[quote=flu][quote=SK in CV]Not terribly difficult, and it’s unrelated to having a full time job. Just have to follow the rules. There’s a firm that specializes in setting them up, http://www.tradersaccounting.com. I’ve heard mixed reviews.
Why exactly would you want to?[/quote]
Well, I was talking to 2 cpas this week, and looking at my trading history for the years, they indicated it *might* be possible for me to reclassified as a “trader” for the purpose of 475(f)….
However, they did warn me about the risks too. I was doing some research on it, and trying to figure out if I would meet the litmus test..
I was thinking being otherwise full time employed as a software geek might be an issue.
From the perspective of trading volume, frequency, duration, amount, and percentage of realized income versus everything else of income, I would probably be ok, at least based on what others have written about it…
I don’t have the proper structure setup (obviously not yet).
Basically, I think I would be better off if I could report all my short term flips/etc on a schedule C versus schedule D.[/quote]
It’s not quite as simple as reporting flips on sched C. It also includes marking securities to market. You have some time. The election for 2013 has to be filed by 4/15 next year.
Are most of your trades stocks? Futures/options/forex get some favorable tax treatment as it is. Unless you spend a ton of money on investment expenses, I’m not sure what kind of tax savings you’d have by putting it all on a sched C.
