Brokerage Reporting
A common misconception among traders is:
"My broker provides everything I need to file my taxes." - That is far from the truth! |
We are sorry to be the bearers of bad news, but you cannot rely on your online broker to provide what you need to properly file your taxes from trading. One reason is that they are in the trading business, not the tax business, and the current SEC and IRS rules do not force them to comply.
The cold hard fact is that broker provided P&L reports are plagued with problems. Unfortunately, it falls upon the taxpayer to find and fix these problems. In addition, brokers are quite useless when it comes to assisting their clients in repairing such problems. This is not an isolated occurrence as many trader tax professionals can attest. And we see this quite often as we assist users of our TradeLog software.
Therefore it behooves us to educate traders and investors alike in the many pitfalls that they may face come tax time. We have broken this down into four primary areas of concern which are highlighted on the right side of this page, and suggest that you familiarize yourself with the realities of brokerage provided tax information.
What to know about broker provided profit/loss statements.
Brokerage Reporting Headaches?
Let TradeLog help you file your taxes from trading in 15 minutes or less!
Please note: This information is provided only as a general guide and is not to be taken as official IRS instructions. Armen Computing Ltd. does not make investment recommendations nor provide financial, tax or legal advice. You are solely responsible for your investment and tax reporting decisions. Please consult your tax advisor or accountant to discuss your specific situation.
