tax accountant cost

I am in Massachusetts, USA. How much does it cost to hire a tax account to file my day trading tax? Do I need a specialized accountant?

Surprised you didn't get a reply sooner. I live in the UK but the principles are broadly similar:

It depends on how complicated your tax affairs are, but my accountant charges less than when I was running a business because I can produce a simple profit/loss account from my broker. In the UK I can submit this account to the Inland Revenue personally if I like.

I suppose if you run an office you could make it more complicated with capital allowances and suchlike.

I am not a CPA but have been trading for several years and know about this topic. There are two answers. I believe that if: You are making good money or losing a lot of money, then you need a specialist CPA that understands forex. There are very few CPA's that do. Here is one choice: www.greencompany.com You will spend $600-$800 or so for it. You might want to set up a business entity too. It is not simple to just answer the question. If you are new, you can use a regular CPA but you won't get all the best tax advantages, especially if you were a business. Bottom line: if you are new, less than 3 years, just use a regular CPA because you probably aren't making money. Just the nature of the business.

Here in the US is it's not quite as simple as profit/loss, but a lot of it can be boiled down that far. Forex is handled either 1256 or 988 at the federal level. You have to opt for 988 treatment, so be careful if you do. It's usually not advantageous unless you have a loss. I opt for 1256, much easier.

Make sure you pick someone that knows about trading taxes, section 1256 contracts, day trader wash-sale limits, etc. I'm not from your state, so I can't give you an exact "who to contact" but if you call thru the yellow pages and ask you'll probably find someone.

I file my own, personally. My state rules are very simple and the federal laws aren't hard to figure out. Your state rules might be more complex, Massachusetts has a reputation for being a big tax state.

I've written about federal tax issues a few times on here... Example:
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=164471