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Old 05-26-2007, 11:33 AM
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Re: Tax issues for United States

tin - I would not touch your H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt's, etc. out there. They are not going to know a thing about futures taxes. Odds are you know more than they do.

My opinion is that if you want the best tax treatment, you need to find the best. If you want local, get on google and see what's near you. For me, there are some major tax firms that are 'local' so I started there - Ernst and Young, etc. - firms like that.

If you can find a local guy that knows what he's doing, great!! Just keep in mind that very few 'jack of all trades' cpa's out there deal with direct futures trades. It's just not common at all. I would put together a list of interview questions so you can screen some guys out. The most basic question - what is your understanding of how futures day trading is taxed? In other words Mr. CPA, if I hold a futures trade for 5 minutes and make money, how am I taxed?

... very basic question that anyone with a tad of knowledge about futures should be able to ask, but if they can't answer that, time to go. You'd be surprised how many assume that futures are just like stocks and therefore, you'd be taxed at all short-term gains on that trade. That is a VERY costly mistake obviously.

There's also some firms that are specifically built around traders, but probably not local to you. I would check them out as well. I've read good things about http://www.greencompany.com/ I cannot speak on their behalf, so do your own due diligence.

Taxes are a MAJOR consideration when running a profitable futures trading business. How your taxes are prepared can literally increase/decrease your final year-end P&L by thousands of dollars.

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