Can anyone help me undersand what I need to file my taxes using Turbo tax. I use IB as my broker and I am confused with what forms I need. So far I added my 8949 to Turbo Tax. Do I need something from the 1099-B as I see it when I log into Account Management? Also, my gains are different on my 1099-B, 8949, and when I run PortfolioAnalyst to look at my entire year PnL. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
you can't just import from ib into turbo tax unless you ONLY traded 1256 cars (like futures). i strongly suggest using tradelog. here is the process export data from ib into tradelog tradelog does everything and gives you a file you can export into turbotox run turbotax do efile and direct deposit for refund (if you get one) read the tradelog website for why you can't simply import the 1099 straight from your broker into turbotax or any tax program and for the love of God don't just put down the total p&l and say "if the IRS asks i can provide a copy of all the trades" - this is a huge red flag.
You should enter into TurboTax information exactly as on 1099-B as this information was reported to the IRS. 8949 was not reported to the IRS so you don't have to copy it exactly from IB into TurboTax.
I switched from stocks to futures in late 2011, so my comments pertain to 2011. But I believe this information is still current. The instructions for form 8949 are included in i1040sd.pdf (i.e. instructions for Schedule D). On page 8 it states: Instead of reporting each of your transactions on a separate line of Form 8949, you can report them on an attached statement containing all the same information as Form 8949 and in a similar format. IB provides a Worksheet for Form 8949 that fulfills that requirement. That means you can include a copy of the worksheet instead of the Form 8949. My tax prep software (TaxAct) didn't like eliminating the Form 8949, so included it with a summary line for the total amount and a note referencing the worksheet. In a more general sense, it seems to me that there are only two way to do trader taxes that make sense. You can understand this ... and it's not that hard ... or you can pay an expert to do it for you, and treat that as a cost of doing business. In the latter case, I recommend http://www.greencompany.com/. Green is expensive, but he knows what he is doing.
This is how I have it for the time being. According to IB's website they give directions on how to do this: http://ibkb.interactivebrokers.com/article/2026 The other question I have is that my actual PnL is wrong. Does the 8949 worksheet that IB provides include my dividend gains for the year? I am pretty confident it is off.
i did it for last decade or so and i will file exact same way for 2012. but as i stated before-it's not going to be just one line. i will provide IB' first 5 and last 5 pages of 1099 and same for 8949,along with cover letter. i see no point of sending hundreds of pages with all those trades. no one will look thru all of them anyway. they can easily find all info they need from their copies of 1099 and ones that i sent them and numbers reported in my return. it's a piece of cake but they should match perfectly. otherwise -yes,it's will be a huge flag. as for numbers that didn't match between 1099 and 8949. OP-we been over this few times every year. here: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showt...013&perpage=6&highlight=ib taxes&pagenumber=6 read from page one, see IB's webinar and use formula on page 6 the difference between previous years is that now trades are divided into few groups. see explanation in webinar. it's really easy,even i can understand it. as for dividends-they aren't aren't reported on 8949 and not added to your PnL.
There have always been discrepancies among the various statements I get from IB. If the amounts are small (e.g. a few dollars), I use the numbers from the Form 1099, and file it that way. If the numbers are bigger, I might discuss it with IB, but I have never had to do that. I don't think the Form 8949 (or PnL for that matter) includes dividends, as they should be in Form 1099-DIV and reported separately.
if you're ok w/ knowingly filing a false return then have at it... second, the fact that p&L is off tells you you can't just take whatever the broker gives you and put that on your return third, many times broker provided statements do NOT account for wash sales. i'm not trying to give you or anyone else a hard time - in fact the opposite i'm trying to prevent audits/reduce stress
wow.. filing a false return? don't know about you,but i keep my own records(and monthly statements on top of that)-so-it's really easy for me(and i'm pretty sure rwk does same) to check and compare the numbers to find out if they are off and by how much. few dollars off either way is NOT a false return(at least IMO). cause as been said multiple time here,even by reputable CPA's-they will be off. the IRS are the ones,who create those new rules so i let them deal with that. IB does account wash sales and report them on 8949(as it suppose to) NO ONE WILL AUDIT YOU OVER FEW BUCKS cause it's pointless for you and them. they might sent you an inquiry,if they have questions,but audit? makes no sense
Problem is in Turbo Tax you need to enter information via 8949 to get to 8949 you need to do following steps, Schedule D : single click > on Cap Gains Speed Entry worksheet> which will port to Worksheet of 8949. In the past there was an easy method to transport all of your stock info to the entry worksheet, you could just download information directly and adjust if needs be. Sometimes I would use Dragon to go from one line to another rather easily for a D or D-1. The latest rendition of TurboTax doesn't allow a smooth transition (they even tried to push me to their Investment & Business program) It isnt complicated it is just time consuming, nor can you use XCEL . Since a download is unavailable, I have a message to IB and I am awaiting from IB, if they expect me to add the final numbers manually via override and shift those to Schedule D. When I had trader status with the IRS, the whole schedule D mess could be averted, now we have 8949. But I dont trade equities as much in brokerage except for IRA's.