Whether the amount of profit or loss gets classed as ordinary or split really depends on the individual's tax situation and whether they have losses or gains from their forex trading. How that fits into any other trading (futs, equities, options) results and other income sources will be different for everyone. That'll be a judgement call made by you and a competent advisor (CPA or tax attorney). From the link to the GreenTraderTax site that I posted above, here's a snippet: "We have not seen the IRS disallow forex tax treatment based on our positions to date; however, itâs difficult to know how the IRS will react in the future. Its possible one IRS agent will deny ordinary loss treatment for forex trading losses whereas another will deny lower 60/40 tax rates on forex trading gains. Although that appears to be mutually exclusive, itâs entirely possible."
I have a question, the forex broker year end summary shows "Interest" and "Profit/Loss" column, where do we enter this in tax form ? Assuming I elected out of Section 988 and seeking favorable 1256 treatment. When you say "lump sum" by any chance did you mean "profit/loss" minus "interest" ? Thanks! -White