Well in advance, anybody know what tax form here?
Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:35 am
So much crappy is going on in real life right now (that I shouldn't be talking about on a "who knows who's reading/I do know who bears me ill will" board) that I want to ask for advice on a tiny little but good thing:
Back in February, I took part in a study that paid $20.00. It was a study to pick stocks based on prospecti they showed you. The study-runners said that if the stocks you picked, using their imaginary funds, made real money, you would be given a teeny fraction of the real money (this was the incentive, beyond the $20.00, to sit through the very boring study in the 1st place). (I fell down on the ice on my way to the building where the study was being done, not far from where I work. I guess I could blame my still limping 4 months later, on this, but as it was the 3rd fall-down on that very icy day, maybe not, maybe not. I don't fall all winter, then 3 times on one very icy day. Next year I'm wearing cleats.)
OK, several months pass by, & just at the deadline of "we'll tell you how well your imaginary stock picks did", they sent me a check for $100.00! Along with a letter explaining that I had to figure out how to report it on my taxes, because they sure weren't issuing any tax forms come tax time. But they are, apparently, keeping the files of who they paid out to in case the tax people want them.
So: Any advice on which form you use to report $100.00 from a voluntary economics study?
My stock-picking strategy was real simple; I went for companies with the smallest & shortest dip-periods, historically. After I got the "smallest/shortest-dips" lined up, I then selected from among them the ones with the highest & longest rise-periods. They provided you this data. Along with a lot of mystifying other data, like how well the back-loaded version of the fund was doing when they only let you pick the front-loaded version. I'd guess they were really studying how well people read small-print-points like that. I'd be wrong for all I know. You had to pick from among their choices; you couldn't say "I've always wanted Google, IBM, whatever" & invest in those.
Needless to say, I'd gladly give $100.00 (or a whole lot more) not to be still limping. And to get rid of a few other medical problems, as well as other problems. Not that I really know which fall-down (it is probably cumulative anyway) to blame the hurt foot on.
Back in February, I took part in a study that paid $20.00. It was a study to pick stocks based on prospecti they showed you. The study-runners said that if the stocks you picked, using their imaginary funds, made real money, you would be given a teeny fraction of the real money (this was the incentive, beyond the $20.00, to sit through the very boring study in the 1st place). (I fell down on the ice on my way to the building where the study was being done, not far from where I work. I guess I could blame my still limping 4 months later, on this, but as it was the 3rd fall-down on that very icy day, maybe not, maybe not. I don't fall all winter, then 3 times on one very icy day. Next year I'm wearing cleats.)
OK, several months pass by, & just at the deadline of "we'll tell you how well your imaginary stock picks did", they sent me a check for $100.00! Along with a letter explaining that I had to figure out how to report it on my taxes, because they sure weren't issuing any tax forms come tax time. But they are, apparently, keeping the files of who they paid out to in case the tax people want them.
So: Any advice on which form you use to report $100.00 from a voluntary economics study?
My stock-picking strategy was real simple; I went for companies with the smallest & shortest dip-periods, historically. After I got the "smallest/shortest-dips" lined up, I then selected from among them the ones with the highest & longest rise-periods. They provided you this data. Along with a lot of mystifying other data, like how well the back-loaded version of the fund was doing when they only let you pick the front-loaded version. I'd guess they were really studying how well people read small-print-points like that. I'd be wrong for all I know. You had to pick from among their choices; you couldn't say "I've always wanted Google, IBM, whatever" & invest in those.
Needless to say, I'd gladly give $100.00 (or a whole lot more) not to be still limping. And to get rid of a few other medical problems, as well as other problems. Not that I really know which fall-down (it is probably cumulative anyway) to blame the hurt foot on.