IB Suggestions & Improvements

fhl · Apr 10, 2006

Quote from alanm:

Quote from roncer:
I printed out over 500 pages of trades from my 2006 IB statements. My tax guy is sending it in to the IRS. It's the size of a large telephone directory.

Your "tax guy" must not have any other active trader clients, or talk with other tax pros about the subject. The IRS neither needs nor wants the details of individual trades when they span more than a page or two. Just make sure you have the details available if you get audited. I use one line per account for stock trades (so the proceeds match the individual 1099 amounts), plus additional lines for futures (to match 1099C) and options (no 1099 for these) as needed.

I think IB is already making a stab at the P&L issue - the request is just that it gets filtered down to the right format for sched D, instead of the user having to filter out the appropriate lines from the statement by hand.
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This directly contradicts the cap gains instructions which say you must list all transactions in the format of sch d and that you are not allowed to put "see attached" and just summarize the results. This is a change from prev years.

fhl · Apr 10, 2006

Quote from JackR:

It is very difficult for a broker to provide the cost basis side of a Schedule D.

Easiest example is a transfer of your account between brokers. A more complex example is acquiring stock via an option exercise. Or adjusting your basis for stock dividends on which you have paid tax already.

Long term vs Short term. You designate which shares are being sold against which purchase. IB does not have a clue unless you sell the entire position. Etc. etc.

They can always provide the net proceeds of a sale. But that is just half of the Schedule D entry for a stock.

Jack
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If gainskeeper and others can sell you programs that convert IB reports to sch d, then it seems that IB should be able to do it, too, if they wanted to.

MR.NBBO · Apr 10, 2006

Quote from fhl:

This directly contradicts the cap gains instructions which say you must list all transactions in the format of sch d and that you are not allowed to put "see attached" and just summarize the results. This is a change from prev years.
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You're correct, the IRS has clearly dissallowed "details upon request" for 2005 and going forward. They want line item details for every trade for securities. This is a new change, from the previous years.

Definately a big step backward for the IRS and for traders.

Thanks IB for the type of statements you provide, it does make tax time easier.

jimrockford · Apr 10, 2006

Quote from MR.NBBO:

You're correct, the IRS has clearly dissallowed "details upon request" for 2005 and going forward. They want line item details for every trade for securities. This is a new change, from the previous years.

Definately a big step backward for the IRS and for traders.

Thanks IB for the type of statements you provide, it does make tax time easier.
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The IRS has stated that the requirement for line-by-line detail, for every single stock and stock option transactions, is not new, and it is not a change. The IRS has stated that it's instructions were recently changed only as a clarification of the previously existing requirements, because there was much confusion about them.

alanm · Apr 10, 2006

I guess I stand corrected. What a nightmare that's going to be! I only do a couple million shares a year, and it'll be a small book when printed. I can only imagine what it looks like for the guys that do real volume.

(Sorry for the OT hijacking)

a34567 · Apr 11, 2006

The Box 2 (Total Gross proceeds) in my form 1099 from InteractiveBrokers does not include trades for stock options. How/where does IB report my trades of options to IRS? If I list all my trades ( stocks + options ) in Schedule-D then the total gross proceed will be different from the form 1099. Anybody know how to handle this?

Thank you
Jenni

JackR · Apr 11, 2006

Quote from a34567:

How/where does IB report my trades of options to IRS?

Jenni
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Options are not reported. You must add those trades manually.

Jack

jetbird · Apr 11, 2006

I am not sure if it there already, but it would be nice to password protect the interface from someone(my 2 year old) executing trades while my TWS is open. A simple button maybe that you press that would lock the interface with a simple password. If you clicked the TWS screen(while the TWS is in lock mode) you would be prompted for a password to unlock TWS.

thanks

Bob111 · Apr 11, 2006

Quote from jetbird:

I am not sure if it there already, but it would be nice to password protect the interface from someone(my 2 year old) executing trades while my TWS is open. A simple button maybe that you press that would lock the interface with a simple password. If you clicked the TWS screen(while the TWS is in lock mode) you would be prompted for a password to unlock TWS.

thanks
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you can set password on screensaver. should be enough for 2 years old

jetbird · Apr 11, 2006

Bob,

Thanks for the reply. I'd like to be able to monitor the quote screens, and charts, but have the functionality for buttons disabled. So if I walk away or turn my back to the computer, I can feel comfortable that my kids or anyone else will not accidently execute a trade.

thanks