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Joint Account vs. Family Partnership
Marilyn recently wrote...
 
 My two sons, my significant other, and I would like to begin to invest in stocks together through B&H.  My question, is it possible for the four of us to have a joint account, or do we need to go through becoming an official investment club to do this? 
 
 If you establish a joint account using your Social Security Number you will be responsible to report all of the profits, losses, dividends, interest, expenses, etc. realized from this venture on your tax return.   
 
On the other hand, if you establish a club (partnership),  the club itself will have a EIN similar to a Social Security Number.  All taxable items will then pass through the club to the members in proportion to their percentage ownership in the club.   If a partnership, the club itself pays no tax.   Each individual pays taxes on their share of the club profits at their individual tax rate
 
Therefore, depending on the ages and tax brackets of you, your significant other, and your sons, it may or may not be worth going to the trouble of establishing a partnership.  For more information on partnerships in general and specifically on family partnerships you might wish to consult IRS Publication #541.   You can download this publication from the IRS web site or from bivio at http://www.bivio.com/trez_talk/files/IRS-Publications
 
Thanks for using bivio!
 
Jerry Dressel
St.Louis, Missouri
Trez_Talk@bivio.com