IRS, Tax related strategies--Traders Message Board

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Strategies & Market Trends : IRS, Tax related strategies--Traders

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To: Ilya k. who wrote (156)	2/24/1998 9:05:00 PM
From: Ilya k.	Read Replies (2) of 1383

Deductible Trader Expenses? In catching up on the "What is a Trader" msgs that came in during my absence, I see that we've moved to a number of msgs that are a little off-topic. Happens some time. The point of this msg is to thank Joel, Colin and Robert Green for a robust discussion of this important topic. I hope they will continue their dialog! I have filed as a trader for some years on advice of my tax attorney and an independent CPA connected to a major firm. I don't file quite the way suggested in the thread as my experts have said that the titles of each Schedule are less important than the substance of what one puts on them. What is truly important is that full documentation for one's tax position is accurately portrayed. Both my attorney and CPA deal routinely with the IRS over audit questions. They have come to the belief that to the extent that an examiner doesn't have to flip through multiple Skeds to figure out what one has done, the less likely your return is to be questioned if it appears coherent and numerically correct. As for losses on Sked C, I can only say that by the time one acquires multiple PCs, each with multiple monitors, high speed internet connections, lots of dedicated software plus lots of other directly related costs, one could have a pretty good trading year and still show a loss after Sec. 179 (?--too jet-lagged to look up the code) write-offs plus remaining depreciation. While I am not as aggressive as a friend who tracks his mileage when he goes to the coffee house Saturday morning to get his Barrons, so that he can depreciate his car as part of his expenses (he is a full-time trader), certainly airline tickets to trading seminars and hotel costs are legitimate deductions. My friend always seems to take his winter seminar trips to sunnier climes while I stick close to home if possible. But his expenses are just as deductible as mine. One of the msgs (I believe by Colin) began a helpful list of what may be deductible expenses for full-time traders. I'd like to see further discussion on the topic if members are interested.

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