Taxes (TAX)

[cintrix]

Oh, wash sales are what u were talking about? lol What it means in layman's terms is that you can't sell something, take the tax loss for it, and then buy it right back again. They have the wash rule so you don't do that. If you buy the stock within 30 days before or after the sell (Steve, correct me on that if I am wrong), u can't take the loss on your tax return. What they do allow is for you to use the loss and add it to your cost basis on the new purchase - this way if say you sell the new holding, your profit on paper is lower because your cost basis has been adjusted. I think u mentioned u have TD Ameritrade. If you do, then u really don't have to worry about calculating wash sales because Ameritrade gives free Gainskeeper sch D's. Gainskeeper calculates wash sales for you so that u don't have to worry about it. One of the few things I did like about Ameritrade when I used them.