INVESTORS
SERVICES: TAX PREPARATION FOR INVESTORS

Preparation and planning of federal and state income tax returns for traders (retail, proprietary, and hedge funds [both individuals and entities) is our core business.

2008 Extensions: Many traders filed their own extensions receiving five to six months of additional time to file their 2008 tax returns. Note that the IRS changed the rules this year requiring partnerships on extension to file (like S-Corps) by Sept. 15th, rather than Oct. 15th (which is still the extended date for individuals).

We are happy to accept new clients now and have plenty of time to meet these extended deadlines. If you don't have a valid extension, you should file (with our help) as soon as possible to limit late filing and payment penalties (generally only due if you owe taxes).

Tax Planning: While working on your 2008 tax returns, we also recommend tax planning through-out 2009; on quarterly estimated income taxes due, trader tax status qualification, Section 475 MTM and Section 988 forex opt-out elections, entities, retirement plans and other tax savings strategies too.

Software: If you are a securities trader, we highly-recommend our TradeLog® for GreenTraderTax software (it used to be called GTT TradeLog). Click here to learn more and purchase the program, and our trade accounting services too if you need that extra help.

Guides: For a good quick overview of all our latest tax strategies and tax laws for traders, especially business traders, we highly-recommend Green's 2009 Trader Tax Guide.

GTT Investor Tax Return Preparation Service - Retainer & Minimum Fee *Business traders sign up for higher retainer here. **Hedge funds sign up for higher retainer here. ***Non-traders sign up here. $650

Our firm is a leader for traders around the country and we can do a better job for you than any other firm. Unless a firm is highly specialized in traders (like we are), you won't get the service you need and you probably will miss out on huge tax benefits and may cause yourself an IRS exam. Who needs that? We offer you the most prudent ideas for tax savings (as laid out in Robert Green's new book, The Tax Guide for Traders), and we don't take you into the danger zone, as some other trader tax sites do.

If you opt for using our GTT TradeLog software on your own, or with our GTT TradeLog Accounting Service; or if you use our GTT accounting worksheets, we will make your trade accounting a snap, and that lowers your preparation price. Don't spend hundreds or thousands more than you should with accountants who have to prepare your Schedule D (capital gains and losses) by hand. Plus, using our software will prevent manual errors. You don't need our trade accounting solutions to use our preparation service; many of our clients do a fine job on their own or with other accounting providers.

This year more than ever is a good time to switch to GTT TradeLog.
The IRS is insisting on proper line-by-line trade reporting on Schedule D (and Form 4797) and our GTT TradeLog program may be the best solution around for this IRS compliance. We can download your trades (line by line) from your brokerage firm's Web site into our GTT TradeLog program and then import the accurate tax accounting results into our tax preparation software (or you can do the same with TurboTax). We can then e-file your tax return with line-by-line reporting. Or we can print the GTT TradeLog reports and attach them to a paper-filed tax return. Learn more about this new IRS compliance requirement for tax return filings and why GTT TradeLog is the best solution on our Web blog.

Our highly experienced CPAs will help you determine whether to use "trader tax status" or "investor tax status." This key decision unlocks all the trader tax benefits. You may be a "close call" for trader tax status and you need our judgment and knowledge to make this vital call. If you fall short of trader tax status, we offer you lower fees in our GTT Investor Tax Preparation Service.

Either way, with or without trader tax status, or using your own trade accounting solutions, we will do the very best for you with deductions and other proprietary GTT tax strategies. Most importantly, when we prepare your tax return, you can count on us not raising red flags with the IRS, thus reducing your chance of an IRS exam. Plus, if you do get audited or the IRS asks questions, we will defend you until the end. We have the best record in the country on winning trader exams and we continue to help define trader tax law. Click here to learn more about our IRS and/or state tax exam representation service.

Opt for our full service and have us do your annual tax return preparation and planning, form a trading entity, and set up a tax-beneficial retirement plan. Give us one year to please you with our excellent tax savings results and fair fees and you will use us for a lifetime – that's just what we want!

Learn more about our tax preparation service:
Deliverables: What you can expect to receive with our service.
GTT advantage: Why you should select GTT as your tax preparer.
Virtual process: Efficiency, effectiveness, documentation, convenience, and personal touch.
IRS exams: How we'll represent you in front of the IRS.
Prior year returns (we review them to see if you benefit from an amended return).
Costs: Retainer, fees & quotes.
e-filing.
Proprietary Traders.
Late Returns.
Entity Tax Returns.
Last-minute Filers.

If you have any questions about our trader tax preparation services, please contact us at info@greencompany.com or call us.

We are e-filing many federal and state tax returns again this year. We simply push a button in our software and your return is filed. E-filing is easier and less expensive than delivering paper returns, and your tax return and refunds are processed faster.

Important note about e-filing trader returns: See our above paragraph about why it's a good time to switch to GTT TradeLog for tax return filings. Recent IRS statements insist that taxpayer's include line-by-line reporting of trades on Schedule D-1 with e-filed returns. Attachments, in lieu of Schedule D-1 are allowed by the IRS for paper-filed returns only (not e-filed returns). GTT TradeLog is an excellent solution for both e-filing and paper-filed returns.

Proprietary Traders: We also recommend that proprietary traders sign up for our tax preparation services. We don't have to spend time on trade accounting since your prop firm handles that, so our fees are less than for retail traders. We will find lots of ways for you to deduct non-reimbursed business expenses, including home-office expenses, and that will save you thousands of dollars more. We will also make sure you can deduct any lost deposits with the firm. The proprietary trading industry is changing all the time and faces regulatory risks, exams and enforcement actions. We will do our best to keep you out of harm's way. Learn more in our proprietary trading tax section and then return here to sign up for our tax preparation service. We also prepare tax returns for proprietary trading firms.

Late Returns:
October 15th was the extended due date for filing prior year individual tax returns . Trader tax matters are highly complex and each year many traders miss that tax deadline. Some traders qualify for hurricane or other tax-relief, and they have extended tax deadlines. Other traders who have not yet filed don't owe taxes and they can safely file late without tax consequences. If you don't file there will be serious consequences. Don't wait for the IRS to contact you first. Remember, the IRS sees your Form 1099s and they can show millions in proceeds. The IRS has no way of knowing if you lost or made a fortune and owe taxes.

Although it is past Oct. 15 (the extension due date), we still welcome you to sign up for our tax return preparation services. We are also still preparing and fixing (i.e., amending) prior year tax returns for many clients. Click here to see how we can help.

Entity Tax Returns: To best take advantage of GTT's entity tax strategies, it’s wise to engage GTT for our tax preparation service. Entity formation and tax preparation go hand-in-hand. Several of our tax reporting strategies for entities are complex and highly nuanced; if you try them on your own, or with another accountant, and handle them improperly, it may cause IRS questions or an exam (audit). Although an entity gives you the predisposition under the law to have a business activity, you still need to have a winning case for trader tax status for beneficial business treatment. We assess this in our preparation service.

Whether you have an LLC, a husband-wife partnership, corporation or another type of entity, GTT special tax reporting strategies are very important.

A husband-wife “defacto” general partnership has several tax reporting challenges. Form 1099s must be reported on your individual return, transferred to your partnership tax return, and then “passed through” and reported on your individual return. You need special matching footnotes on the individual and separately filed partnership returns to explain this treatment.

There are special tax reporting considerations for other types of entity returns as well. If you used another firm to form an entity and now realize it was a mistake, we still may be able to help. For example, maybe you formed a C-Corporation in a non-tax state. We may be able to file a late S-Corporation election to convert it to a pass-through entity and also register it to do business in your home state. This will keep you out of trouble and also improve your tax results.

Learn more about our entity formation and tax strategies here.

Last-minute Filers: See Robert Green's March article in Active Trader, "Before & After," on what to do before April 15 (extensions and mark-to-market (MTM) elections) and after (fine tuning your returns). Click here to read a reprint of the article.

Don't rush to file by April 15 without first getting all the values out of our guides, software, and services. We will save you lots of money and keep you out of trouble with the IRS. You can still sign up for a consultation with Robert Green, CPA, before April 15; he will help you with your extensions, trader tax status determination, and MTM elections.