Tax Reporting on Futures?

I did one futures trade in 2010 and was wondering if I can report this small loss as if it was a stock transaction? I have the date of purchase and date of sale and net loss figure available. I am doing my own taxes with Tax Cut software and don't want to have to go to someone professional for this one transaction. If I enter this like a stock transaction would be entered on my Schedule D would that suffice for the IRS? Thanks.

 

Your broker should have sent you a 1099B for the trade

report futures gain or loss on

form 6781

 

Thanks, yea I have the 1099b, i was wondering if i just enter it like a stock. Date of purchase/purchase price, date of sale/sale price or is it a completely different section than stocks I need to enter it in.

 

No, futures transactions most definitely can NOT be reported as stock transactions. As above poster mentioned, use the proper form. In futures, you don't report on a transaction by transaction basis. Instead, you basically state the beginning and ending account balance.

 

k, Thanks. I will look into from 6781. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Fortunately, this form is really easy to fill out. You don't even fill in your trades. Take the total from the bottom and put at right place on next form

 

I notice that the total of my 1256 contract trading at Interactive Brokers does not show on my 1099-B. IB has a separate report called a Gain/Loss Worksheet for 1256 Contracts.

Is this form generally suitable for tax purposes and should I include with my return, so that I don't have to list each trade separately?

Thanks for any insights

 

one more question...I'm assuming the number you put on 6781 is the "AGGREGATE" Profit (Box 11) rather than realized (box 8)

also....is it correct to assume the brokers statement is net of commissions?

 

since this is futures gain/loss, I reported it in Box 1
Section 1256 Contracts Marked to Market

 

Every year I read these ET tax threads and it seems there is so much confusion that everyone seems to file his taxes a little differently from the next guy.

Have any of you been audited because of so-called improper reporting of market transactions? If so, what, generally, were the results of your being audited?