This post is the reason I hire an accountant to do my taxes. Knowing my mathematically inept brain, I’d end up owing 6 million dollars every year

My brain goes, “how much does feed cost? What about the cow’s travel expenses? Why am I sending this poor cow all over the place and traumatizing it?”

Treat it like two separate transactions not related with each other. Item 1: 1000-800=$200 profit
Item 2: 1300-1100=$200 profit.
It doesn't matter if it's the same cow or car and motorcycle.

-800 + 1000=200-1100=-900 +1300=400

$100. If you gain $200 from the first transaction but then forfeit all of that plus an extra $100 to by the next cow, you’re now down -$100. Then you sell for what looks like a $200 increase but you’re already out -$100. So the $200 puts you at an overall $100 profit for all that cow-slinging.

I was wrong. It’s $400. I just spent 30 minutes arguing with myself and financial math through Google. Mama didn’t raise a mathemathician.

Honestly there’s 2 different options
Because, depending how much you had before
For example
You had 0
So you owe 800
-800 and sell it for 1000
-800+1000 =200
You return 800, your profit 200
Next time, you have to buy for 1100, so you need to owe 900, so 900+200 =1100
You sell it for 1300
Return 900, 1300-900=400

But if you had 800 already
So your profit 200
But you have to owe 100, for buying next for 1100, because you have just 1000
And 1300-1100=200-100=100
So answer 300

It’s a good choice. Basic math says $400. You made $200 off the first transaction ($800-1000) and $200 off the second transaction ($1100-1300).

Accounting says you made $0 for tax purposes (feed, vet bills, etc.) and decreases your tax burden. 😂

Basic math says he was in the hole $100 after the second transaction

The $100 difference between the first sale price of $1000 and the second purchase price of $1100 is accounted for in the calculation already. No need to subtract it twice.

-$800
+$1000
-$1100
+$1300
= $400

Or

-$800
+$1000
-$1000
-$100
+$1300
=$400

I get 400 but not confidently.

Its upsetting me no one in here is saying $300

Start cow for 800 and sold 1000 so 200 profit, then brought again for 1100 so now now 100 profit as we spend 100 more, then sold it for 1300 so an extra 200 which means total 300 profit

$400 if you factor in the first $200 reduced the cost of rebuying it by that amount.

It's just $400. No "if" needed.

That if was more to silence my doubts.

Math is the worst 😤

200

Nobody factors in the cow’s feelings 😔

I do. It paralysed me from the start tbh

$400

$400.00

What matters is how much they had in the bank before the first, and after the last transaction.
If they had $5000, they end up with $5400.

It doesn’t matter at all what they had before or after. No matter what they had in the account before, they spent $1900 buying cows and made $2300 selling them for a $400 profit. Even if they started with 0:

0-800=-800
-800+1000=200
200-1100=-900
-900+1300=400

Sorry, I should have said that what matters is the difference between the two.

300

400

Is there wash sale rules for cows?

You have to pay cow-pital gains

$1400.0

My brain just went on a wild ride for this and now I understand why I used to cry over my math homework 😂

All I know is I’m up 500 from the start

The real answer is 100, if you thinlk im wrong i wish you dont have a buisness

Isn’t it $500 your initial investment was $800 you sold it for $1300 final sale

$200

$300

$300

400

All that work for $100 would pmo 😒

I know it’s $400 but NO, if I gotta spend $800 to make a $200 profit, then put in $100 of that profit to buy it again, just to sell it for $200 more than I bought it for the second time, in my head that’s only a $100 profit 😤

If you made 200 on the sale twice and only invested an extra 100 on the second purchase… 400-100 = $300

Nah cause you had

-$800 but a cow lol
You made $200 selling the cow
You now have $1,000
You add $100 to the $1,000
You spend $1,100 on the cow
Now you have negative $-100
You sell that cow for $1,300
You now have $100 because you were negative -$100 when you sold it making the $200 profit actually only $100

That’s my logic lol

Answer is 400

£300 easy people over thinking this straightforward maths

My brain is like, okay, but how long did it take you to sell? Did you have to pay for any vet fees or other expenses while you had the cow? You probably made very little, tbh.

400

$400

$500