TradeLog Blog

An article in last week’s Investopedia.com explained some of the broad differences in brokerage houses. One aspect many investors and traders give no thought to when choosing a broker is the necessary tax reporting. The 2011 tax year revealed disturbing problems as some brokers simply could not provide accurate 1099-B reports for many clients!

Yes! You read that correctly: Wash sales in an IRA can have severe consequences! This often-overlooked part of the IRS wash sale rules must not be ignored by active traders and investors.

Wash sales can happen all year long, but wash sales that occur in December and January are the ones to watch. Why? Because wash sales that happen in December and January can potentially increase your taxable capital gains for the year! In this post we’ll review what a wash sale is and their potential negative effect. Plus, we'll illustrate how to use TradeLog to monitor wash sale effects on your trades.

In July we announced changes to our technical support service for TradeLog. Here are some questions and detailed answers regarding these changes that you may be interested in.

Updating your TradeLog software is very important. Here are some reasons why, as well as tricks for keeping your software up-to-date easily:

When TradeLog users fail to follow year end instructions carefully, the result is often problems of some sort. From importing the needed data, to reconciling and ending the tax year - doing these steps correctly can make a difference in the accuracy of reports and more! Here are a few tips when it comes to using TradeLog at the end of the year…

The IRS has published some top tax tips to make tax time easier on you. Even though your return is not due until April, you can get an early start now! Here are some of the Internal Revenue Service’s top tips that may be helpful for you:

We have put together a list of important dates that affect many active traders and investors for tax reporting. Most traders have a little extra time for filing this year, so check out what deadlines affect you!

If you've ever had a Negative Shares Error occur in your TradeLog file then you've probably wondered what to do. We have a resource in the TradeLog help file to assist in identifying and resolving negative shares quickly: the Negative Shares Error Checklist.

Why this tip? Trader tax issues are some of the most complex. In fact, many CPAs will admit they do not fully understand the wash sale rule, trader status, and other nuances. It is important that you understand enough about what is required by the IRS, and how to meet those requirements so that you can file accurate taxes and avoid mistakes that could cost you! Here are some suggestions for staying educated…