thank you for the informative detailed post. So did you end up paper-filing or were you able to send all that in electronically? I wonder what the IRS would think if you did a mix (i.e. e-file but then send in supporting docs via snail-mail)?
I always go with paper filing. I agree with the concept someone else said of not making it too easy for them. I sent a 136-page D-1 this year! Hope they enjoy it. Since I replaced the Schedule D from TurboTax with my own, I don't think a partial e-file would work with my approach.
This thread may save me. (First post, BTW.) This year I went a little berzerk and have many wash sales, which are a nightmare to enter via the spreadsheet form on TurboTax. Not only is it incredibly tedious, but I'm afraid I'll make a mistake with so many transactions. So you guys are saying I can just summarize the transactions and then attach the schedule D worksheet from IB... That would be great. I've used Turbotax for three or four years now, but last year was the first year I e-filed... In previous years I simply printed it out at the end and snail mailed it. Not for any particular reason -- just being old-fashioned, I guess. I have to admit that e-filing was pretty handy... It was nice not having to attach all the broker and bank statements by hand. But I'll do it if it avoids having to manually enter all these trades. One more thing -- do many of you import your TXFs from your broker? The problem is that Turbotax won't do this with the online version, which is what I've been using and what I started on this year. I thought about buying the desktop version at the store and trying to continue my return with it so that I could import the TXF file. Anyone done that? Thanks.
There's good news and bad news about IB's Schedule D Worksheet. The good news is that it contains all your transactions for the year with purchases and sales matched the way the IRS wants to see them. The bad news is that, while they list all wash sales, they leave it to you (or your accountant) to figure out which wash sale losses have to be deferred to the following year. For an active trader, most wash sale losses do not have to be deferred.
Thank you... Can you give me a quick guideline on that? My last wash sale is in July, and I didn't buy (and sell) the stock again until December, when I had a gain. So I should be clear, right? Or not. Ugh, what a mess. I'll never, ever do this again.
If you sold a stock at a loss in July and didn't buy it again until December, then it is not a wash sale. A wash sale is when you sell a stock at a loss and re-purchase it within 30 days.
clab - welcome to ET! Re the importing of TXF file from your broker to turbotax - I believe you can do this w/ the CD version. Here's a link to a guy w/ a similar prob: http://www.younggunstrading.com/2011/02/tax-headaches-and-solutions-turbotax.html Have you looked into using tradelog?
I heard there is a limit to how many trades you can import into Turbotax and the gross proceeeds field can not be larger than 9,999,999
I used HR Block and imported my TXF file from IB. Worked great. Over 20 pages worth. However, the tax software warned me that eFiling is limited to 250 capital gain/loss transactions, so I'm not qualified. Not that I'm interested in this, still prefer a paper filing, but worth knowing nevetheless.