You can carry unused capital losses forward for as long as you live. Your capital losses will offset capital gains and up to $3,000 per year (or $1,500 for married filing separately status) if you have other taxable income. Occasionally, Congress considers instituting a capital loss carryback, which would provide a refund for previous years in which a tax loss occurred. They've also discussed increasing the $3,000 limit. That amount has been part of the tax law since 1977 without adjustment. If you have substantial losses, you might want to contact your representative to encourage him or her to propose legislation that would increase the limit.
Nope, like Marilyn said it is indefinite until you exhaust the losses by taking your 3k max loss deduction each year or using the losses up over the years as you make gains. Embarrassed to say, I'm still carrying over losses from 10 years ago and can take 3k each year as a loss if I do not make any gains and if I do have gains I can use my losses up to my yearly gains til they are used up.
I was a bit reckless back in the late 90's in the tech era and the onset of all the internet stocks :(
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