IAU/GLD and Schedule D

[Willers]

I bought some IAU in the 4th quarter of 2013. So far the returns have been positive (which is good), but I didn't know about the apparent tax complexity of dealing with this holding in a taxable account.

A portion of the fund is sold to pay expenses and the cost basis and capital gain/loss must be calculated and reported on Schedule D. The IAU guide to do this is 13 pages long.

I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this and knows of a template to calculate this. I can build my own but I'd rather not.

Words of advice to anyone else considering these holdings. Put it in a tax-protected vehicle...

Thanks!

 

[gerntz]

Why buy something you're going to turn around & sell quickly?

 

[Willers]

I probably wasn't clear enough. I'm not selling it. The proceeds from what the EFT management sells to cover expenses is reported on the 1099 WHFIT and a calculation needs to be done to adjust the cost basis and determine capital gain/loss from that business transaction. That change (a nominal amount but still reportable) needs to be listed on the Schedule D.

 

[Dash man]

Did you look on the iShares site to see if they have tax information on this fund and how to report it?

 

[Willers]

Did you look on the iShares site to see if they have tax information on this fund and how to report it?

I did and they have a 13 page guide to calculating it based on the value of the gold and the dates. I can build a sheet to do it, but I was hoping that already existed somewhere.

Lesson learned...

 

[lemming]

You can try asking on the Turbotax open forum and hope Tom Young is around to answer your question. https://ttlc.intuit.com/

 

[Willers]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that.

 

[Animorph]

I use GDX, which is gold stocks instead of real gold. It does behave somewhat differently, but has none of the tax differences of real gold.