When determining what year you sold your stock, the trade date is what matters. This is the day the transaction took place on the stock exchange. If you contact your broker on the last trading day of the year, you can complete a sale in the current year if your broker executes the trade that day. On major exchanges, the last trading day is December 31 unless that day falls on a weekend. Settlement date
Stock market trades generally settle a few days after the trade date. This is the day shares and cash actually change hands. But the settlement date doesn't matter for purposes of determining when your sale took place. If your trade date is in the current year and your settlement date is in the following year, the tax law says you made the sale in the current year (year of the trade date).
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