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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.