TXF Express - Frequently asked questions on importing stock and opiton trades into tax software and generating Schedule D Wash Sale tax forms

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is TXF and how is it used? Should I use TXF Online or TXF Creator? Should I use TXF Creator or iScheduleD Portfolio Manager? Why can't I launch the demo of TXF Creator? How to load .txf file into TaxCut? How to load .txf file into TurboTax? How to download stock trades from my broker's website? I don't see my broker on your list. What can I do? Why do I get an error that states "Application error! Please upload a properly formatted file" when using TXF Online? Does my trade data file contain personal information? Do you products work on Mac? Why do I get an error that states "Java Virtual Machine Launcher - Could not find the main class. Program will exit." when launching TXF Creator? You have a "Combine Daily Trades" option in TXF Creator and iScheduleD Portfolio Manager. What does it do? Should I choose it? How to delete a portfolio in iScheduleD Portfolio Manager? Do I have to pay an annual subscription fee to your products? I purchased your TXF Creator last year. It used to work fine. But why doesn't it work for the files I downloaded from my broker this year? Do you send your a CD of your product or is it a software download? TurboTax has a 3,000 limit on the number of transactions imported from a .TXF file. What should I do if I have exceeded such a limit and have done a large number of day trades? Can I use your products to import a .TXF file into Excel instead of a tax program such as TurboTax? My broker provides an option for downloading the .TXF file. But I cannot import it into my tax software because the number of records exceeds the limit that the tax software can accept. Can your software help? Does the iScheduleD Portfolio Manager product work with fractional shares (Folio Investing) and specifically less than 1 (for example, 0.45678 shares)? I have discovered some products only accept whole shares and some do accept fractional shares but only shares greater than 1. How are the trade limits counted if I bought iScheduleD Portfolio Manager? Does TXF reader has a limit on the number of records read from one .TXF file? I'm filing tax return for 2009. In order to identify possible wash sales, do I need to import the first month of 2010's trades into iScheduleD Portfolio Manager? Does your product work with Proseries Professional Tax Software?
Q:	What is TXF and how is it used?
A:	Tax eXchange Format (TXF) is a standard data format for saving tax data in financial software. Almost all tax preparation software accepts TXF files for the purpose of generating Form 1040 Schedule D. By using TXF file, you will save time and avoid errors in entering data into the tax preparation software.
Q:	Should I use TXF Online or TXF Creator?
A:	If you have less than 500 stock trades (including buy, sell, short, cover), we suggest that you use TXF Online, which is cheaper and more convenient (no software installation). If you are a day trader and have more than 500 stock trades or if you have more than one brokerage account, we suggest that you choose TXF Creator Standard Edition or TXF Creator Unlimited Edition. TXF Creator allows you to process an unlimited number of TXF files from multiple brokerage accounts. In addition, TXF Creator can combine daily trades easily without additional charge.
Q:	Should I use TXF Creator or iScheduleD Portfolio Manager?
A:	If you have more than brokerage account or have wash sales, we suggest that you use iScheduleD Portfolio Manager, which allows you to manage stock and option trades from multiple accounts, calculate wash sales, perform stock splits and reverse splits, generate and print Schedule D like tax forms. TXF Creator does not support wash sale calculation.
Q:	Why can't I launch the demo of TXF Creator?
A:	Most likely this is because you do not have Java 6 properly installed on your machine. Please go to Sun's java site (http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp). Click on the Download button next to Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 Update to download JRE 6. Try to launch the demo again after you have finished the installation of JRE 6.
Q:	How to load .txf file into TaxCut?
A:	Please follow the steps below:
	1. Open TaxCut. 2. When you get to the Import Data from Financial Software screen, click "Yes" and then click "Next". 3. On the Select Financial Program screen, select "Other program that supports Tax Exchange Format (TXF)". 4. Proceed through the rest of the importing wizard screens.
Q:	How to load .txf file into TurboTax?
A:	Please follow the steps below:
	1. Find the "stocks, employer stocks, other" category using TurboTax and choose "step-by-step" guide. 2. Choose "stock (excluding employee stock)". 3. Choose "import my investment sale information". 4. Choose "other program (TXF file)" on the top panel. 5. Choose "continue". 6. Choose "browse to find file". Use the dialog to locate your TXF file and choose "open". 7. Choose "import now". The step-by-step instructions are also available in PDF format with screen snapshots captured for every step. Click here to download the instructions.
Q:	How to download stock trades from my broker's website?
A:	Our website provides detailed instructions for downloading stock trades from online brokers. Go to the Brokers section and choose your broker on the left panel to see the detailed instructions.
Q:	I don't see my broker on your list. What can I do?
A:	TXF Express provides two simple solutions. The first solution is to use the Comma Delimited (CSV Customized Conversion) feature available in TXF Creator (learn more). The second solution is to use the Generic Format feature available in both TXF Creator or TXF Online. TXF Express supports two generic stock trade formats Generic Format 1 (Transaction History) and Generic Format 2 (Realized Gain/Loss). You can first convert your trade data to one of the two generic data formats and then generate the TXF file. Go to the Brokers section and choose a generic format that better suits your need. You can also send your data file to support@txf-express.com. Please describe how you have obtained your data file from your broker's website. We will enhance our product to support your broker. In addition we will send you a FREE COPY of TXF Creator 2.0 Standard Edition within three business days.
Q:	Why do I get an error that states "Application error! Please upload a properly formatted file" when using TXF Online?
A:	This means that the file you uploaded is not in the correct format. Please follow the broker-specific instructions to download your data file from your broker's site and the resubmit the file. Make sure that you choose your broker correctly when being prompted by TXF Online.
Q:	Does my trade data file contain personal information?
A:	The trade data file you upload to our website when you are using TXF Online normally does not contain personal information such as name, address, social security number, tax payer identification number, account number etc. Please note there is one exception: the ScheduleD data file from Interactive Brokers contains your name and social security number. For your protection, please remove those information before using TXF Online. Open your IB ScheduleD data file using NotePad. Search for your name and replace it with nobody. Search for your social security number and replace it with 000-00-0000. Save the file. TXF Express does not collect or store any personal information. When you are using TXF Online, your trade data file is only being processed to generate the TXF file and will not be stored on our server. Please read our Privacy Notice.
Q:	Do your products work on Mac?
A:	Yes, as long as you have installed Java 6 on your Mac. You can try out our demo to see whether it works on your Mac. If not, please refer to http://www.txf-express.com/faq/Java_Virtual_Machine_Launcher-Could_not_find_the_main_class.pdf for step-by-step instructions on installing Java.
Q:	Why do I get an error that states "Java Virtual Machine Launcher - Could not find the main class. Program will exit." when launching TXF Creator?
A:	This is because the Java environment on your computer is not properly set up. Please click here to download the step-by-step instructions in PDF to solve the problem.
Q:	You have a "Combine Daily Trades" option in TXF Creator and iScheduleD Portfolio Manager. What does it do? Should I choose it?
A:	The "Combine daily trades" option allows the trades on the same stock that are executed on the same day to be combined. For example, you had two transactions of ABC on the same day. You bought 300 shares of ABC in one transaction and 500 shares of ABC in another transaction. When you choose "Combine Daily Trades", these two transactions will be combined to one single transaction that says "bought 800 shares of ABC" at the average cost. Tax preparation software such as TurboTax has restriction on how many trades can be imported from a TXF (Tax Exchange Format) file. This option can be used to reduce the number of trades so as not to hit the limit of the tax preparation software.
Q:	I used some data as a trial run in iScheduleD Portfolio Manager. Now I want to delete the portfolio. I did so but the next time I opened the software with the same portfolio name why did the data reappear?
A:	The delete is only a soft delete. If you want to remove the physical portfolio, you can got to your iScheduleD home directory and delete the portfolio under the "/work" directory.
Q:	Do I have to pay an annual subscription fee to your products?
A:	No. You only pay a one-time fee to use our products. However sometimes brokers might change their data format so you might have to purchase a updated version of our products.
Q:	I purchased your TXF Creator last year. It used to work fine. But why doesn't it work for the files I downloaded from my broker this year?
A:	Your broker may have changed their trade data format. You will need to get an updated version of our products.
Q:	Do you send your a CD of your product or is it a software download?
A:	It is a software download. We do not send physical CDs.
Q:	TurboTax has a 3,000 limit on the number of transactions imported from a .TXF file. What should I do if I have exceeded such a limit and have done a large number of day trades?
A:	You may consider using the "Combine Daily Trades" feature from TXF Creator and iScheduleD Portfolio Manager. This feature can help reduce the total number of transaction records in the generated .TXF file. It does not change the total of your capital gains and losses.
Q:	Can I use your products to import a .TXF file into Excel instead of a tax program such as TurboTax?
A:	Yes. You can use TXF Reader to convert a TXF file to a .csv file. This .csv file shows how stock and option trades are matched in a form similar to Schedule D records. Then you can manage your .csv file in Excel.
Q:	My broker provides an option for downloading the .TXF file. But I cannot import it into my tax software because the number of records exceeds the limit that the tax software can accept. Can your software help?
A:	Yes. You can get TXF Reader to convert your TXF file to a .csv file. You can then use TXF Creator which takes the .csv file as an input, combines your daily trades and generates a new TXF file. If you have many day trades, the newly generated TXF file will have much fewer trades than your old TXF file.
Q:	Does the iScheduleD Portfolio Manager product work with fractional shares (Folio Investing) and specifically less than 1 (for example, 0.45678 shares)? I have discovered some products only accept whole shares and some do accept fractional shares but only shares greater than 1.
A:	Yes. iScheduleD Portfolio Manager works with fractional shares with the precision up to four decimal places (e.g., 0.4567 shares). For example, if you have 0.45678 shares, iScheduleD will round it up to 0.4568 shares.
Q:	How are the trade limits counted if I bought iScheduleD Portfolio Manager?
A:	The trade limit is counted per portfolio. There is no restrictions on how many portfolio you can create and how many years you want to use iScheduleD Portfolio Manager. You can keep using it as long as you want.
Q:	Does TXF reader has a limit on the number of records read from one .TXF file?
A:	No. There is no limit on how many records TXF Reader can read from one file.
Q:	I'm filing tax return for 2009. In order to identify possible wash sales, do I need to import the first month of 2010's trades into iScheduleD Portfolio Manager?
A:	Yes. You need trades from the first month of 2010.
Q:	Does your product work with Proseries Professional Tax Software?
A:	Yes. Proseries Professional Tax Software accepts TXF file as input. Click here for more information.