Whom Ever

[David1980]

And I've never seen a broker statement look exactly like a Schedule D. They always manage to add something or re-arrange the order of something. Thus, the reason why I tell my clients it has to be manually entered into the computer.

I actually saw one of the big brokers provide a filled out Schedule D-1. The actual IRS form. Apparently it was included in one of their "Pay $20/month and save $2 per transaction!" deals. Of course, it was kinda pointless, since the broker only had the basis for about half the transactions and (because they couldn't know of the other trading account) it didn't properly report wash sales.

[AuditorTurnedGood]

Why in the world would you not want to list each transaction and charge your client for 500 trades?

Efficiency. The quicker I can accuratly prepare a tax return and move on to the next, the more money I can make. Beyond that, there is only so much time in the season. In some cases, the few hours spent entering those transactions and checking them over is worth well more than I can charge the client.

ATG