Taxes???

[Ericp501]

How do I do my taxes?? I did a few small trades last year for fun.. I started out with about $500 after 4 or 5 trades I had about $900... I got my "tax info" from choice trade and it says.. realized gains are $2,400... I realized they just added up my total after every trade I made..

So my first trade I went from $500 to $550, my second trade I went from $550 to $600... So I only made $100 but choice trade says my gains are "$1050... Whats up with that?


Also I'm holding about some ECCI that used to be worth about $300 5 years ago and is now worth about $.50... should I "sell" it and take a loss, how does that work?

[Razorback]

Originally Posted by Ericp501

How do I do my taxes?? I did a few small trades last year for fun.. I started out with about $500 after 4 or 5 trades I had about $900... I got my "tax info" from choice trade and it says.. realized gains are $2,400... I realized they just added up my total after every trade I made..

So my first trade I went from $500 to $550, my second trade I went from $550 to $600... So I only made $100 but choice trade says my gains are "$1050... Whats up with that?


Also I'm holding about some ECCI that used to be worth about $300 5 years ago and is now worth about $.50... should I "sell" it and take a loss, how does that work?

What you need to do is break down each trade individually for tax purposes. Take what you bought and subtract what you sold at. If its a gain, you will be taxed on the net gain, not the whole sell amount. If you held the shares for less than a year, then the amount will be taxed at your income tax rate. If any of it was held for over a year, then the tax rate is 15%, unless you are in the 15% tax bracket or lower, then the tax rate could be 10% or 5% i believe. If you think ECCI will never do anything, then yes, I'd sell it and use it to help counter any gains you might have in 2010.