If you own stocks or are thinking of owning stocks in 2011, you have new tax accounting methods available to you courtesy of the IRS. The good news is that the discount brokers will be responsible for keeping track of all your stock purchases and sales starting this year.
Brokerage firms already report the sales proceeds from stocks to the IRS. Now the brokerages will be required to report the purchase price, known as the cost basis, of all stock purchases. This also means you’ll need to know how to calculating cost basis for stock at the time of sale.
Your Tax Lot ID And You
Each time you purchase a stock, that position is given a tax lot id, even if you already own shares of the same stock. A tax lot simply is a record of a securities transaction and its tax implications, including the purchase date and number of shares.
If you purchased any new stocks this year, those purchases were given tax lot ids, allowing the IRS to track your exact profit or loss from that lot of stocks when you decide to sell them. Continue Reading…
Congress finally put off the inevitable last week and passed the tax cut extension we’ve all been waiting for since the beginning of the year. If you’re not sure how you benefit from the extension, we’ll break it down for you.
The holidays are upon us once again and Wall Street is waiting to see if Santa will spread a little holiday cheer on the stock market at the end this year. Like the Christmas shopping season the term “Santa Claus Rally”, seems to be used earlier every year. Any slight change in the stock market from November to December and a race ensues to see who can use the “Santa Claus Rally” term first.
The 2010 Roth IRA conversion deadline is approaching quickly. If you haven’t heard, the previous income limit ($100,000) for converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA was lifted all the way back in January. With 2011 approaching, it’s always a good idea to check your finances and make any beneficial changes before the new tax year begins.
In a world of online banking, ATMs, direct deposit, debit cards, we don’t have to go the brick and mortar bank as often as we used to. Before the internet age there used to be a time where people had to go to the bank rather often and in doing so would see the alphabet soup splashed on every door and drive through teller window.