BetterInvesting Committee Urges Individual Investors To Contact U.S. Senators Regarding Negative Impact Of FIFO Proposal In Tax Bill

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., Nov. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Individual Investor Advocacy Committee of BetterInvesting's board of directors encourages individual investors to share with U.S. senators their view of a controversial proposal in the Senate tax bill that could result in higher taxes for individual investors and investment clubs when selling investments.

Today, when an investor or investment club sells stock or other securities they own in a taxable brokerage account, they can pick which tax lot they want to sell if they have acquired multiple blocks of shares over time. The Senate Tax Reform Bill eliminates that choice and requires an investor or investment club to sell the first shares purchased. This concept is known as the first-in-first-out (FIFO) method and could have big implications for taxpayers. 

"As you know, the oldest shares owned tend to have the biggest capital gain, which would cause more investors and clubs to realize larger capital gains than originally intended," the IIAC says. "The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that if this FIFO rule is approved, it would cost individual investors an additional $2.7 billion in taxes over 10 years. 

"The proposed change originally would have affected both individual investors and managers of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. However, the fund industry pushed back, and the Senate Finance Committee subsequently modified the provision by excluding fund managers. Individual investors and investment clubs would still be required to follow the new provision for sales of securities, including sales of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. This provision is only in the Senate bill, not the tax bill passed by the House.

"This provision leaves individual investors and investment clubs with fewer choices when selling stock. We believe this discourages individuals from investing at a time when we hear Americans are not building enough reserves for their retirement. This proposal works against our long-standing mission of creating successful lifetime investors."

The IIAC encourages those who feel that this proposed change is detrimental to their investment portfolio and their freedom of choice regarding its management to write their U.S. senators. The link to senators' email inbox can be accessed here:

https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

The IIAC is providing this communique as an informational service to individual investors to alert them about this aspect of the bill. The collective voice of BetterInvesting members and other Main Street investors, who are both investors and voters, each contacting their U.S. senators with a message in support of individual investors could have a significant impact.

BetterInvesting has also uploaded a sample letter at the BetterInvesting website. Individual investors can access it from the homepage or directly by clicking the link below:

Tax Bill Letter to Senators

Senate leaders are anxious to pass this tax bill quickly, so those who feel strongly about this issue should contact their U.S. senators as soon as possible.

About BetterInvesting
BetterInvesting is a national nonprofit organization that has been empowering individual investors since 1951. Founded in Detroit, the association (formerly known as National Association of Investors Corporation) was borne out of the conviction that anyone can become a successful long-term investor by following commonsense investing practices. BetterInvesting has helped more than 5 million people become better, more informed investors by providing webinars, in-person events, easy-to-use online tools for analyzing stocks, a monthly magazine and a community of volunteers and like-minded investors. For more information about BetterInvesting, visit its website at www.betterinvesting.org or call toll free (877) 275-6242.

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