Did I do something wrong? - Tax treatment of stocks sold at various times

If you realized the gains and losses in different tax years I don't think so


If they were in the same year, you could

I am pretty sure you take a 3k capital loss in year 2 and can carry back the rest to year 1.

quote:

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Did I do something wrong?

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You should have sold 1000 shares on 12/26 instead of only 700.

You purchased 1,000 shares of stock @ 10, total basis $10,000.

You sold 300 shares @ $10.50, total proceeds $3,150, you used $3,000 of your basis, so you had a short term gain of $150 and you have $7,000 of basis remaining.

Same day, you sold 400 shares @ $10.60, total proceeds $4,240, you used $4,000 of your basis, so you had a short term gain of $240, and you have $3,000 of basis remaining.

Now, on July 14, you sold 300 shares @5, total proceeds $1,500, you used $3,000 of your basis, so you have a short term loss of $1,500, and no basis remaining.

Accross time, you have short term losses that exceed your short term gains, in relation to the total 1,000 shares originally bought. But you have to compute, and report, gain or loss as of the day you sold the stock.

When it comes to selling good ole fashioned publically traded securities,

1) Report gains and losses as they cocur.

2) If capital losses for year exceed capital gains, you can offset $3,000 of the excesslosses ($1,500 if married filing seperate) against your other income.

3) If you have more than $3,000 ($1,500 if married filing seperate) of excess losses in a year, the amounts above this threshhold carry forward to the next year and are added to the gains/losses for the next year.