On Mar 19, 12:03 pm, pixel_a_ted <pixel_a_...[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

CD's sound like bonds, so publication 550 at http://www.irs.gov/publications/p550/index.html
is the definitive guide. Fun reading!

- quote -

Not quite. You have to figure out the true price of the bond in order
to figure out your market discount, if any. For example, if you
bought the $900 bond one day before maturity and received $20 interest
plus $1000 the following day, the market discount is pretty much all
of the $100. The market discount is treated as ordinary interest
income, usually in the year the bonds mature, although you can elect
to pay a little every year.

To figure out the true price of the bond you need to know the price of
the bond when it was originally issued and the number of years to
maturity.

If the true price of the bond one day before maturity was $999, and
you paid $900 for it, your market discount is $99. With the ordinary
interest of $20 you have $119 of interest income. And you have a
capital gain of $1.

And be aware that if you made an election to amortize your taxable
bonds, then you have to increase or reduce your ordinary interest
income by the amortization, but you have no capital gain when the bond
matures or is called.


- quote -

The same method as above applies. But you have to calculate the true
price of the bond when you sell it, which might be less than $1000.
And you have to worry about accrued interest issues as well.

You even have to worry about accrued interest when you buy the bond on
the secondary market.


- quote -

Have to do the full calculations to be sure.

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Say I am considering two different 2-year CD's both with the same
yield to maturity but one is sold under par (since its interest rate
is below market rates), the other above par (since its rate is above
market). For concreteness, let me make up some numbers that are not
accurate but allow me to be specific: Say the current market rate for
2-year CD's is 3%. The first CD has a face value of $1000, it pays a
rate of 2% ($20 interest per year) and sells for $900; the second one
has a face value of $1000, it pays a rate of 4% ($40 interest per
year) and it sells for $1100.

1. I am assuming that during the time that I hold the CD's, I pay
regular tax rates on the income received. When the first CD matures
after 2 years, I have a capital gain on the difference $1000 - $900 =
$100. When the second CD matures after 2 years, I have a capital loss
of $1100 - $1000 = $100. Is this correct?

2. Does it matter if the CD is held to maturity, or would the same
considerations apply if it were sold before maturity, in which case
the sales price of the CD's would not necessarily be $1000?

3. Given, in this example, that the yield to maturities are the same,
would it be beneficial to purchase the second CD and not the first
since you have to pay capital gains tax on the first one but get to
claim a loss on the second one, or, in practice, would the yields to
maturity be reflective of the capital gains tax/loss that you have at
the end?

Thanks.

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << 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. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >