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nickg5Flag for United States of America

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Any Income Tax specialists? How to use Excel to report stock option sales and purchases?

Last year my Schedule D-1 was close to 30 pages, or 700 transactions.
All done by hand with a pencil.
People say use a spread sheet.

Won't that still require manual entering of all the data?

It takes me about an hour per page, so over 30 hours to complete my return.
I've used Excel a few times and have had some problems.

Examples:
1. I try to enter a word or a number in the space, and the program moves the number or word, to the left side of the cell or the right side or leaves it in the middle, and not necessarily where I need it.
2. I want to enter 210.24 in the "cell" and when I do, it is shown on the left side of the cell when it needs to be on the right, or I need it in the middle.
3. Dates. I want May 3, 2011 and it changes it to 3May 2011.
Or I want 5-3-11 and it changes it to May 3. Some dates are changed and some are not.

I know Excel can add the columns, but if that is all a spread sheet can do for me as far as my tax return, it really would not be much of an advantage.

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As far as you being a tax specialists, some say I do not have to report all option transactions individually. I may be able to report them as one.
Example: Bought 3 IBM options in January, 2 in April, 6 in July, 4 in December. That's 4 transactions. Some people say they can be listed as a purchase of 15 IBM options in one transaction.

I've called the IRS two times and spoke to 4 different agents and still have no clear answer at all. One said that on stocks you have to list each one individually but on options there might be different rules.

One agent asked me if I was a day trader and I said that according to the rule, 3 day trades within a 5 day period, I am not a day trader. Then he asked me if I was a trader or investor. That question made no sense. An investment can be short term and it could be one day, a week, or a few months.


If the tax code was changed to a flat tax the whole schedule D would disappear.
My tax owed does not change regardless of the numbers on Schedule D.
So, really I am just filling it out for the benefit of who looks at my return.
If there is a big loss, it does not change my tax due, and if it is a large gain it does not change my tax due. Just used to report the sales.
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stevepcguy
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Avatar of Rowan Scott
Go on don't give up. When the penny drops you will see what a powerful tool excel is.
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