• every inquiry is assigned a case number ("ticket"). This reference number can be used to efficiently track the progress of the inquiry.
• the real-time status of an inquiry is always available via an overview screen. You will know if the issue has been picked up by an IB service expert, which expert is handling your issue, and whether it is being addressed by our main help team or by a specialty team.
• both customers and IB staff can refine or add information to the ticket, permitting easy clarifications or follow up to the original inquiry. In addition, customers can cancel or close tickets once the issue has been addressed giving them greater control.
• History Overview of both open and completed inquiries
• Fast Response: Tickets will be assigned to an IB representative usually within a few minutes and always within 2 hours during European and North American trading hours. During Asian trading hours, response times may be longer.

1. Open tickets are presented in the default view with date/time of submission, a brief description of the question, the most recent response from IB staff, the name of the IB Expert handling the inquiry, and a status indicator.
2. A second tab shows closed or resolved inquiries going back 1 month.  This allows customers to refer to the solutions or information provided by IB and save them on their computers in a document system of their choice (simple cut-and-paste). Status indicators allow customers to know at a glance where their inquiry is in the process.  A key for the meanings of the various states are provided at the bottom of the overview screen. Action buttons (edit/view, close, cancel) permit customers to manage their inquiries directly.  

• Resolve/Close : use this when you are satisfied with the response provided by the IB service expert. This will move the ticket onto the "Closed" tab.  Please note that IB staff may also close a ticket if they feel the inquiry has been completely addressed.
• Cancel Ticket : allows customers to retract an inquiry even if it has not yet been fully addressed.
• Edit/View: customers can add additional information to an inquiry or respond back to an IB Expert's request for more detail.

1. Click New Ticket in the menu bar. This will open a new window (you must allow pop-ups on your browser).
2. Select the main Category and a SubCategory for the inquiry. The category will allow us to route your inquiry to the IB Expert who is specialized or is most experienced for your issue. We recommend choosing the category accurately to get the highest quality and speed of response.
3. Enter a brief summary of the question.  This is the text you will see in the overview screen.
4. Enter details about the problem as needed. Please be as specific and complete as possible (for example, exact dates/times, TWS version, etc) , as this will allow us to accurately research your inquiry to give you the best / fastest response.
5. Click "Next".  This will take you to a confirmation screen that will allow you to review and submit your inquiry
6. You will get a confirmation of receipt along with a ticket reference number.  Note this reference number (it is also viewable on the Overview Screen) and please use it in any follow up to your inquiry (for example, over chat or by phone).
7. The inquiry will show in the Overview Screen with the status=New.

1. On the Overview Screen, select the open ticket you wish to update, and click on the Edit icon at the end of the row.
2. A new window will open showing the history of the "conversation" to date, along with a text entry box for the new information to be added.
3. Click "Send" to submit. After some seconds, you will get a confirmation from IB that the update has been received by our system.

1. On the Overview Screen, select the open ticket you wish to update, and click on the paperclip icon.
2. A new window will open showing the history of the "conversation" to date, along with a text entry box to add information about the attachment(s). Below the text box there is a section called "Attach Files" with the possibility of adding 3 attachments. Click "Browse" to find the file to be attached. Please note the max upload size is 2Mb per file with a 6Mb cap for all files.
3. Click "Send" to submit. After some seconds you will be fowarded to the preview ticket mode where the attached file(s) name will be visible in the comment section.

• Use this when your inquiry has been resolved outside of the IB CIMS environment (for example, an exchange access problem that has already been fixed). This will move the ticket to a "Closed" state (CLS) immediately and will inform IB staff that there is no further need to investigate the issue.

1. Just click on the Cancel icon on the appropriate ticket row. A confirmation page will be provided.

• Use this when you have received a satisfactory answer to your inquiry. This will change the ticket state to "Closed" (CLS). We request that you close tickets as soon as possible once you are satisfied. IB Customer Service managers may close tickets in cases where the ticket appears to be fully answered but has not been closed by the customer.

1. Just click on the Close icon on the appropriate ticket row. A confirmation page will be provided.

• The IB-Expert might close a ticket after responding if he/she believes the inquiry was fully and satisfactorily resolved. It may be the case thaat the Client does not agree that the question was properly answered so we provide a way to reopen recently closed tickets. Just click on the Re-Open link on the appropriate line of the overview page. The ticket status should show LV1 and the IB-Expert who handled the ticket will be notified.

1. Just click on the "Reopen" link on the appropriate ticket row. A confirmation page will be provided.

^{Important Note:  The Worksheet has been prepared using IRS guidelines for information purposes only.  It is not intended to replace any official IRS tax forms or schedules; and should not be regarded as an IRS Form Schedule D.}

Interactive Broker's 2009 Gain/Loss Summary Worksheet ("Worksheet") provides the capital gains and losses for your account's year-end review.  Investors of a limited number of securities will find the pairing of 2009 sell trades useful.  Designed to aid with your year end reconciliation, the following securities and trades are included: Bonds, Equity Options, Fractional Shares, Index Futures^*, Mutual Funds, Short Sale, T-Bills, Tender Offers, and WHIFITs.

A general explanation of the Worksheet is organized below by Parts, Columns, and Totals.

 ^{*Only cash-settled}

Worksheet Parts

The Worksheet is divided into two parts.  The period in which you held the position determines whether or not Short-Term or Long-Term applies. 

Part 1 - Short Term Capital Gains and Losses - Assets Held One Year or Less

Part 2 - Long Term Capital Gains and Losses - Assets Held More Than One Year

Worksheet Columns

Each section contains the following seven columns to identify your trades.

1.  (a) Description of property...shows the security symbol, name, quantity, and other information to identify the asset sold.

Example:  500 sh. DB - DEUTSCHE BANK AG-REGISTERED

2.  (b) Date acquired...shows the trade date of your security's purchase. 

^{Asset Transfers:  IB has entered the date supplied by you through Position Transfer Basis.  If an update was not received by year-end, then the asset transfer settlement date appears. See your monthly or annual summary for details.} 

^{Short Sales:  The box is left blank if the closing trade has not been completed.  For short sales included on a prior year Worksheet or 1099-B, the code ADJ is entered.}

3.  (c) Date sold...shows the trade date of your security's sale.

4.  (d) Sales price...shows the gross security sale price, net of commissions. 

^{Option Adjustments:  For exercised call options, the writer's sale proceeds have been increased by the amount received for the call. For exercised put options, the holder's sale proceeds have been reduced by the cost of the put. See IRS Pub. 550, page 57, for details.  For expired options, an amount of 0.00 is entered, followed by the Code "Ep".}

5.  (e) Cost or other basis...shows the total price paid for your security, plus commissions.

^{Corporate Actions:  Adjustments have not been made for any stock splits or non-dividend distributions. See IRS Pub. 550, page 44, for details.}

^{Mutual Funds:  IB does not use an average basis for mutual funds. The First In, First Out (FIFO) method is used.}

^{Original Issue Discount:  The basis has not been increased by the amount of OID included in your income. See IRS Pub. 550, page 13, for details.}

^{Option Adjustments: For exercised put options, the writer's basis has been increased by the amount received for the put.  For exercised call options, the holder's basis has been increased by the cost of the call. See IRS Pub. 550, page 57, for details.}

6.  (f) Gain or (loss)...shows the calculation for each security using the tax execution methods First-In, First Out (FIFO), Last In, First Out (LIFO), or Maximize Losses (ML). 

^{Loss: Negative amounts are identified in parentheses.  For example, a loss of $2,000.00 displays as (2,000.00).}

^{Tax Method:  If no code appears in the Codes column, then FIFO applies.  The other methods are noted by either LI = LIFO or ML = Maximize Losses.}

7.  Codes...shows various trade designations, such as: corporate actions, asset transfers, or option assignments.

^{Codes and Meanings Table:  The last page of the Worksheet contains a table to identify each non-security symbol used.}

Worksheet Totals

1. Subtotal adjustment from option assignment...shows the total amount of all sale proceeds increases or decreases made from option assignments to the assigned stock sale proceeds (see Cost or other basis details above). 

^{The adjustments, in accordance with IRS guidelines, are added or subtracted in order for the next Subtotal line to equal the amount reported by IB on the 1099-B, box 2.  Please keep in mind that IB does not report any option proceeds or adjustments to sales proceeds from assignments on the 1099s.}

2.  Subtotal for stocks, bonds and T-bills...shows the total non-adjusted proceeds reported for each trade under column (d) Sales price for stocks, bonds, and T-bills only.  This amount should equal the 1099-B, box 2, amount. 

^{1099-B, box 2:  In general, this 1099 figure should equal the combined Parts 1 & 2 Subtotal for stocks, bonds and T-bills figure.}

3.  Total...shows the combined proceeds for all trades under column (d) Sales price, including option sale proceeds.

^{Total Option Sale Proceeds:  Subtract the Total amount of column (d) from the Subtotal for stocks, bonds and T-bills of column (d) to obtain the total proceeds from all option sales.}

Click here to go back to the main 2009 Worksheet article.

Note:  Securities classified by the IRS as IRC Section 1256 contracts are included on the Gain/Loss Worksheet for 1256 Contracts.

IRS Circular 230 Notice: These statements are provided for information purposes only, are not intended to constitute tax advice which may be relied upon to avoid penalties under any federal, state, local or other tax statutes or regulations, and do not resolve any tax issues in your favor.

Preliminary checklist:

Before setting up the IP Restrictions, you will need to:

• Know your WAN IP Address. That is the IP address exposed on the external (Internet) side of your network and it is different from your local IP address (called as well LAN IP address). If you trade from a company office, you can ask your IT or Networking department for the WAN IP address of your computer. If you connect to the Internet through a private broadband/cable/satellite connection you can get this information from your ISP (Internet Service Provider).
• Make sure that your IP address is static. This means your IP address will always remain the same, and will not change upon router/modem reboot or after a certain time period. The same entities which provided you with the WAN IP address, can as well clarify whether it is a static or dynamic one.
• Be aware that IP Restrictions are not effective immediately. Our systems apply the filters during their daily overnight restart. It can take up to 24 hours until they are active, depending on the time you submit your IP Restrictions request. The same applies when you modify or remove existing IP Restrictions. Please be sure to consider this when you are planning your course of action.
• The IP Restrictions will be applied to ALL Trading Platforms offered by IB. It will not affect Client Portal access, which will remain accessible from any IP address.

Note:

Please take note that the technical ability to misrepresent one's IP address exists, and full account protection is only ensured by using SLS Two-Factor Authentication (ibkr.com/sls).

If you have any questions on the topic, please feel free to contact IB's Technical Assistance Center.

How to set the IP Restrictions:

1. Login to Client Portal and click the menu icon in the top-left corner.
2. From the left side menu, click on Settings, then on User Settings. Then click on the wheel (configure) icon next to IP Restrictions.
   
3. You will see a brief description of the effects of IP Restrictions. To set up a new IP Restriction, click on Add IP Restriction.
4. Select the Trader from the drop-down list and enter the IP Address (in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) you want to allow for him. Then click on Continue.
5. If you logged into Client Portal without using the Two-Factor Authentication, you will now receive an email¹ containing a Confirmation Number. Enter it in the Confirmation Number field. Once done, click on Continue to submit the request. If you logged in to the Account Management using a security device, please proceed directly to point 5.
6. If the operation completed successfully, you will see a confirmation screen. Click OK.
   
7. The system will now list your active IP Address restrictions. Should you want to create an additional one, click again on Add IP Restriction, otherwise navigate away from this section
   

Opt-out and IP Restrictions for Penny Stocks traders:

Clients who have elected to perform an opt-out, thus using the Two-Factor Authentication only for the Client Portal, must activate the IP Restrictions in order to be able to activate Penny Stocks Trading Permissions.

Additional best practices for securing your computer and your network: 

• When logging into the TWS, activate the checkbox “Use SSL” on the login screen. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) guarantees that all the information exchanged between your computer and our servers is protected using 128-bit encryption.
• Use a firewall to prevent unauthorized access to the services exposed by your network or/and computer. During the firewall set-up, please make sure you authorize the host/ports listed in section DESKTOP TWS of KB2816.
• Use antivirus software to identify and eliminate viruses which might have infected your computer.  As new viruses are constantly being created, you need to update the threats database of your antivirus software regularly.
• Use anti-malware software to detect and remove spyware/malware programs which can collect various types of personal information, monitor your browsing activity and interfere with the control of your computer. Nowadays many antivirus solutions include a built-in anti-malware protection.
• Refrain from using wireless connections (Wi-fi) which are public, unsecured or not operated by you. If the use of a unsecured network (e.g. public Wi-Fi hotspot) becomes necessary, do not log into any financial institution account you may have, including your IB account.