On Feb 6, 4:33*pm, garagecapital <garagecapi...[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

Commissions are not deductible, but instead get added to the cost
basis. Check to see whether the $5000 profit already includes the
effect of commissions (maybe without commissions the profit would have
been $5100), and even interest for holding a position overnight. It's
your job to track the individual transactions, although a good
brokerage firm will have a history of all the year's transactions, and
last year's transactions too. The 1099 from forex.com does not list
the individual transactions, but you can request them to send you a
report of all transactions for the year. If the commissions are not
part of a flat fee then I guess it would be deductible as an
investment expense subject to the 2% of AGI limit (which often makes
it non-deductible), but I think if you have trader status then you are
not subject to the 2% limit, but am not sure and you should read up
about it.

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I had $5,000 profit in numerous in cash Forex trades this year and
$200 in commissions (yes, commissions on Forex at some brokers, like
Interactive Brokers exist). I am using ordinary income (and FIFO) for
'07 rather than M-T-M this year for reasons I won't bore you with.
(Section 1256 this year, for sure, though.) Anyway, do I simply deduct
the commissions from the profit and that's my ordinary income? Or do I
have to do something else with the commissions. My Forex trades don't
show at all on my 1099.

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >