Question about Lots and Capital Gains

[Rich Bloch]

Sounds like at least two variables to consider:

--Running Linux (Debian) v. Windows (XP)
--Version 2.2.1 v. 2.2.4+

I also see a bug fix (#492137) that suggests some activity in the lots code,
so that may be the diff.

Thanks for your help Charles.


On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 5:02 PM, Charles Day <cedayiv at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 4:39 PM, Rich Bloch <richbl at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the info Charles.
> >
> > I cannot repro the situation that you describe.
> >
>
> Here's what I recall in a little more detail:
> 1. Open the stock account's register.
> 2. Enter a stock buy of 4 shares @ $2 on day 1.
> 3. Enter a stock buy of 10 shares @ $3.50 on day 2.
> 4. Enter a sell of 6 shares @4.10 on day 3, with no splits for capital
> gains.
> 5. Actions->View Lots
> 6. Click Scrub Account.
> 7. View Lots shows Lot 0 with 4 shares (all sold), and Lot 1 with 10
> shares (2 sold, 8 remaining).
> 8. The stock account's register shows two new transactions for the capital
> gains: one for the 4 shares sold from Lot 0, and one for the 2 shares sold
> from Lot 1.
>
> I am using the latest build of GnuCash from SVN on Windows XP, but I doubt
> that this part of the source code has been modified for at least several
> versions.
>
> Tell me if the above doesn't help, and I'll attach a screen shot.
>
> Cheers,
> Charles
>
>
> > After entering a stock sale, and then scrubbing the equity account, I do
> > not see any changes made to that account. I see the list of lots in the
> > dialog, but nothing is altered in the equity account.
> >
> > Perhaps there are some subtle account settings that need changing? What
> > version and what platform are you running?
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 1:44 PM, Charles Day <cedayiv at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 11:22 AM, Derek Atkins <warlord at mit.edu>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi,
> > > >
> > > > Quoting Rich Bloch <richbl at gmail.com>:
> > > >
> > > > > Hello all,
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm running 2.2.1, and I'm in the process of learning how to
> > > > manage stock
> > > > > purchases/sales. However, I'm having a difficult time
> > > > understanding how
> > > > > "lots" work.
> > > >
> > > > Unfortunately Lots are not fully implemented at this time.
> > > >
> > > > > There's a dialog accessed by View Lots off the main account
> > > > window,
> > > > > which--not surprisingly--permits me to scrub and view stock lots.
> > > > However,
> > > > > this dialog doesn't appear to do much else (either that, or I'm
> > > > just not
> > > > > seeing any functional changes). So, here are my questions:
> > > > >
> > > > > --If I want to sell a stock, how does gnucash identify the stock
> > > > lot--and
> > > > > it's basis--to determine capital gains?
> > > >
> > > > It doesn't... Nor does it compute capital gains for you.
> > > >
> > >
> > > I found by accident yesterday that "View Lots" actually seems to do
> > > capital gains calculations:
> > > 1. Enter a sale of stock in the register without accounting for the
> > > capital gains.
> > > 2. Choose Actions->View Lots.
> > > 3. Click the "Scrub Account" button.
> > > 4. Capital gains get calculated and a new transaction is automatically
> > > created in the register to account for them.
> > >
> > > So there would seem to be more functionality behind the "View Lots"
> > > dialog than viewing alone.
> > >
> > > > --What accounting policy does gnucash use for determining capital
> > > > gains? I
> > > > > believe FIFO is most typically used, though LIFO is also legal, as
> > > > is lot
> > > > > selection.
> > > >
> > > > None.  See above.  But the partial implementation is FIFO, IIRC.
> > > >
> > >
> > > The "Scrub Account" button used FIFO in my experiments.
> > >
> > > -Charles
> > >
> > > > --Are there specific docs available that address how gnucash handles
> > > > lots
> > > > > (in 2.x)? I spent some time picking through notes and
> > > > conversations on
> > > > > gnucash.org and the wiki, and haven't really found anything
> > > > definitive.
> > > >
> > > > There may be a lots.txt somewhere.  But the only definitive source
> > > > would be, um, the source.
> > > >
> > > > > Thanks much.
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > rich
> > > >
> > > > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> > > > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
> > > >
> > > > -derek
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > >       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
> > > >       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
> > > >       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
> > > >       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available
> > > >
> > > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > rich
>
>
>


-- 
rich