IB realized PnL forex - on Tbill for non usd countries

Discussion in 'Taxes and Accounting' started by luisHK, Dec 25, 2020.

  1. luisHK

    luisHK

    Hi all

    Starting to plan my first detailed tax declaration in quite a few years - the joys of coming back to the EU- and while I don't trade forex, my realized Fx PnL on IB this year is around 168K euros, Fx activity shows a whole bunch of transactions but it appears the bulk of the loss is from holding Treasury bills, yet I'm a bit confused on how it works taxwise, why when I buy TBills with USD I already hold in cash, than receive the cash back and keep the funds in USD, often to buy new TBills, it shows at realized EUR loss.
    Any idea whether those will be considered realized losses by tax departments or not accounted for.
    Living in Spain btw, but I suspect it will work in a similar way in many other countries.
    I'll sure ask the accountant how it works when doing the declaration, but not 100% of the accuracy of their replies, nor can II wait so long- need to decide how much loss to realize on monday to show no capital gain for 2020
    Fwiw I hold a similarly sized portfolio split between a few banks and more primitive brokerages than IB and there's no way there to get any output in Eur - didn't sell anything in those accounts this year though, but a few corporate actions have happened.
     
  2. luisHK

    luisHK

    Duh... had to check on the kids phone the answer as the dude's above is on my ignore list and who knows, his post might have been relevant. Well, he will stay there a while more.
    Talking about realized loss, unrealized Fx PnL is several folds that amount.
    But yes, decent year in USD, losing some in EUR, all with a mostly buy n hold portfolio.
    Not sure was the claim about "making so much money" is about as my objective is actually making none ?!?
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2020
  3. luisHK

    luisHK

    I ll consider this loss at not accounted for btw, and report the loss to the next year in case it applied this year.
    Still curious to read how other guys deal with this PnL, which might be important this year for EUR based accounts dealing in overseas markermts
     
  4. luisHK

    luisHK


    its a loss of 168K euro
     
  5. luisHK

    luisHK

    Preparing my tax returns, and the accounting firm after having a look reckons the loss should be included in the returns.
    It feels off, lots of small amounts are linked to margin account (the forex statement occupies 17 pages, and that´s mostly a buy and hold account...) and the bulk of the loss is from TBills (121k Euros loss on a 2.5M TBill, over 2 months I think, for instance, bought with USD I was holding in cash and kept the USD after expiration) it feels strange because if the brokerage doesn´t issue such detailed statements as IB does (which is the case with other accounts I use, mostly buying through bank accounts and affiliated brokerages overseas) this forex calculation doesn´t show up, and I don´t know how to calculate it.
    Don´t think many individuals are looking for this number either. Fwiw, while my contact at the law firm told me they reckon it should be included, she didn´t reply when I mentioned the issue with other accounts that don´t provide a statement with euro as a base currency.
    Again the problem would be the other way if EUR goes down, which should ahppen sooner or later.
    Anybody has experience in this matter ?
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2021
  6. Talking to yourself?
     
  7. Overnight

    Overnight

    He's actually talking to you. For some reason the thread is a bit buggered. I can see both of your posts, but not the back-and-forth convo. Only through export. I'll send you a PM on it.
     
  8. That is weird. I now recall the conversation but none of my posts show up on this thread. Indeed weird.

     
  9. luisHK

    luisHK

    Actually talking to anyone who's investing in several currencies and has to file tax returns, as some brokerage statements come with detailed fx statements like IB's and others not. The difference between both can be significant, how do u go about that with the taxman ?
     
  10. luisHK

    luisHK

    Nightmarish to deal with tax returns and wealth declaration requirements, according to the lawyer I m going to have to pay less than I expected ( nothing scary ) but it still makes me miss big time living in countries where those were not required.
    Audit expected as all investments are overseas and spanish tax department received no info from those banks and brokerages. While IB has detailed statements, 1 brokerage I use doesn't even issue statements...
    Surprised nobody has info to share on how they deal with this part of their income ( forex PnL on operations on instruments in non base currency)
     
    #10     Jun 17, 2021