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
