There is an issue about IB apparently not deducting commish from the net proceeds so their 1009 is inacurate.
thanks AAA. I'm obviously new to the e-mini trading, but I like it. Does what you said mean I can deduct commissions and then use net profit/loss in paying taxes? I use an accountant, but I'd like to give him complete info in as simple a format as I can. He gets paid plenty already, but I'm sure it would be more if he has to think about something new.
nljones, I'm not completely sure what IB does. I know there was some discussion at tax time on a thread here that they were not deducting commish. My understanding is most brokers just report your net P/L. You definitely do not ned to report each trade separately on sched D. Also, there is a very favorable tax rate applied to futures trades, by law they are treated as 60% long term cap gain, 40 % short term. That is why you have to use the special form.
I suggest at the minimum you save your Monthly Activity Reports emails, and give them to your accountant either electronically or printed out, however they prefer. You'll need to total up your commissions because IB doesn't include them in the 1099 they'll send you.
Thanks for the replies, removes a little worry from my life at least. I am saving the e-mail statements already, dumb luck there. It's a nice to know record keeping for futures is much easier than stocks. Now if it was just a litttle easier to make money trading I'd really be set.