Speaking of that tax bill here’s something that is getting over looked.
TD Ameritrade believes it's important to stand on the side of our clients. We have reviewed the Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was released last week. Section 13533 of the Senate Bill imposes a single cost basis methodology for investors, "first in, first out" ("FIFO"), on all sales of securities (except mutual funds).
For the average investor, this means possibly being required to pay the highest capital gains taxes where a stock has appreciated over time.
On behalf of our approximately 11 million client accounts, we strongly oppose this provision. We believe it will harm individual investors by eliminating their freedom to decide when to take losses or gains on their investments, potentially resulting in an increased tax burden.
An Example
Suppose you hold a significant amount of a company's stock, accumulated over a 20-year career. You're now retired, and you want to sell some company stock to diversify your portfolio. Assume the purchases over time range from $5 per share up to $90 per share, but the stock now is trading at $50.
If you sell at $50, rather than being able to take losses on the stock purchased above $50, the Senate Bill could require you to pay capital gains taxes on the appreciation of the stock from $5 to $50. That is, even if you have experienced sizeable paper losses on the purchases above $50, the Senate Bill might force you to pay taxes calculated on the largest gains possible.
We don't think that's fair. We feel the Senate should stand up on behalf of individual investors and reject imposing a FIFO cost basis requirement on sales of securities.
