The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Investor Alley => Topic started by: FindingFI on March 27, 2017, 10:13:17 AM
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I just learned about tax loss harvesting and was holding some VTIAX in a taxable account at a loss. In an effort to put my newfound knowledge to work, I sold VTIAX on 3/3 at a loss of $1,065.90. In my excitement for taking the first step, I forgot to turn off re-investing dividends. So I log in today to see how things are going, and discover that I got a dividend on 3/23 of $15.62 of VTIAX, triggering a wash sale. Never been so bummed about a dividend before!
What I'm trying to figure out now is what the actual consequences of this wash sale are. Because of the dividend, am I no longer allowed to deduct any of the $1065.90 loss?
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Not an expert but I think it just means you can't deduct the $15.62.
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Thank you L.A.S.
The accounting in my investment account makes a lot more sense with your explanation, and fortunately the taxable account is the only place I have similar holdings so, at least this time around, I don't have to worry about IRAs and wash sales. I thought I knew what I was doing before, and now I know a little bit more. ;)