Category: Forex

A Case For Retail Forex Traders Using Section 1256(g) Lower 60/40 Tax Rates

February 25, 2017 | By: Robert A. Green, CPA

Trading leveraged forex contracts off-exchange has different tax treatment from trading currency futures on-exchange. Currency futures automatically have lower “60/40 tax rates” in Section 1256, with 60% benefiting from lower long-term capital gains rates, even on day trading. It’s harder to achieve lower 60/40 tax rates on leveraged forex trading, but worth the effort since 60/40 rates are significantly lower. (See Several Ways To Trade Currencies, Some With Lower Tax Rates.)

Forex trading
Most American retail forex traders open accounts with a CFTC-registered Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) or an FCM Forex Dealer Member. By default, off-exchange leveraged spot and forward forex contracts are Section 988 ordinary gain or loss tax treatment. A forex trader may elect capital gains treatment, which on short-term capital gains is the ordinary tax rate. If a forex trader doesn’t “take or make delivery” in cash, there is a case for using Section 1256(g) (foreign currency contracts) on “major” currencies if the trader meets the requirements of Section 1256(g)(2). The same tax treatment applies to Eligible Contract Participants (ECP). Tax treatment is uncertain for spot forex contracts traded with RFED and FCM Forex Dealer Members.

Section 988 foreign currency transactions
By default, spot and forward forex transactions in the interbank market start off in Section 988 “foreign currency transactions,” and they are subject to ordinary gain or loss tax treatment. A forex trader is entitled to file an internal, contemporaneous Section 988 opt-out election, otherwise called a capital gains election, for short-term capital gains and loss treatment. This election can be filed or retracted, on a “good to cancel basis” during the tax year.

Section 988(a)(1)(B) opt-out election: “A taxpayer may elect to treat any foreign currency gain or loss attributable to a forward contract, which is a capital asset in the hands of the taxpayer and which is not a part of a straddle, as capital gain or loss…” The election mentions forwards, not spot. That’s okay since Reg. 1. 988 equates spot forex trades with forwards. Reg. 1. 988-1(b) defines a spot forex contract, and 1.988-2(d)(i)(ii) provides that a spot contract that does not result in taking or making delivery of the nonfunctional currency is analogous to a forward “or similar contract.” The election excludes straddles, which are offsetting positions with substantially reduced economic risk. Straddles include arbitrage trades in forward contracts.

Section 1256(g)(2) foreign currency contracts
After filing a capital gains election, if the forex trader met three IRS requirements for Section 1256(g)(2) listed below, they may use Section 1256 for major currency pairs only. Minor currency pairs remain short-term capital gains. The IRS considers a forex currency pair to be “major” if the same pair trades as a regulated futures contract (RFC) on U.S. futures exchanges.

Section 1256(g)(2) requirements:

(i) “Which requires delivery of, or the settlement of which depends on the value of, a foreign currency which is a currency in which positions are also traded through regulated futures contracts;
(ii) which is traded in the interbank market;
(iii) which is entered into at arm’s length at a price determined by reference to the price in the interbank market.”

Are retail forex dealers in the interbank market?
It’s uncertain where the IRS draws the line on interpreting (ii) “traded in the interbank market.” When the IRS wrote Section 1256(g) in the mid-1980′s, only banks participated in the interbank market. Advances in trading platforms like ECNs and new regulations established in the “Commodity Futures Modernization Act” (CFMA) of 2000 added new participants to the interbank market, including CFTC-registered Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers (RFED) and Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) Forex Dealer NFA-Members.

Some RFED and FCM forex dealers offer “no dealing desk” execution with immediate client trades made in the interbank market. Others are “dealing desks” offsetting client positions, and netting risk in the interbank market. (See Learn Why The NFA Barred FXCM And What It Means For Forex Traders.)

There is a sound argument for using Section 1256(g) treatment for RFED and FCM Forex Dealer Members, whether they are no-dealing or dealing desks. I am concerned the IRS may draw the line more narrowly, allowing Section 1256(g) for no-dealing desks, only. In the worst case scenario, the IRS could seek to exclude all RFED and FCM forex dealers arguing they are not participants in the interbank market. They are the “retail” window of the interbank market.

Thomson Reuters CheckPoint tax research on this questions states: “Contracts traded in the interbank market generally include contracts between a commercial bank and another person as well as contracts entered into with a futures commission merchant (FCM) who is a participant in the interbank market. According to the legislative history, a contract that does not have such a bank or FCM, or some other similar participant in the interbank market, is not a foreign currency contract.” The legislative history mentions “FCM, or some other similar participant in the interbank market.” I argue that “some other similar participant” could be a placeholder for RFED, created in 2000, well after Section 1256(g)(2) was written.

Can spot forex contracts be included in Section 1256(g)?
As explained above, Section 988 equated spot with forwards, if the trader does not take or make a delivery. Unfortunately, Section 1256(g) does not recognize spot forex contracts, so I make an argument for inclusion below.

Leveraged spot forex contracts, and forward forex contracts are similar trading products, whereas the IRS only mentioned forwards in the legislative history to Section 1256(g). After Congress had updated the code, it enacted the CFMA of 2000 ushering in leveraged retail off-exchange trading in the spot forex interbank market through CFTC-registered RFED and FCM Forex Dealer Members.

Spot forex contracts have a trade date when initiated, just like forward forex contracts. Spot contracts settle in 1-2 days, and forward contracts settle greater than two days. Forex traders do not “take or make delivery” on leveraged spot forex contracts. For example, with a $2,000 account deposit, a forex trader may buy a spot forex contract priced at $100,000 if using maximum leverage. They are unable to settle the contract in cash with just $2,000 in their account, and they close the trade before it settles, or roll it over. I consider a spot forex contract to be a shorter-term forward contract. Traders use spot forex contracts differently from a manufacturer who executes a “foreign currency transaction” in the spot interbank market for “immediate and fixed delivery.” Rollover fees are evidence of forex contracts for traders.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Wright decision helps
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the IRS tax court 2014 ruling on Wright vs. Commissioner (6th Cir. 1/7/2016). The case involved forex OTC options where the taxpayer used Section 1256(g) tax treatment. The IRS did not agree, but the appellate court overruled the IRS.

The Sixth Circuit relied on a “literal interpretation” of Section 1256(g)(2): “(i) Which requires delivery of, or the settlement of which depends on the value of, a foreign currency which is a currency in which positions are also traded through regulated futures contracts.” The IRS argued forex OTC options don’t settle in cash due to their “optionality” and therefore do not meet this (i) requirement. The appellate court parsed the exact words and comma placements in Section 1256(g)(2) and decided the forex OTC options, in this case, did meet the (i) requirement.

The appeals ruling concluded if Congress and the IRS wanted to exclude a particular type of “foreign currency contract” from Section 1256(g), it should have updated the code accordingly, rather than rely on legislative history. Section 1256(g) does not exclude forex OTC options, so the Sixth Circuit included them.

Spot forex contracts have a stronger case for meeting Section 1256(g)(2)(i) than forex OTC options. Spot forex contracts settle in cash just like forward forex contracts, and they don’t have optionality. Additionally, Section 1256(g) does not exclude spot forex contracts.

I do not see where the appellate court or IRS reviewed how Wright met the second requirement of Section 1256(g)(2), “which is traded in the interbank market.” The court named the private companies that acted as counterparties to Wright on the forex OTC option transactions. The court did not mention the involvement of any banks, FCM or RFED in these transactions. Section 1256(g) does not exclude RFED and FCM forex dealers from being in the interbank market.

Forex OTC options are different from spot forex contracts. RFED don’t offer forex OTC options. Wright purchased forex OTC options with a private tax shelter promoter, not in the spot interbank market. Traders with foreign currency transactions in the spot forex interbank market start off in Section 988 ordinary gain or loss. The Wright court seemed to confer that Wright’s forex OTC options did not have to start in Section 988. Caution: Forex traders should not skip the required contemporaneous Section 988 opt-out election if they want to use Section 1256(g).

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Darren L. Neuschwander, CPA, Roger D. Lorence, JD and Mark Feldman JD contributed to this blog post. 


Several Ways To Trade Currencies, Some With Lower Tax Rates

| By: Robert A. Green, CPA

Forbes

Several Ways To Trade Currencies, Some With Lower Tax Rates

There are several ways for American retail traders to trade “currencies” and tax treatment varies.

1. U.S. regulated futures contracts
U.S. futures exchanges list the major currency pairs as regulated futures contracts (RFCs). Open a retail account with a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).

Currency RFCs automatically have Section 1256 tax treatment with lower 60/40 tax rates. Section 1256 requires mark-to-market (MTM) accounting, which means reporting realized and unrealized capital gains and losses. Because there is no way to generate a long-term capital gain with MTM, Congress agreed that 60% is a long-term capital gain, and 40% is a short-term capital gain, no matter of holding period. (See Section 1256 tax rates vs. ordinary rates below.)

2. Leveraged forex contracts off-exchange 
Most American retail traders open accounts with a CFTC-registered Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) or an FCM Forex Dealer Member. (See Learn Why The NFA Barred FXCM And What It Means For Forex Traders.)

By default, foreign currency transactions, including spot and forward forex contracts are Section 988 ordinary gain or loss tax treatment. A forex trader may elect capital gains treatment, which on short-term capital gains is the ordinary tax rate. If a forex trader doesn’t “take or make delivery” in cash, there is a case for using Section 1256(g) (foreign currency contracts) on “major” currencies. (See A Case For Retail Forex Traders Using Section 1256(g).)

3. Currency exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
Structured as Registered Investment Companies (RIC) listed on a securities exchanges, ETF RICs are securities with short-term vs. long-term capital gains and losses treatment, using the realization method. Short-term capital gains are subject to ordinary tax rates, and capital losses are subject to the $3,000 capital loss limitation against other income.

4. Nadex binary options and spreads based on forex
Nadex is a CFTC-registered derivative exchange offering binary options and spreads. Nadex bases one of its binary options products on price movements in forex. It’s not a forex contract. Nadex issues a Form 1099B for Section 1256 contracts, but I have doubts about their qualification for using Section 1256 tax treatment. Nadex binary options and spreads appear to be “swap contracts” with ordinary gain or loss tax treatment. (Read Tax Treatment For Nadex Binary Options.)

Section 1256 tax rates vs. ordinary rates
The difference in the 60/40 blended tax rate vs. short-term capital gains taxed at ordinary rates is significant throughout the graduated tax brackets. The 60/40 rates vs. ordinary rates are:

4% for the 10% bracket,
6% for the 15% bracket,
19% for the 25% bracket,
20% for the 28% bracket,
22% for the 33% bracket,
23% for the 35% bracket, and
28% for the top 39.6% bracket

No matter what tax bracket you are in, there are significant tax savings using Section 1256.

Additionally, there is a Section 1256 loss carryback election, which can be used to amend the prior three years tax returns, offsetting Section 1256 gains only. Section 1256 has summary tax reporting. It’s a breeze tax-wise.


Learn Why The NFA Barred FXCM And What It Means For Forex Traders

February 22, 2017 | By: Robert A. Green, CPA

With the recent news of the National Futures Association (NFA) barring Forex Capital Markets, LLC (FXCM) from membership, many forex traders are scurrying to replace FXCM. It’s imperative that American retail traders understand Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulations for off-exchange forex before making their decision.

If a forex dealer wants to do business with American retail traders on leveraged forex contracts off-exchange, the CFTC requires the forex dealer register with the CFTC, SEC or bank regulator. There is CFTC-registered Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers (RFED), and CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) Forex Dealer Members. For a listing of these “Forex Firms,” see Directory of CFTC Registrants and NFA Members. There are also SEC-registered broker-dealers, banks, and other regulated financial institutions, as explained in Forex Transactions, A Regulatory Guide (see counterparties on page 2).

In his well-known “Gensler-Letter” in 2009, CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler asked Congress for more authority to regulate the “retail” spot forex marketplace. Chairman Gensler argued that retail spot forex trading platforms were successfully evading CFTC regulation by mislabeling their products as “spot forex” transactions; he thought they were more appropriately “futures-like” and therefore under the CFTC umbrella of control. Here is a press release by the CFTC describing new regulations subsequently promulgated, effective October 2010. At that time, the CFTC created a new class of membership, RFED.

FXCM bombshell news
On Feb. 6, 2017, the NFA barred FXCM from membership due to “numerous deceptive and abusive execution activities that were designed to benefit FXCM, to the detriment of its customers.” The NFA Directory of members listed FXCM as an RFED, FCM, Forex Dealer Member and Forex Firm.

A MarketWatch article, FXCM names interim CEO, changes name to Global Brokerage wrote “The CFTC said FXCM was “engaging in fraudulent activities” with respect to FXCM’s retail customers, by telling them they used a “No Dealing Desk” order execution model, meaning orders would be executed directly in the market without using a liquidity provider, or market maker. But in fact, FXCM used a “Dealing Desk” model, by routing orders through market maker Effex Capital LLC that was actually supported and controlled by FXCM, allegedly in exchange for kickbacks to FXCM on profitable trades.”

There are two remaining CFTC-registered RFED: Gain Capital Group LLC based in the U.S., and Oanda Corporation from Canada. Oanda and Gain Capital are also CFTC-registered FCM Forex Dealer Members. Retail forex traders have other options for CFTC-registered counterparties: There are several CFTC-registered FCM Forex Dealer Members, although they may set higher minimum account sizes vs. RFED.

Dealing desk vs. no-dealing desk execution
A “dealing desk” acts as a counterparty to its forex traders; it offsets some client trades against other client trades, some against the house, and it lays off net risk with participants in the interbank market. Gain Capital and Oanda state they are dealing desks.

A “no-dealing desk” acts as a counterparty for customers, too. It mostly acts as an “agent,” immediately executing client trades with other participants in the interbank market.

Trading offshore
As stated above, the CFTC does not permit foreign or domestic forex brokers or banks to act as a counterparty to American retail off-exchange forex traders unless the forex dealer registers with the CFTC, SEC or U.S. bank regulator. It’s the law from the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) of 2000. Some unregistered foreign forex dealers accept American retail clients, and they may become a target of CFTC enforcement.

I recently asked an NFA media relations person about this issue and she replied that “CFTC regulations and NFA rules generally are applicable to the firms engaging in over-the-counter retail forex. These rules and regulations do not apply to individual customers/investors.” (I asked the CFTC if they condone American retail forex traders going offshore with unregistered forex firms. Stay tuned for an update.)

The lesson of FXCM is that even working with a CFTC-registered forex dealer can be risky. Using an unregistered offshore forex dealer may be dangerous if you are trading with significant leverage, don’t have money-protection coverage, the firm is a bucket shop or the CFTC takes enforcement action against the firm.

Other CFTC and NFA rules for off-exchange leveraged forex trading

CFTC caps on leverage: RFED working with American retail traders must cap leverage on the major currency pairs at 50:1, and on the minor currency pairs at 20:1. (See my post: New CFTC Forex Trading Rules Call For 50:1 Leverage.)

Hedging rule: The NFA Rule 2-43b Forex Orders states “Forex Dealer Members may not carry offsetting positions in a customer account but must offset them on a first-in, first-out basis.”

ECPs who meet certain high net worth requirements are “institutional” and exempt from CFTC regulations for American retail off-exchange forex traders. Eligible Commercial Entities (ECE) are free from these rules, too. (For a definition of ECP, click here and for ECE, click here.)


Tax Treatment Of Forex Losses In Wake Of Swiss Surprise

January 17, 2015 | By: Robert A. Green, CPA

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If you are one of many who got caught on the wrong side of the forex trade when the Swiss National Bank (SNB) surprised the markets with a huge policy change this week, you probably incurred significant losses. Here’s a quick primer on how to handle these losses on your tax returns.

First, it’s important to segregate your losses into two camps: the forex trading loss (Section 988 or capital loss) incurred on your open positions that were liquidated or closed by you or your broker, versus losing a deposit in an insolvent financial institution (Section 165). The latter also happened to traders who made money on this market event.

Forex tax treatment
By default, forex trading losses are Section 988 ordinary losses, unless you filed an internal contemporaneous capital gains election at any time before this new trading loss was incurred. In that case, it’s a capital loss subject to capital loss limitations of $3,000 per year against ordinary income. With a capital gains election in place, if you trade major currencies and don’t take or make delivery, you probably use Section 1256(g) lower 60/40 capital gains rates.

If you qualify for trader tax status (business treatment), Section 988 losses are business losses includible in net operating loss carry backs and forwards. But without trader tax status, you’ll need other income to absorb the forex ordinary loss, because the negative income part is otherwise wasted. If you’re using Section 1256(g), you can file a net Section 1256 loss carry back election for 2015 to carry the loss back three years to offset Section 1256 gains in those years. (Read more about forex tax treatment in our Trader Tax Center).

Deposit loss tax treatment
Hopefully, other banks and brokers will rescue teetering forex brokers and not too many forex traders will lose their deposits in insolvent financial institutions. That would be unfortunate since there is no FDIC or SIPIC money-protection on forex accounts. If U.S. and foreign forex brokers fail, hopefully the firms have private insurance that pays out the deposit holders in full for their deposit losses. If there is less than full recovery of deposit losses through insurance or otherwise, sustained losses are subject to Section 165 tax treatment.

We addressed similar issues when we covered the MF Global insolvency and recovery efforts over the past few years.

Excerpt from our Trader Tax Center
Many investors, traders and hedge funds got sideswiped by the MF Global and PFG bankruptcies over the past few years. Unfortunately, futures and forex account holders are not afforded government protection like bank account holders with FDIC protection and securities account holders with SIPIC protection. Tax treatment is far better when the IRS declares the loss a “theft loss”and allows application of IRS Revenue Procedure 2009-20, originally enacted to provide tax relief for investors in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Theft losses receive ordinary loss treatment plus acceleration of losses on tax returns. Otherwise, Section 165 applies to deposit losses in insolvent financial institutions like MF Global. Investors are stuck choosing between capital loss treatment, which may trigger capital loss limitations, or itemized deduction treatment with various restrictions and haircuts. Business traders with trader tax status benefit from business ordinary loss treatment. Taxpayers with Section 165 losses must wait for the loss to be “sustained”so trustees have ample time for fund recovery. MF Global futures account holders recovered their losses in full, although forex account holders may have some sustained losses. (Read our blogs, PFG investors can deduct theft losses on 2012 tax returns with Rev. Proc. 2009-20 safe harbor relief, and MF Global & PFG Best deposit losses have nuanced tax treatment.)

I imagine bankruptcy trustees for these failing forex brokers will seek to recover funds from customers who incurred forex trading losses in excess of their deposits, unless the account agreements say otherwise. I also envision there will be arguments over who bears responsibility for excess losses, the broker or customer in cases where brokers liquidated positions and sometimes too late.

Disregard of CFTC rules
Many American forex traders disregarded CFTC rules (for retail off-exchange forex) by trading with non-registered offshore brokers offering leverage far above CFTC limits of 50:1 on major currencies and 20:1 on minor currencies. Several offshore brokers and a few U.S.-based forex brokers are facing financial strain or insolvency as a result of offering excess leverage to their customers during the SNB shockwave. When markets are extremely volatile the broker and customer may not be able to exit a trade before incurring a significant loss well in excess of the customer’s deposit amount. Let’s see how the money protection issue works out offshore.


Why do forex forward dealers issue 1099s, yet spot forex brokers do not?

August 16, 2012 | By: Robert A. Green, CPA

Did you receive a Form 1099 from your forex broker or bank this year? If you traded forex spot, you most likely did not. Conversely, if you traded forex forwards, you probably did receive a 1099, the kind used for Section 1256 contracts, like futures. But, how does this affect your tax filings?

1099 rules
The rules state that a 1099 should be issued for forex forwards, treating them like Section 1256(g) foreign currency contracts. Those same rules state 1099 should not be issued for forex spot trading. Some taxpayers mistakenly think if they don’t receive a 1099, they don’t have to report anything. That is very wrong — you need to report your trading gains and losses and other income, whether you receive a 1099 or not. That includes income from foreign brokers, too. If the 1099 is wrong, you must report the correct amount. It’s best to ask your broker or bank to correct the 1099 when you identify an error.

Spot vs. forwards
Most online forex traders have accounts with retail off-exchange forex brokers, most of whom only offer trading in the forex spot market. Spot settles in one to two days, whereas forwards settle in over two days. Brokers use the terminology T+1 for trade date plus one for a one-day settlement.

Retail forex brokers are not direct participants in the Interbank foreign exchange market. Rather, they are customers of Interbank forex dealers, and they make a derivative market for retail spot traders. Some of these retail forex brokers square their books on customer trades, and net the difference in the Interbank market, while others simply behave like a “house,” acting as market makers for their clients.

Professional and institutional forex traders like larger hedge funds have access to trading directly with forex dealers in the Interbank market. These forex dealers offer well-heeled clients access to forex forwards and options in addition to spot trading. Because forwards settle in over two days, they require more credit from traders, as they are high-leverage activities.

Rolling spot contracts
A leading forex dealer offers a “rolling spot” trading program. Instruments traded in this program are treated like forwards for purposes of 1099 issuance. CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler called these contracts futures-like. We understand that other forex dealers offer similar trading products, too.

These “rolling spot” forex contracts don’t have a fixed settlement date, as they are open ended contracts. While technically they could settle during a spot term of one to two days, they primarily settle during a forward term over two days. This dealer says these contracts act more like a forward contract than a spot contract, and therefore they issued a 1099 for forwards. That called for using a 1099 for Section 1256g (foreign currency contracts), which requires reporting of realized and unrealized gains and losses. This forex dealer marked open positions to market at year-end, too. But, forex by default has Section 988 ordinary gain or loss treatment.

1099s don’t dictate tax treatment
It’s very important to note that Form 1099s don’t dictate tax treatment. 1099 issuance rules call for 1099s based on a default standard — investor status. One of our clients received a 1099 from this dealer showing a $100,000+ loss treated as Section 1256g. But this client never filed an opt-out election from Section 988 into Section 1256g. Does the issuance of this 1099 dictate the taxpayer’s tax treatment, or do his own facts, circumstances and elections dictate tax treatment? Good news, it’s the latter. See the example footnote below that we plan to include with this client’s 2011 income tax return. In this case, the client prefers Section 988 ordinary loss treatment, rather than Section 1256 capital loss treatment subject to the $3,000 loss limitation against ordinary income. Taxpayers don’t want broker-issued 1099s to force them into worse tax treatment.

Section 475 MTM traders don’t let 1099s dictate tax treatment, either
For over a decade our Section 475 MTM business securities traders report their trading gains and losses with ordinary gain or loss treatment on Form 4797, Part II. They mark open trading business positions to market at year-end and report them as well. This tax treatment departs significantly from 1099s issued for a default investor using the cash method of accounting. The IRS understands the difference.

Example tax return footnote for a forex client who received a Form 1099
Taxpayer received a Form 1099 treating his forex contracts like forwards (or forward-like). 1099 issuance rules state that a 1099 should be issued for forex forwards, treating them like Section 1256(g) foreign currency contracts. Those same rules say no 1099 should be issued for spot forex.

As agreed by the issuer of this 1099, Form 1099s do not dictate the taxpayer’s tax treatment, as the issuer is generally not aware of the taxpayer’s facts, circumstances and tax-treatment elections.

By default, forex spot and forward contracts have Section 988 ordinary gain or loss treatment. Traders holding these forex contracts as capital assets may file an internal contemporaneous “capital gains election” pursuant to IRC § 988(a)(1)(B) to opt out of section 988 and into capital gains and loss treatment. If such an election is made, then for forex forwards — and forward-like forex contracts, including spot forex in some cases — taxpayers may use Section 1256(g) (foreign currency contract) treatment, providing it’s in major currencies for which regulated futures contracts trade on U.S. futures exchanges, and the taxpayer does not take or make delivery of the underlying currency. See Treas. Reg. § 1.988-3(b).

Section 988 reports realized gains and losses only, whereas Section 1256(g) reports realized, plus mark-to-market unrealized gains and loss treatment at year-end, too. Section 988 is ordinary gain or loss treatment, whereas Section 1256(g) has lower 60/40 tax rates, with 60% a long-term capital gain, and 40% short-term capital gain treatment.

Taxpayer did not file an internal opt-out election from Section 988, and therefore he must report using the default Section 988 ordinary gain or loss treatment for realized gains or losses, only. If the taxpayer is an investor, he reports that ordinary gain or loss on line 21 of Form 1040 (Other Income or Loss). If the taxpayer qualifies for trader tax status (business treatment), he reports the Section 988 ordinary gain or loss on Form 4797, Part II ordinary gain or loss.

In order for the IRS to match the 1099 filed to taxpayer’s return, we report the Form 1099 (for 1256 contracts) on Form 6781 Part I, and next, we zero the same amount out off of Form 6781, so we can transfer the amount to the correct form and line of the tax return. Forex is reported in summary fashion, not line-by-line fashion as done for securities. The amount we transfer to the correct form and line is the realized gain or loss, only. Only Form 6781 includes year-end unrealized gains and losses too on a mark-to-market basis.

Bottom line
1099 issuance rules have always been confusing and misunderstood by taxpayers. When you receive a W-2, you simply report the tax information provided. It’s rare to find errors. Conversely, when you receive a Form 1099 from a broker or bank, you should not just report what’s displayed. You need to consider your own facts, circumstances and tax-treatment elections to report your correct taxable income, loss and expense. This year, securities traders face a barrage of problems with new IRS cost-basis reporting rules for 1099-B issuers. We are finding huge problems on these 1099s. (See our earlier blogs on this.) When it comes to taxes, take the control away from your broker and consult a trader tax expert when needed.


Is U.S. Forex Trading Safe?

October 30, 2010 | By: Robert A. Green, CPA

Forbes

Is U.S. Forex Trading Safe?

Is forex trading safe in the U.S. even with RFED or FCM duly registered brokers with the NFA/CFTC? U.S. forex brokers don’t have “segregation of asset” money protection rules, whereas futures brokers are subject to those rules. The new CFTC forex rules call for higher minimum net capital requirements for RFED forex brokers vs. futures brokers, so that helps cushion the concern about money protection issues. 

For warnings about hidden problems with forex brokers, see Erskine vs. CFTC 06-3896. The CEO of Rockwell Trading brought up this court case and discussed his concerns about forex brokers and their platform markets on our Oct. 27 Webinar. The CEO focused in on this quote in the case: This forex market, which is central to this case, is not a public market, but is instead a “negotiated market,” in which–according to the parties–foreign currency prices (the prices used for the trades in this case) are “constructed” by the FCMs using “software to process and distill currency prices offered by numerous banks and come up with an indicative market price.”

As I said on that Webinar, keep in mind that this court case occurred before the new CFTC forex brokerage rules went into effect on Oct. 18, 2010. The retail forex industry should be run better with the new rules. Later in the call, we circle back on the “segregation of asset” rules; we will try to do more research on it for next week. 

We noticed a troubling NFA news release dated Oct. 28, 2010 “NFA orders $459,000 monetary sanction against New Jersey forex firm Gain Capital Group LLC.” Read the text of the entire Complaint included in the release. 

Here’s another similar NFA fine of $320,000 against New York forex firm IKON Global Markets. Per the NFA release, “The Complaint alleged that IKON engaged in certain price slippage practices on the MetaTrader platform that were favorable to IKON and caused disadvantageous trading conditions for certain customers. The Complaint also charged that IKON failed to supervise the MetaTrader platform used for their forex business, and failed to supervise the firm’s operations.” I wonder if “slippage practices” are what Rockwell Trading CEO is warning us about?

The CFTC and NFA are scrutinizing forex brokers more now after their Oct. 18, 2010 effective date for RFED registrations in accordance with their new CFTC rules for forex transactions, sanctioned by Dodd-Frank Fin Reg too. The NFA website has several good new guides including Forex Transactions: A Regulatory Guide.

American forex traders are being forced to trade with no more than 50:1 leverage on the major currencies (20:1 on minors), FIFO (no hedging rule) and without any form of money protection. Because leverage with currency futures is not far off 50:1 (30:1 on the CME, for example), hedging may be easier with futures, and futures brokers must segregate assets for some protection. We will compare tax treatment between forex and futures next week. More forex traders may want to consider trading currency futures too. 



Offshore Retail Forex Trading Accounts For Americans Are Being Forced Back To The U.S.

September 23, 2010 | By: Robert A. Green, CPA

Forbes

Offshore Forex Trading Is Heading Back To U.S. Shores

New CFTC retail forex rules are going into effect exactly as we thought they would. Although we’re still waiting for more formal guidance from the CFTC and NFA, they both have improved their Web site sections on the subject. 

Foreign accounts transferred back to the U.S.
Most U.S.-based retail forex brokers (not banks) are registering with the NFA as RFEDs. If they don’t register their foreign affiliates as RFEDs too, they’re automatically transferring all U.S. resident retail forex trading accounts back to their U.S. RFED firms, by the CFTC’s Oct. 18 deadline. The trader has no choice in the matter.

Remember, the new retail forex rules do not apply to “eligible contract participants,” which are large non-retail accounts defined in prior blogs and in the rules. We’re noticing that more and more offshore brokers who first thumbed their noses at the new rules are falling into line and respecting the rules. 

Foreign commercial banks unaffiliated with any U.S.-based FCM or RFED may have a 360-day extension from registering as a U.S. financial institution. We heard they may have 360 days from the date Dodd Frank Fin Reg was enacted (July 21). We have not confirmed this yet, though. 

Dummy offshore corporations: Not a good idea
Even if you hear from some that the CFTC may focus its enforcement efforts against foreign unregistered intermediaries rather than on individual traders, it’s important to understand the CFTC considers evasion a “prohibited transaction.” Forming a dummy offshore corporation to open a retail off-exchange forex trading account with an unregistered offshore bank or broker is considered evasion, according to the CFTC. Attorneys, CPAs and financial advisors who suggest using dummy corporations to evade these CFTC rules may face challenges by their professional license boards and bars on infractions to their ethical codes of conduct. 

If you are foolish enough to use a dummy offshore corporation in this regard, you still need to disclose your American ownership of the corporation to your foreign broker, who may deny the account treating it as an American-owned account. If you don’t make that “know the client” disclosure, the broker may have grounds to take action against you. 

RFED U.S.-based forex accounts lack protection
Commercial banks like Citi FX Pro offer FDIC insurance protection and segregation protection in bankruptcy. Securities brokers offer SIPIC protection. Futures brokers don’t have any quasi-governmental insurance protection, but at least they have a “segregation” of assets regime in a bankruptcy filing, which is a lesser form of protection. 

The problem for RFED forex brokers in the U.S. is they don’t have a quasi-governmental insurance program and they can’t even offer futures segregation protection in a bankruptcy filing either. For this reason, some U.S. forex brokers previously suggested that their clients use their affiliates offshore. We heard that the UK offered some money protection on forex brokerage accounts. 

In a bankruptcy filing in the U.S. (think Refco), segregated futures accounts have seniority over other creditors and equity holders, so futures account holders get paid first. The problem for forex accounts with RFEDs is that futures segregation regimes aren’t respected on forex accounts in bankruptcy filings because the rules refer to futures traded on exchanges and forex is traded off exchange. This is an oversight from Congress. This is not the case for commercial banks; only brokers. 

A CFTC official told me he feels forex is still safer under their new rules with registration of RFEDs, minimum capital requirements, better disclosure and lower leverage. There may be some money protection issues in the UK, but working with an unregistered broker or bank and using unlimited leverage might make it more unsafe overall. Traders may have trouble and higher costs seeking remedies in foreign jurisdictions too. If a retail trader enters a prohibited transaction working with an unregistered RFED offshore, he may not have rights to use U.S. courts either. Some forex brokers in the UK and other jurisdictions may register with the NFA as RFEDs and then continue to offer money protection in the UK, although they will still need to adhere to the new CFTC rules on leverage and more.

Bottom line
If you trade retail forex off exchange, make sure your broker or bank is duly registered in the appropriate manner with the CFTC, as either an RFED with the NFA or a commercial bank (U.S. or foreign) with U.S. bank regulators. Both RFEDs and commercial banks may offer leverage up to 50:1 on the major currencies. Only the commercial bank may offer protection on your money. Skip the idea of setting up a dummy offshore corporation to work with a non-registered foreign broker or bank. 


Can American Off-exchange Retail Forex Traders Evade Strict New CFTC Rules By Trading On Offshore Platforms?

September 1, 2010 | By: Robert A. Green, CPA

Forbes

Questions Linger Regarding New Forex Rules

Congress and regulators have thrown the forex trading industry a huge curve ball and we are all scurrying to get answers to important questions.

Many questions remain regarding trading offshore to evade leverage and other constraints posed by the new CFTC rules. Today we try to answer a few more questions along these lines. The answers are still unclear, and we await new NFA guidance, which was promised to one forex dealer executive. A forex dealer executive told me the NFA may actually be waiting on the CFTC regarding the overseas issue, and he expects it will take more than a few days. The overseas firestorm is probably underway. 

According to one leading forex broker executive, the CFTC author of these new retail forex trading rules said the Dodd-Frank (DF) change classifying financial institutions (FI) as “U.S. only” (see CFTC Q&A “who can offer..” section) won’t be made for 360 days from DF enactment (7/21/10). This gives EU banks offering forex trading to U.S. customers time to register in the U.S. But I think FI refers to banks and not CFTC-registered FCMs, which probably include the FDMs (forex-dealer merchants, the prior designation) too. The DF list has FI, SEC-registered and CFTC-registered companies, plus insurance companies and more. FI and FCM seem to be different categories.

So if this forex broker says its U.S. retail forex traders using offshore platforms from its affiliates have more time to close accounts, that may not be true in my view. If the foreign account is deemed a foreign affiliate of an existing CFTC-registered FDM, then using the 360-day extension seems inappropriate to me for financial institutions. If it’s a foreign institution such as an EU bank with no U.S. CFTC-registered FCM or FDM registrations, then maybe it’s okay to use the 360-day extension. 

Hopefully the NFA and/or CFTC will clarify this important issue soon. There are plenty of people asking these important questions, as thousands of Americans have offshore retail forex trading accounts.

It makes sense to me that DF gives 360 days to foreign institutions to form U.S. affiliates if desired. To spring a prohibition on foreign financial institutions offering forex trading to U.S. customers as of Oct. 18, 2010 (the effective date of the new CFTC rules) would be extremely undiplomatic on a global country-by-country dealing basis. There may be lawsuits and diplomatic requests made and this takes plenty of time to deal with properly.

This type of financial transaction/trading protectionism is rearing its ugly head on several international stages already. The U.S. is upset about EU rules and proposed rules requiring U.S.-based investment advisers to register in the EU for a required “passport” to raise money from EU investors. This is a huge problem for the U.S.-based investment-management industry. EU banks are upset about new U.S. “FATCA” tax rules requiring EU banks to report to the IRS U.S. customers in their ranks. FATCA ties in with this FI U.S.-only forex trading rule too, as it can help enforce it. 

According to the forex dealer executive I spoke with, the NFA plans to issue a notice to members perhaps today or in a few days to clarify DF and the new CFTC retail forex trading rules, mostly for implementation issues. This expected notice may not speak to the foreign trading issues, although hopefully it will. 

One big implementation issue is how currently CFTC-registered FDMs (under CRA) go about converting their registrations to the new DF-category of RFED. Will this be automatic? How can FDMs make many changes in their registration by Oct. 18, the implementation date for the new CFTC rules? 

This executive said many U.S. forex dealers currently use offshore platforms and affiliates for segregation of funds in the UK for asset protection purposes. He said if a person files for bankruptcy in the U.S., their UK forex trading account capital and rights are protected from U.S. bankruptcy courts. Leverage is unlimited in the UK, but usually 100:1. U.S. customers avoid the NFA’s controversial hedging rule when trading in the UK. He said capital isn’t a big issue because many U.S. forex dealers can absorb more U.S. customers to repatriate from the UK and other international affiliates. I presume leading forex dealers can move UK capital back to U.S. too as needed. This executive says non-residents (international business) may want to stay in the UK since the U.S. leverage is lowered to 50:1. He said U.S. platforms can handle things. The biggest concern is upsetting some U.S. clients who already set up foreign-based accounts and now may have to redo all the paper work back into the U.S. 

U.S. FDMs in the forex dealer coalition are fine on these new rules per this executive. Most are already registered as FDMs and compliant with the NFA, and 50:1 leverage is reasonable in their view. They expect the RFED change to be fairly easy to accomplish. 

I see a big problem for foreign forex dealers operating from tax havens. Most don’t have U.S. operations or branches and they won’t want to register in the U.S. Registration for foreign companies probably requires a U.S. operation, subsidiary or branch office designation. Branch office taxes can lead to trouble on Section 482 transfer pricing tax issues (where the profits are booked). If the IRS finds trouble with tax haven cheating, it can pounce on these institutions. Therefore, I presume many tax-haven forex dealers may lose forex trading business to CFTC-registered RFEDs who will be happy to win back this business. 

Forex IB (Introducing Broker) CFTC-registration changes are important too. The final rules are better than expected from the proposed rules. With final rules, a forex IB can simply register with the NFA on its own in the same manner as futures IBs do now. They don’t need that troublesome (proposed rule) guarantee from an FDM, although they have that choice too. Few FDMs want to take that kind of risk or tie up their capital by guaranteeing a forex IB.

There are many characters in the forex industry that inappropriately blur the lines between education, investment advice, money management and other related services. Many of these forex players may be drawn into registration in some capacity with the NFA and CFTC, perhaps as an IB, and many will want to avoid that registration for many different reasons. Some may have trouble passing NFA back ground checks. Others don’t want the NFA oversight over their perhaps fraudulent or inappropriate business models. Many don’t want to be burdened with other rules like disclosure and reporting. Many will surely have trouble with the conflicts of interest rules too.

The attorney and author of this article said to me via email: I spoke with an attorney at the CFTC Monday who is dealing with these rules. His interpretation was that because of the change to the CEA by Dodd-Frank from “financial institution” to “U.S. financial institution”, overseas forex intermediaries that are not registered as FCMs or RFEDs will not be able to serve as counterparty to U.S.-based retail investors with respect to OTC forex transactions. This would apply to futures and options and futures “look alike” contracts. I say that the enforcement issues are unresolved in our article both because of the practical realities involved in enforcing this rule and because this was just an opinion of one regulator, not of the Agency.

Excellent comment on our FaceBook page:
Robert: I spoke with both the NFA and the CFTC by phone. The most knowledgeable was a guy in the compliance dept at the CFTC. He says the rules apply to any brokerage, foreign or domestic, that wants to do business with U.S. traders. So, while the regulations are not aimed at traders themselves, they are indeed aimed at any/all brokers that do business with U.S. traders. In other words, if we have accounts at FXCM UK or Dukascopy (Switzerland) or anywhere else in the world, the CFTC will force those brokers to change our leverage to 50:1. The only good news I heard was the definition of what the “major currencies” are. Apparently the NFA has a list of what it considers the major currencies. This is in the Financial Regulations section of the NFA manual. Fortunately this includes (in addition to USD) the EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, CAD, AUD, NZD and even the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish currencies. In other words, any currency that retail traders are likely to trade will be at 50:1 not 20:1. I can live with that. I’m not happy about the excessive intrusion of our government into our business, but I can live with this.


New CFTC Forex Trading Rules Call For 50:1 Leverage

August 31, 2010 | By: Robert A. Green, CPA

Forbes

New CFTC Forex Trading Rules Call For 50:1 Leverage

The CFTC has published its highly anticipated final rules for trading off-exchange retail forex. As discussed on prior blogs, the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Fin Reg bill forced the hand of the CFTC to act by Oct. 19 because it would otherwise bar non-eligible contract participants from off-exchange retail forex trading. The CFTC acted in the nick of time because these new rules are effective on Oct. 18, 2010 — one day before the Dodd-Frank deadline. 

Some of the changes are crystal clear — like new 50:1 leverage limits on major forex currencies — but the equally important rule about allowing or barring offshore trading is not yet clear per documents published to date. One off-exchange retail forex broker concluded Tuesday that offshore trading won’t be allowed after the effective date, implying that offshore forex brokers will have to register with the CFTC as well and will be subject to these same new rules. 

The CFTC’s new leverage rule calling for a minimum 2 percent deposit on trading major forex currencies off exchange (50:1 leverage) seems on par with what commercial banks like Citi FX Pro offer their retail forex trading customers now. 

It’s a wise move by the CFTC to reduce leverage by two times — 100:1 to 50:1 under the new rules — rather than going way over board with its original proposal of 10:1 leverage. Unlike most off-exchange retail forex dealers in the U.S., Citi FX is not regulated by the CFTC; it is subject to bank regulation. 

It’s important to note the CFTC grants the NFA powers to set leverage rules higher than these new minimum percentages. 

Thankfully, the CFTC responded to the pleas from the off-exchange retail forex trading industry saying the CFTC’s proposed 10:1 leverage rule would put the industry at a huge competitive disadvantage to on-exchange currency futures trading (30:1), commercial bank forex trading (50:1) and offshore off-exchange retail forex trading (200:1). The new deposit rule for non-major currencies is 5 percent (20:1).

Regulators and Congress are often sensitive to chasing business (and fraud) abroad with new rules as well as taking business away from small businesses and handing it over to big banks. The CFTC also wants the U.S. to remain competitive for foreign traders, as foreign traders can continue to trade offshore without concern about registration in the U.S. 

It seems these new rules will put a stop to Americans trading retail forex offshore to evade CFTC rules. That trend picked up the pace in recent years and it may need to be reversed quickly. But we aren’t completely certain of this yet. We will study the new rules and see if offshore trading remains feasible for Americans under extraterritorial provisions of the Dodd-Frank Fin Reg bill. (We discussed how offshore trading might be a problem for American’s using offshore forex platforms on our recent blog and podcast.) 

We base our initial thoughts on the first documents released by the CFTC (links below). In the CFTC’s Q&A document, see the “Who can offer off-exchange forex transactions to retail customers” section. It states that Dodd-Frank Fin Reg changed the definition of allowable financial institutions to “only U.S. financial institutions.” The next section, “What is the scope of the CFTC’s jurisdiction,” implies that unless the entity is regulated by the SEC or bank regulators – again for U.S.-only financial institutions – the default catchall regulator is the CFTC. It makes sense that the CFTC would act in this manner, but again, we aren’t certain of these rules yet. Nothing in these CFTC documents specifically exempts offshore forex platforms or brokers from these new rules, either. Stay tuned for further observations.

For more information: 

CFTC releases final rules regarding retail forex transactions: Click here. 

Final rule regarding retail foreign exchange transactions (summary): Click here.

Federal Register: Regulation of Off-Exchange Retail Foreign Exchange Transactions and Intermediaries:Click here.

Questions and answers regarding final retail foreign exchange rule: Click here.

CFTC unveils retail currency-trading rules: Click here.