How to file futures contract on schedule D?

schmd2000

I've started trading Emin futures since early 2010, as my understanding futures contract should be under long-term capital and losses section on schedule D, could you please give me an example how to fill the from on schedule D? Do I have to fill every single transaction like stock? It would be too many if so, any other way to file the futures contract on schedule D? Thanks a lot!!!

Description of property        Date acquired        Date sold          Sales price        Cost                 Gain or loss

schmd2000

Found a good answer here:
http://commodities.about.com/od/taxissues/a/commodity_taxes.htm

dividend_growth

Futures contract goes into form 1265.

You don't need to list every transactions, just the year-end profit/loss result.

schmd2000

Typical Example for Filing Taxes on Commodities Trading

Let’s presume you traded futures all year and you estimate you made a $5,000 profit for the year. To make certain, you wait to receive your 1099-B Form from your broker. This is probably titled - 1099-B Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions. It will list your profits and losses for the year.
Next you will need to use an IRS Form 6781 – Gains and Losses From Section 1256 Contracts and Straddles. Commodities and futures are considered 1256 Contracts for IRS purposes. On line 1 you will plug in your gains and losses from the 1099-B Form. Continue the form where you add the profits and losses to get a final number. For example this number may be a profit of $5,000. Commodities are marked to market at the end of the year. This means that even if you have open positions, they will be calculated as profits and losses as if they were closed positions.

Now, we have to calculate the capital gains. Commodities have a slightly more preferential tax treatment than stocks. With commodities, 60% of the gains are treated as long-term capital gains and 40% are treated as short-term capital gains. It does not matter the amount of time you held the contracts, this is how they are taxed. With stocks, anything held less than 12 months is considered short-term capital gains and you are taxed at whatever tax bracket you are in. Long-term capital gains are capped at 15%, which is much more favorable to those with higher incomes.

Follow lines 8 and 9 and calculate your capital gains. In this example, on line 8 you would multiply 5,000 x 40% = $2,000. On line 9, you would multiply $5,000 x 60% = $3,000. You then plug these numbers into your Schedule D Form – Capital Gains and Losses. After the Schedule D worksheet is completed you transfer the numbers to your 1040 Form and you are done!

There are some more in-depth issues that pertain filing taxes for commodity trading, but I will just give you a quick overview. The above information for taxes on commodities should cover most people who do not strictly trade for a living.