This summer I had two futures trading accounts, nearly blew them out, closed them out. Now I am filling out tax paperwork from my accountant and have kept poor records but have the 1099s. Does the IRS need a record of each trade (the way my acct has me do stocks and options) or do the 1099s suffice? I hope for an easy answer... but expect the opposite.
No. Your accountant only needs your P/L for each account, which goes on Form 6781. Your P/L gets reported as one lump sum, not a trade by trade report like the equity side. I've had Schedule D-1's that were as thick as a book back in the old days. Since switching to futures and taking a long term perspective on equities my reporting has become <b>incredibly</b> simpler! Form 6781 flows to Schedule D, which, in turn, flows to the 1040. It's a thing of beauty.