If i have two seperate accounts. One for day trading @ IB where im doing 1000+ trades a year and my other account at thinkorswim is mainly for swing trading where i hold stocks for weeks at a time. Will my swing trading account ruin my chances of being approved for trader tax status?
No. Trader tax status requirement ( guideline) is 720 trades per year. Since you are doing a thousand plus in your IB account you should be fine.
Note that you can designate accounts as either trading accounts or investment accounts and this might affect your tax reporting.
If you have another job and its your primary source of income...it doesn't matter the number of trades you're doing...you will not be approve for trader tax status. My point, there's other variables involved than just the number of trades and you should see a tax accountant that specializes about trader taxes.
Maybe the tax codes have changed. Thus, I could now be wrong but that was the case years ago. For example of a change...they now address part time traders whereas in the past...they did not. Regardless, a tax accountant that specializes in "trader taxes" will clear up any misinformation or new tax codes. At least use one once if someone has issues, questions or whatever.
i do not have a full time job i make my money just from trading. Im just curious if my 2nd account which i use mainly for swing trading will make me an investor instead of a trader in the eyes of the irs even though i do 1000+ daytrades a year in my main account.
The "golden rules" for TTS qualification, from THE trader-tax expert in the US... https://greentradertax.com/how-to-become-eligible-for-trader-tax-status-benefits/
You said you do not have a "full-time job"...is that another way of saying you have a "part-time job" and what's your "1st account" ? I ask because I recently read somewhere else in which someone said something similar but refer to their question involving a "3rd account for swing trading" without mentioning what's going on with their "1st account". My point is that if the "1st account" (the account you refer to as day trading) and the work you do with it qualifies you for trader status...why worry about any other trading accounts that are in your name ? Once again, get your advice from a professional tax account that specializes in trader taxes instead of someone that generally does taxes but not for traders.
Yes and you can do a relatively inexpensive phone consult with him or one of his associates to answer questions about such as taxation and entity setup.