you don't need earned income to take the HO deduction. You do have to be engaged in a business (which trader is) and meet the other rules. A MTM election is not needed but you do have to qualify as a trader (as opposed to investor) in your circumstances
you can't make the MTM election without filing the required paperwork with the tax return (or extension) on or before its original due date that you will start using the MTM election in the following year. Late elections are rarely allowed. so the best you can do is make the MTM election with your 2023 return or extension filed on or before 4/15/2024 stating that you will be using the MTM accounting starting in 2024. The fact that your financial institution doesn't have a provision to handle MTM can create a reporting mess. it will report the
sales on form 1099-B and you won't (see below). You may expect an IRS inquiry. With MTM there are no wash sales because you pick up in your tax return in the first reporting year any unrealized gain or loss that exists at year-end and a 481a adjustment, as available, for the unrealized gain/loss that exists at the beginning of the first tax year. After the first year, your profit/loss is determined by using the market value of trading securities held at the beginning and end of the tax year.
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it may be best to have a pro evaluate your trading activities to determine if you qualify and prepare the paperwork for the return.
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more info for traders
To be engaged in business as a trader in securities, you must meet all of the following conditions:
You must seek to profit from daily market movements in the prices of securities and not from dividends, interest, or capital appreciation;
Your activity must be substantial; and
You must carry on the activity with continuity and regularity.
The following facts and circumstances should be considered in determining if your activity is a securities trading business:
Typical holding periods for securities bought and sold;
The frequency and dollar amount of your trades during the year;
The extent to which you pursue the activity to produce income for a livelihood; and
The amount of time you devote to the activity.
If the nature of your trading activities doesn't qualify as a business, you're considered an investor and not a trader. It doesn't matter whether you call yourself a trader or a day trader, you're an investor. A taxpayer may be a trader in some securities and may hold other securities for investment. The special rules for traders don't apply to those securities held for investment. A trader must keep detailed records to distinguish the securities held for investment from the securities in the trading business. The securities held for investment must be identified as such in the trader's records on the day he or she acquires them (for example, by holding them in a separate brokerage account).
Traders report their business expenses on Schedule C. Commissions and other costs of acquiring or disposing of securities aren't deductible but must be used to figure gain or loss upon disposition of the securities. Gains and losses from being a trader aren't subject to self-employment tax.
Traders can choose to use the mark-to-market rules, but investors can't. If a trader doesn't make a valid mark-to-market election under section 475(f), then he or she must treat the gains and losses from sales of securities as capital gains and losses and report the sales on Schedule D/ Form 8949 as appropriate. Trading gains/losses are reported on Part II of Form 4797.
A trader must make the mark-to-market election by the original due date of the tax return for the year before the year for which the election becomes effective. You can make the election by attaching a statement either to your timely filed income tax return if filed without an extension or with a timely filed request for an extension of time to file your return. The statement should include the following information:
That you're making an election under section 475(f);
The first tax year for which the election is effective (that is, the tax year for which a timely election is being made); and
The trade or business for which you're making the election.
Refer to the Instructions for Schedule D (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), Capital Gains and Losses for more information on how to make the mark-to-market election. It's important to note that in general, late section 475(f) elections aren't allowed.
After making the election to change to the mark-to-market method of accounting, you must change your method of accounting for securities under Revenue Procedure 2022-14, Section 24.01. In addition to making the election, you'll also be required to file Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method. (This is for reporting the unrealized gain/loss at the beginning of the year the election is to be effective. See PUB 550 section "Special Rules for Traders in Securities."
If you've made a valid election under section 475(f), the only way to stop using mark-to-market accounting for securities is to file an automatic request for revocation under Revenue Procedure 2022-43, Section 24.02. Under that revenue procedure, the request for revocation must be filed by the original due date of the return (without regard to extensions) for the taxable year preceding the year of change (the year of change is the first taxable year the revocation is to be effective). This revocation notification statement must be attached to either that return or if applicable, to a request for an extension of time to file that return. Late revocations won't generally be allowed.
