On 19/01/16 00:41, Jack wrote:
On 2016.01.18 18:07, aga wrote:
A few months ago I committed a fix to correct absence or mis-labelling
of the Price field in investment transactions. While doing some
checking, I noticed that a Sell transaction still is incorrect and I
shall be submitting a fix for this.
Also, I've noticed that a Reinvest Income transaction appears to
require an income category to be specified, although the amount may be
zero. This doesn't seem right to me, but before I 'fix it', I'd
appreciate views from other users, who have an opinion on this, as I
know some have their own particular use of some of the fields, which
might not be what I would expect. And, the user is always right...
Allan
It actually is important. A dividend reinvestment is a dividend, where
you immediately use the proceeds to buy more shares. Although you don't
have any cash income (so don't need a brokerage account) the dividend is
income, and reported as such to the tax authority (at least in the US)
so it is important to know what type of income it is - short or long
term capital gains, simple dividends, ..... Also, depending on the type
of account it is in, the income may be taxed this year, or tax deferred
(for example in an appropriate retirement account).
Also note, the income amount is NOT really zero - if it were zero, then
you wouldn't be able to reinvest in more shares. It's only that there
is zero cash coming in. Dividend reinvestment is just shorthand for a
dividend and a buy shares. (As I've complained before, Merrill Lynch
actually finds a way to report it as three transactions in my monthly
statement. One doesn't import, I delete one, and convert the dividend
to a dividend reinvestment.)
Jack
OK, Jack, I understand that use. So far as the category amount is
concerned, then, as I see it, that should only ever be zero? Otherwise,
it will be added to the value of the extra shares in the total. Or, can
you see a possible need for a non-zero dividend amount?
Don't you have that strangeness with ML where they just add whole
shares, and retain any monetary remainder towards future purchases? Do
you account for that, or just leave it to ML? I suppose you can't
really, as you don't get to receive it until it is used to fund the
later extra share/s.
Allan
