Under this tax treatment, 60% of total capital gains are taxed at 15% and the remaining 40% of total capital gains are taxed at your current income tax bracket, which could currently be as high as 35%. Profitable traders prefer to report forex trading profits under section 1256 because it offers a greater tax break than section 988. BTW - you are better off finding a way to get out of retail Forex trading entirely (if you are a U.S. resident/trader) and trading on a non-U.S. based platform, that has no reporting requirement to the IRS. Again, if the IRS has no authority by law, then it cannot demand reporting from the intermediary. If that intermediary does not, or cannot issue a statement of income, then no income/loss But even if day trading is your only occupation, your earnings are not considered to be earned income. This means that day traders, whether classified for tax purposes as investors or traders, don’t have to pay the self-employment tax on their trading income.