can anyone with accounting/tax backgrounds recommend a good program for active traders -- one that is most easily understood by the idiots at the IRS is best. ease of use on my end is less of a factor.

thanks.

11/23/2009 12:21:34 PM

I used turbotax last year, I believe I was able to import data from my scottrade account but it wasnt exactly seemless. At first it made it seem like I made like 10,000 dollars extra last year based just on the sale of stock. I had to go back and enter for each transaction the amount of shares and price I bought it at to show that in fact I lost money. It wasnt easy but also not super difficult. The hardest part was going through my records to figure out when say I bought mulitple lots of stock and then only sold off parts deciding which price points I wanted to take for each transaction. Basically if I bought 100 shares at 5 dollars and then 100 shares at 6 dollars and then sold 100 for 5.50 had to decide if it was in my best interest to write in that I sold the 100 shares that were for profit or for a loss.

11/23/2009 3:43:42 PM

How much are we talking about with "active traders"? Like full time active trader as a profession or something I do on the side as a hobby active trader?

11/23/2009 9:44:29 PM

as in, several trades a week, one or two per day during times of high beta

11/24/2009 11:23:41 AM

well by "good" you want something specific that can import your data. It wouldn't be through the tax software as much as if the brokerage company can allow for the data to be imported and used. Only until last year could scottrade import the file, but it only imported the buy side portion. You'll have to check on the website of the brokerage you use. I can only imagine turbo tax would have everything that is available.

11/25/2009 4:56:30 PM