EDUCATION SYSTEM ISSUES

o They enable the active trader to still take advantage of the beneficial long term capital gain rules.

o They enable the active trader to circumvent the restrictive "Wash Sale" rules normally applied to investors, thereby alleviating a huge record-keeping nightmare.

o They allow the active trader to deduct losses on open as well as closed positions.

Continuing on with my IRS research:

You would report your trader's activity as a business on Schedule C of your 1040, possibly allowing all the deductions for your classes and tools, versus a limitation on deduction for passive trading that would have had to be reported on your.

• Schedule A with a 2% AGI limitation deduction. But here is the sweet deal: you can still elect to report your gain or loss on.
• Schedule D as a capital gain unless you made the mark-to-market election, (which has you claim the income as ordinary income on Form 4797 instead of Schedule D - see IRS Publication 550 for more information on this). Just to be safe, you better talk to an accountant that specializes in stock market trading. Being a retired accountant, I want to tell you that most accountants will not know how to treat your trading income properly - you need to understand this.
• The proper classification of your investment activities is important to determine how income and expenses are to be reported.

Traders that buy and sell securities frequently can report their purchases and sales result in capital gain and loss, and their deductible expenses are trade or business expenses.

• Happy Trading!
• Darlene Powell with Better Trades.

Due to an overwhelming request of questions about Day Trader Status I have decided to write this newsletter to look at these issues. Whether you know about it or not, you don't want to accidentally learn about Day Trader Status by a notice from your brokerage firm saying that you are now tagged as a Day Trader!