By far the most complex IRS form to fill out come tax time, if you are an active trader or investor, is the IRS 1040 Schedule D. Manually matching hundreds or thousands of trades, calculating the correct capital gain or loss for each, and then entering them one line item at a time on a Schedule D is a monumental task.
"Sad to say, most personal finance and tax software programs, commonly used by traders attempting to file their taxes, do not handle these complex calculations properly. And none calculate wash sales per IRS requirements" states David N. Eich, President of Armen Computing Ltd.
"Equally sad is the fact that most online brokerages provide a Form 1099 each year that only reports stock sales. Imagine how daunting it can be for an active trader or investor, who routinely trades both stocks and options, to match each sale with the appropriate purchase, and then determine an accurate gain or loss for each lot sold."
Help is on the way
Armen Computing Ltd. announced today a major new release of their TradeLog and GTT TradeLog trade accounting and tax software programs for active traders. (www.armencomp.com/tradelog)
TradeLog makes short work of the above mentioned accounting nightmare by allowing traders and investors alike to import and match an entire year's worth of trades right from their online broker's web site. All sales and purchases are properly matched, and capital gains and losses are quickly calculated for each and every trade. A simple report functions as a Schedule D attachment (Schedule D-1) for tax filing purposes.
The dreaded IRS Wash Sale Rule
But the real power of TradeLog lies in its ability to accurately apply the IRS wash sale rule. Calculating wash sales on short and long trades, on unequal numbers of shares, across "substantially identical" securities such as options and underlying stocks, and across multiple brokerage accounts is a major headache for anyone trying to prepare their trader tax return.
TradeLog is a simple to use program that fills this critical year end tax accounting need, while also providing the ability to import a proper accounting of capital gains and wash sale adjustments into most popular tax software programs.
New features in version 5 include lightning fast calculations, a new OFX import capability, invaluable new reconciliation tools, and enhanced Mark to Market reporting options (GTT TradeLog only). As with previous versions, Armen Computing's extensive support service remains available to all users.
Software versions range in price from $49 to $349 and all versions come with a robust suite of portfolio tracking and trade analysis tools.
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