Benefits of "Mark to Market Trader"

[plasma]

I have some long-term investing/trading (stocks), and also some forex trades.

Is it important to become a "Mark to Market Trader" ? Do I need to fill out a special form for this?

Thanks for your help, please excuse my ignorance.

[Ryan Gibson]

You never want to use the Mark to Market method for long term holdings. The M2M election changes the form of income from "capital" to "ordinary". Long term capital gains are a minimum of 5% to a maximum of 15% tax. I would almost bet that your ordinary income tax rate is much higher than the max for long term gains.

Also, as a forex trader there really is no benefit to the M2M election.

Regards,
Ryan Gibson