capital loss carryover

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
March 29, 2024
2 replies
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dear community,

i had a capital loss from about 8 years ago, which i have never claimed on any of my tax returns, but I wanted to start claiming it this year. i read that, if i am married, filing jointly, i can claim up 3,000 dollars per year for capital losses. just wanted to please ask a few questions.

since the loss occurred 8 years ago, is there an expiration date of when i can actually claim this loss. or if i have not yet ever claimed it on any of my tax returns from prior years, then i can still claim it whenever i want? no time limit essentially?

also, i was trying to do it in the online platform, premium version, i clicked on capital loss carryover, but after that for some reason im not able to figure out where i can actually enter the amount that i would like to claim as a carryover.

thank you so much for your help, time, and attention

DaveF1006

To clarify, did you have any additional capital gains or losses during this 8-year span?

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dimi1927Author

sorry, right, ill be more specific. basically, about 8-10 years ago, i invested in some stocks which took a massive dive. since then, those stocks have been close to zero. so over the course of the past 8 years, they have hovered around in penny sized amounts. and i've never had additional losses from other accounts in the past 8 years, i never invested again. basically after those stocks went down, i stopped paying attention to them because i didn't know at the time that you can claim capital losses (i wasn't that familiar with the tax code, etc). but in recent years, i've started to get slightly better acquainted with how the tax system works and read that i can claim these losses. so right now im just trying to figure out exactly how i can do this. thank you again!

VolvoGirl

Employee

Wait. Do you still own the stocks? Or did you sell them years ago? You only claim the loss when you actually sell them or they go to zero and are worthless. If you sold or sell them you can deduct up to 3,000 (1,500 MFS) per year. The rest of the loss you have to carry over each year until it is used up. You can't skip a year. Even if you don't report it on your return you have to reduce it by the 3,000 (1,500 MFS) for each year when you carry it over to next year. You can't choose when to use it.

So if you sold it 8 years ago you have to reduce the loss carryover by 24,000 (3,000x8) on your 2023 return.

Mike9241

you have not sold the stock, so the first year you can report the loss assuming you sell is 2024 - contact your broker - - because sometimes it's hard to sell what are referred to as penny stocks/blue sheet/pink sheet stocks. since you have not sold them, you have not used up any of your loss.