Wash Sale for the Casual Trader

July 13th, 2015, 09:44 PM

Hello,

I apologize if this question is foolish, but I am not certain when I research it on the internet.
I am the casual swing / intraday trader. I like to buy and sell the same stocks frequently, sometimes multiple times a day.

My question is regarding the wash rule as this is my FIRST year trading.

I am down a couple grand this year. Will I be able to claim these losses or will the wash rule result in disastrous tax consequences for me??? My Gain/Loss is Negative. I imported my data into TradeLog, and it says I have NO disallowed wash sales, so I think I'm ok? It shows up as a losing year for me.

Basically, without going too in depth about the wash sale, I would just like to know if my little wins can be hurting me tax wise because I can't claim the losses. I have read horror stories, but I don't know what to believe. Can I be a loser of a few thousand dollars and still owe taxes on the wins? I would like to know before I continue trading.

Thanks for the help and answers.

July 14th, 2015, 01:37 AM

Disclaimer: I am not an accountant. Now that we have that out of the way, it is my experience that you will be able to take the right down this current year if you do not trade the equities you referenced between December 1 - January 31. Look at your cost basis of your subsequent trades buys ... they should reflect the carryover loss from your previous trade. You can always eventually take the loss. The question is whether it is this tax year or the next.

July 14th, 2015, 07:52 AM

brianj999

Disclaimer: I am not an accountant. Now that we have that out of the way, it is my experience that you will be able to take the right down this current year if you do not trade the equities you referenced between December 1 - January 31. Look at your cost basis of your subsequent trades buys ... they should reflect the carryover loss from your previous trade. You can always eventually take the loss. The question is whether it is this tax year or the next.

Thank you. That's pretty much what I thought. The losses add to the cost basis of the wins so in essence I've come out with a negative gain/loss etc. Other web sites drove me crazy reading about it!!! I'll double check with my CPA just in case.

July 14th, 2015, 12:43 PM

Please use the main tax thread:

The Tax Thread

I thought we could use a thread devoted to Taxes. This is all things taxes regarding trading.

One example, Advantages/disadvantages for different situations (equities, futures, forex, etc) as well as benefits of filing sole-proprietor vs LLC or as a …

Mike

Wash Sale for the Casual Trader

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Wash Sale for the Casual Trader