Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (11367)	1/7/1998 12:40:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

Another Scandal: Tax returns more complex than ever Calculating federal income taxes is rarely easy, but 1997 returns, arriving now, will be more complex than ever for millions of investors. Congress made a lot of changes to the tax laws last year. But the one change that will hit most investors is on Schedule D of Form 1040 - the place you report capital gains on stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other property. Schedule D has ballooned from 19 lines on the 1996 return (plus 13 lines for higher-income filers) to 54 lines of potential calculations. That's because under the new law, long-term capital gains are taxed at a range of rates from 28% to 10%, depending on how long the assets were held, when they were sold and an individual's tax bracket. And for the first time, all taxpayers with capital gains, including owners of taxable mutual funds, will have to complete Schedule D. "This is new territory for more than 4 million taxpayers," says Jeff Harvey, vice-president of tax reporting for discount broker Charles Schwab. In the past, only active traders were required to complete the form. Buy-and-hold investors who sold no shares during the year could skip Schedule D. They simply entered the capital gains distributions they received on the appropriate line of the 1040 form. Here's how the rates work: Except for collectibles, for which the top capital gains rate remains 28%, the new law lowers the maximum rate of tax to 20% for long-term capital gains on assets held more than a year and sold after May 6 and before July 29. After July 28, assets held more than 12 months, but less than 18 months, are still taxed at the 28% rate. Assets sold after July 28 and held more than 18 months are taxed at 20%. Taxpayers in the 15% tax bracket pay 10% instead of 20% in the examples above. Brokerages and mutual fund companies have until Feb. 2 to let shareholders know how much of the taxable distribution they received in 1997 is taxed at the 28% rate. That information will appear on Form 1099-Div. Most of those firms say their phone representatives are prepared to handle questions from confused shareholders. But investors should wait until the 1099 forms arrive before they get out their calculators. "Any time there are changes like this, it's important for everyone to take the time to be sure they have the right information," says John Gardner, senior tax manager at consultants KPMG Peat Marwick in Washington, D.C. o~~~ O