Replies to post #6152 on Grapefruit USA Inc (GPFT)

[pablothe poolboy]

Njk-

At the end of the year your brokerage, Note the root word "broker" meaning more broke, should give you a statement of realized gains and losses. If you have realized gains- sold stock this year for a profit, then it is best to dump all the losers in order to reduce your profit. Obviously, if you are holding a profitable stock it is best not to sell at years end and best to hold to qualify as long term cap gains.

I'm not sure how short term cap losses relate to long term cap gains.

I'm not sure of the carry over losses, but like fink was saying I think you can only take a percent per year of your saved up losses against your current year gains.

I know that when I see my short term gains my excitement is quickly dashed by the thought of how much I made for the government. I didn't see them risking their capital and spending hours on this stuff. And not even a thank you card.

Shak- what if I'm having an online affair with my broker?

Pablo

[ElHefe]

njk, I'll chime in if you don't mind. From the sound of the plan you're describing, the thing to watch out for would be IRS "wash sale" rules. Basically, if you buy a substantially similar stock within a 60 day window centered on the date of the sale then your ability to deduct capital losses on that sale are disallowed. So you could do it, but you'd have to be out of the stock long enough to purchase after the window and feel confident that it's not going to go up drastically in the meantime. Here's an article on wash sale rules:

http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/taxes/understanding-the-wash-sale-rules-9860/

With regard to your 15k loss scenario, as you mention earlier you can only deduct 3k worth of losses in any one year and the rest is a capital loss carry forward. Hope this is of help.