Help with situation

[John Ralls]

On Oct 24, 2011, at 7:48 PM, David T. wrote:

> I have been using Gnucash for several years now, but have not had need to use any currency features before, and I am looking for the simplest way through my current situation. Basically, I was given the opportunity to buy stocks for a company I worked for here in the US (at a discount). The company deducted US dollars from my paycheck, and then awarded me 75 shares of stock. 
> 
> 
> When I got my transaction report from the company, I found out that the stocks were handled through the parent company (a German company) and valued in Euros. Since I was only holding onto the stock for long term purposes, I put off trying to figure out how to handle this in Gnucash.
> 
> Then, I left the company, and didn't notice the part where they told me they were going to seel my stocks unless I told them not to--and they sold my stock and deposited the proceeds back in my checking account (in US Dollars again). 
> 
> 
> So, here are my questions: 
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> 1) Is there a compelling (e.g., legal) reason for me to document my short-lived stock holding in multiple currencies, or can I make the accounting work without adding the currency complication?
> 
> 2) And, if I can do this without multiple currencies, what steps do I need to take to at least make the bookkeeping mostly work out?

Our Infernal Revenue Service doesn't like foreign currency, so just record the transactions in the dollar amounts and ignore the currency exchange and any transaction fees. Do find out what the company is going to report to the IRS and in what form, because particularly if it's short-term (less than a year) they might report it as ordinary income on your W-2, in which case you won't have to deal with it at all on your taxes.

(Disclaimer: I'm neither a CPA nor an Enrolled Agent and am therefore reporting my experience and not providing tax advice. If you have *any doubt whatsoever* about how to handle this by all means consult a licensed tax adviser!)
 
Regards,
John Ralls