Book excerpt: "The worst crime a trader can make is to have made money, but then to hand it right over to the government because of a fundamental lack of knowledge of the tax laws and the strategies which can be used advantageously." —Ted Tesser. The first —and only —tax guide written exclusively for traders and investors has been thoroughly revised and expanded to arm you with the knowledge and strategies you need to thrive under current investment tax laws. Written by Ted Tesser, an active trader as well as an accountant specializing in investment-related taxation, The Trader's Tax Survival Guide helps you to exploit fully all available tax options for the highest possible return on your investments. Drawing on actual court cases, this indispensable guide covers all the bases, providing complete details on everything from getting around the 2% itemized deduction limit and preparing for an audit to planning for retirement and transferring wealth to future generations. You'll also find vital information on how the Tax Reform Acts of the past decade —including the tax code changes of 1996 and 1997 —affect you and your investments. Just as importantly, The Trader's Tax Survival Guide introduces you to Total Return Investment Planning (TRIP), a major component of Ted Tesser's extremely popular seminars on how to create and manage a successful trading business. TRIP is a simple but very effective methodology for evaluating your investments from a "total return" perspective that integrates good tax planning with good investment planning. With the basics of TRIP in place, you can then take full advantage of Tesser's invaluable tax-saving strategies, 66 specific methods for reducing your tax burden. Readers will also appreciate the chapter on the preferred tax status of "trader." Most investors (and their tax preparers) don't realize that you need not be a professional market maker working the exchange floor to claim "trader" status. Nor are they aware of the many substantial advantages that status entails —such as being able to list all your expenses on Schedule C and deduct them from your trading income. Here, Tesser provides detailed guidelines on how to qualify for trader status and use it to your utmost financial advantage. We've all heard horror stories of fantastic market gains that were transformed into tragic losses due to poor tax planning. Don't let that happen to you. This updated edition of The Trader's Tax Survival Guide, written with an abundance of wry wit and liberally peppered with eye-opening anecdotes, shows you how to keep more of what you earn from your investments in your pocket —and out of the hands of the IRS. "If I wrote that I was going to review a book that defines a 'substantial element of pleasure,' you would probably never guess it was about taxes. But then you haven't seen Ted Tesser's The Trader's Tax Survival Guide." —Stanley W. Angrist, The Wall Street Journal. ". . . covers the basics in a very entertaining manner. . . . If you weren't aware that your trading may be considered a business and that this status carries certain tax benefits, the Survival Guide's chapter on these topics may be just the ticket to get you started. The book would also be a good refresher on organizing your life in a tax-smart way. The least you'd get from the Survival Guide would be a good read and more than a few wry chuckles." —John Sweeney, Technical Editor Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities. "Every stock and commodity trader should have Ted Tesser's book. Trader or not, The Trader's Tax Survival Guide is packed with as much vital tax information and strategies as the stadium on Superbowl Sunday. But there's more, Ted also explains how you can arrive at the status of a 'trader' for the IRS, thus being able to write off and save many $. . . . " —Larry Williams, Commodity Timing Newsletter author, McMillan on Options.