Really screwed things up - Please advise

[PilgrimFarAway]

US Citizen living abroad for the past 3 years. In 2004, did something stupid and don't know how to fix it:

This is associated with the receipt and sell of stock on behalf of another party. I received the shares, sold them and transferred all funds to the party on whose behalf I received the stock. The purpose of the transaction was payment to the party on whose behalf I received the stock for services that they rendered to a third party. I received the shares and sold them on behalf of the service-provider in order to expedite the process of receiving payment.

What we have is this:
1. Company A signs a contract with Company B to render software development services
2. Company B is to pay for the services in advance
3. Company B is to pay for the services in the form of free trading shares in their company
4. Company A does not have a trading account and we needed to get this done very quickly. I have a trading account, so I sign a contract with Company A to sell the stock on their behalf and transfer the proceeds to the company upon completion of the sale
5. I receive the stock in Company B into my trading account
6. I sell the stock
7. Proceeds are wired to Company A
8. I receive a 1099 from Scottrade for the sell amount of the stock.
9. I don't want to pay tax on this money, because it wasn't my gain. It was the gain of Company A. I actually took a slight loss on the transaction, as I neglected to invoice Company A for the commission to Scottrade and the wire transfer fees.

 

[LdiJ]

US Citizen living abroad for the past 3 years. In 2004, did something stupid and don't know how to fix it:

This is associated with the receipt and sell of stock on behalf of another party. I received the shares, sold them and transferred all funds to the party on whose behalf I received the stock. The purpose of the transaction was payment to the party on whose behalf I received the stock for services that they rendered to a third party. I received the shares and sold them on behalf of the service-provider in order to expedite the process of receiving payment.

What we have is this:
1. Company A signs a contract with Company B to render software development services
2. Company B is to pay for the services in advance
3. Company B is to pay for the services in the form of free trading shares in their company
4. Company A does not have a trading account and we needed to get this done very quickly. I have a trading account, so I sign a contract with Company A to sell the stock on their behalf and transfer the proceeds to the company upon completion of the sale
5. I receive the stock in Company B into my trading account
6. I sell the stock
7. Proceeds are wired to Company A
8. I receive a 1099 from Scottrade for the sell amount of the stock.
9. I don't want to pay tax on this money, because it wasn't my gain. It was the gain of Company A. I actually took a slight loss on the transaction, as I neglected to invoice Company A for the commission to Scottrade and the wire transfer fees.

How are you set up as a taxable entity? Did you do this as a company or as in individual? The treatment as far as your tax return is concerned will vary depending on whether you handled this as a company or as an individual.

The contract that you signed with Company A will help you eliminate taxable income on this transaction...but you are probably going to need the help of a professional to do it properly.

 

[PilgrimFarAway]

Did this as an individual

Thank you for the follow up. I did this as an individual. My CPA tells me that I can simply list my basis for the transaction as the sale price, resulting in no gain. This feels fishy to me, however.

 

[abezon]

The CPA is correct. Alternatively, you could nominee the proceeds from sale to A.