Taxcut or Turbotax

[bilgert]

Just wanted to know what you guys used- am probably gonna use the online interface through H&R Block (Taxcut) unless somebody has some horror stories. Used it last year with no problems, but this year I have probably 10 times as many trades...

[keithsan]

I use Turbo tax. Personally dont like H+R block.
I just bundle my trades into 1 # gain or loss, call it daytrading, if the IRS wants each trade, I'll send them the downloads from my brokers.

[lucid]

Wait... so I can just bundle my trades into one gain/loss figure? And then if the IRS has questions they'll just ask?

[keithsan]

thats what i do lucid

I just print them all out, call it day trading and put the amount gained.


I hear its ok, never been audited, do have a law degree but daytrading is a fairly new field and the rules arent so black and white.

[keithsan]

From the article:

The best way I've found to handle this mess is to buy financial software and use the feature that allows you to download trading data from online brokers. Then you can transfer all the data into your tax preparation software without breaking a sweat.

If you insist on doing this by hand, then I recommend — at a minimum — showing the following on Schedule D: your net short- and long-term gains and losses, total sales proceeds and the total cost of your shares. That way, the IRS can still reconcile your return with the information that your broker provides. Attach a statement saying you will provide the details on request.

Link: http://www.smartmoney.com/tax/capital/index.cfm?story=daytrading (http://www.smartmoney.com/tax/capital/index.cfm?story=daytrading)

[lucid]

The best way I've found to handle this mess is to buy financial software and use the feature that allows you to download trading data from online brokers. Then you can transfer all the data into your tax preparation software without breaking a sweat.


That's what I did last night. Should be getting my refund soon!