As I understand it, brokers are allowed to report futures P/L either inclusive of commissions or report futures P/L pre-commission with commissions itemized separately. IB does the latter with futures.
For the past few years, I have included a note to the IRS which specifies how I handled my return as follows, in a successful-so-far attempt to avoid the hassle of a letter from the IRS:
"Note to Form 6781
On the âComposite Statement of 1099 Formsâ supplied by Interactive Brokers to the IRS, Line 1 âRealized Futures Profit/Lossâ and Line 2 âAggregate Futures Profit/Lossâ each reflect the pre-commission profit/loss and Line 4 âCommissions Paidâ separately identifies commissions paid on futures trades. To figure our return, we have subtracted Line 4 from Line 2 to reflect the profit/loss after cost of commissions."
Not a big deal.
For the past few years, I have included a note to the IRS which specifies how I handled my return as follows, in a successful-so-far attempt to avoid the hassle of a letter from the IRS:
"Note to Form 6781
On the âComposite Statement of 1099 Formsâ supplied by Interactive Brokers to the IRS, Line 1 âRealized Futures Profit/Lossâ and Line 2 âAggregate Futures Profit/Lossâ each reflect the pre-commission profit/loss and Line 4 âCommissions Paidâ separately identifies commissions paid on futures trades. To figure our return, we have subtracted Line 4 from Line 2 to reflect the profit/loss after cost of commissions."
Not a big deal.