Thank you very much for all the replies, especially to Opus for all the detail. We are obviously new to this, and I probably didn't word things right.
I guess, the most basic question overall is this;
If I invest $5,000 of my own post-tax money and buy stocks, and then say the value doubles. I sell them for $10,000.
Leaving out broker fees and things like that for now, say I receive a payout of $10,000.
What I have earned is $5,000. 5K was my own original money, and 5K I earned in the gain. So does the broker report that income as $5,000 (what I earned) or as $10,000 (the amount they just gave me)?
