Rookie Question....Taxes

pjwilson said: "Ok what do I have to look forward to when I do my taxes next year? I hate to admit this but I dont have the slightest clue what to expect. Should I count on paying at least 20% in taxes? Or...what if i lost everything in the market? Do I still have to play taxes even if I lost it all? Sorry for the dumb question but this is something that I never researched before jumping in."

mordecai8614 said: "[QUOTE=pjwilson]Ok what do I have to look forward to when I do my taxes next year? I hate to admit this but I dont have the slightest clue what to expect. Should I count on paying at least 20% in taxes? Or...what if i lost everything in the market? Do I still have to play taxes even if I lost it all? Sorry for the dumb question but this is something that I never researched before jumping in.[/QUOTE] Those are good questions. I don't have the slightest clue about handling stocks as far as taxes go or what to expect, I'll be watching this thread for answers too. Ha, I don't even know the first thing about taxes in general. I've had my accounting teachers do them in the past...I'm not sure how they're getting done this year...tick tock."

Rbreb13 said: "[url]http://www.fairmark.com/capgain/capgain.htm[/url]"

thezster said: "Taxes are time consuming, but not extremely difficult. Your short term gains (stocks held less than 1 year) are taxed at your normal tax rate. Long term gains (over 1 year) are taxed at the Long Term Capital Gains rate (15%). You only pay taxes if you made a profit - and can deduct up to $3000/year in losses. I would go into much more detail, but there is already a thread started (I believe in General Discussion) that should address most, if not all of your questions.... Remember - taxes are a good thing - it means you made a profit during the past year. While I hate writing out that check to Uncle Sam year after year, I always keep in mind that for every quarter I send him - I keep $0.75 for myself......"

j4wz said: "Perhaps a more experienced investor could start a new thread with helpful information and/or links for new investors and a moderator could "sticky" that post. Throw in a small disclaimer and tada, advice for the new guys and a lot of people happy they didn’t have to repeat themselves. :D"