Our weekly roundup of tax-related investment strategies and news your clients may be thinking about.
Deduct capital loss the right way and save on your taxes: Selling losing securities and using the losses to offset capital gains is a good strategy for investors to save on taxes, according to Motley Fool. Those who declare capital losses from selling stocks need to fill out a Schedule D and submit the document with their Form 1040 tax return. Short-term capital losses can be used to offset short-term gains first and any excess can be used to write off long-term gains. -- Motley Fool
4 mistakes people make with stock options: Company stock options are good investments for the firm's employees, but these options come with risks, such as the ability of the company to change the terms of their options when they retire or are fired from their jobs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Also there is a need to make a strategy for investors to earn from these company stock options. When investing in company stock options, workers need to understand that these options are riskier because they are not considered stocks and all company stock options are not subject to same tax treatment. -- The Wall Street Journal
Gold for your client's IRA? Investing IRA assets in gold and other precious metals seems like an attractive option for clients who receive low interest rates from the safest fixed-income investments and are worried about the risk posed by future inflation. The Internal Revenue Service allows IRA investors to buy gold and certain other precious metals, as well as bullion meeting fineness standards. However, those who want to own these metals need to consider their age, since the prices are volatile and could pose a risk as the investor approaches retirement age. -- MarketWatch
I.R.S. cracks down on hedge fund tax strategy: The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidelines that treat hedge fund basket options as listed transactions, and will require those who use these options to include them in their tax returns, according to The New York Times. The new guidance will be retroactive and affect all deals made since Jan. 1, 2011. Numerous hedge funds used the basket options to bypass taxes on short-term trades from 1998 to 2013, based on a report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released last year. -- The New York Times
