Author Topic: selling shares at a loss  (Read 2160 times)

doneby35

  • Bristles
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selling shares at a loss
« on: November 08, 2016, 02:57:21 PM »
Hello all,

So a while back, i thought i'd try my luck buying individual stocks, and without getting into too much detail, company X gave me $5000 gain in less than one year and I sold because I was happy with the results and needed the money, so i'm going to have to pay capital gains taxes of 25% (which would be $1250) since i held for less than a year. Company Y was very crappy and gave me a $2000 loss instead, but I'm still holding on to it in the hopes that the price might go back up.

My question is: should I sell company Y at a $2000 loss and could that be used to eliminate the $1250 capital gains taxes for company X? or should I keep holding on to it hoping that the price goes up again?

terran

  • Magnum Stache
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Re: selling shares at a loss
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2016, 03:08:49 PM »
Ignore the tax aspect: would you buy more of company Y at todays price? If not then you should sell.

The $2000 loss can offset $2000 of the $5000 gain, so you would pay tax on the remaining $3000.

doneby35

  • Bristles
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  • Posts: 385
Re: selling shares at a loss
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2016, 03:23:27 PM »
Ah makes sense now, I wouldn't buy more since it just continuously dropped conveniently starting the day I bought it, but i think i'll keep holding on to it a little longer since now I understand how tax loss harvesting works.
Thanks!

 

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