What is or how do you calculate the maximum carry over deduction for a capital gain loss?

Carryover losses on your investments are first used to offset the current year capital gains if any. You can deduct up to $3,000 in capital losses ($1,500 if you're married filing separately). Losses beyond that amount can be deducted on future returns as a capital loss carryover until the loss is all used up.

For example, if your net capital loss in 2015 was $7,000 and you're filing as single, if you have no capital gains for 2016 and 2017, you can deduct $3,000 of the loss on your 2015 return, $3,000 on your 2016 return, and the remaining $1,000 on your 2017 return.

Unfortunately, you cannot pick and choose which future tax year(s) you wish to apply your carryover to. Carryovers from this year's return must be applied to next year's return.

If you transferred last year's return over, we automatically include the carryovers. However, it's always a good idea to keep a written record of your expected carryover amounts to compare against your return.