Quick Answer
Gains and losses split at the one-year line: short-term is taxed at ordinary rates, long-term at 0%, 15%, or 20%. Net within each category before netting across, and the survivor takes the larger side's character. Qualified dividends get preferential rates; the wash-sale rule disallows a loss when you rebuy within 30 days before or after.
The whole calculation-heavy unit on one sheet: classify the gain, net the results, fix the cost basis, and pick the lot.
Core Concepts to Nail
- Short-term = held 1 year or less, taxed at ordinary income (up to 37%). Long-term = held more than 1 year (1 year + 1 day), taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20%. Assume 15% unless told otherwise.
- Holding period starts the day after purchase (trade date + 1) and includes the day of sale.
- Capital gain = sale proceeds minus adjusted cost basis. Capital loss = adjusted cost basis minus sale proceeds.
- Qualified dividend = paid by a U.S. or qualified foreign corporation, not on the exclusion list, and the stock held more than 60 days in the 121-day window around the ex-dividend date (preferred: more than 90 days in a 181-day window). Non-qualified dividends are taxed as ordinary income.
- Return of capital is not a dividend and not immediately taxable; it reduces cost basis dollar for dollar, then becomes a capital gain once basis hits zero.
The One-Liners That Win Points
- Net within categories before netting across. Short-term vs. short-term, long-term vs. long-term, then the two results against each other.
- When one is a gain and one is a loss, the survivor takes the character of the larger amount, not of whichever side was the gain.
- Wash sale = sell at a loss and buy a substantially identical security within 30 days before or 30 days after the sale (a 61-day total window).
- A call option on the same stock triggers a wash sale; a different stock in the same industry does not.
- Taxable account = loss deferred (added to replacement basis); Individual Retirement Account (IRA) = loss gone forever.
- Inherited = stepped up to fair market value (FMV) at death and always long-term. Gifted = carryover basis (gain) or FMV at gift (loss).
- Conversions tack on the holding period; exercised rights start fresh.
- First In, First Out (FIFO) is the default lot method; in a rising market it produces the largest gain.
Numbers to Lock In
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Short-term vs. long-term line | held 1 year or less vs. more than 1 year (1 year + 1 day) |
| Long-term / qualified-dividend rates | 0%, 15%, or 20% |
| Net capital-loss deduction vs. ordinary income | up to $3,000 per year ($1,500 married filing separately) |
| Loss carryforward | indefinite; never expires |
| Qualified-dividend holding period | more than 60 days in the 121-day window (preferred: more than 90 days in 181 days) |
| Wash-sale window | 30 days before + sale date + 30 days after (61 days total) |
| Stock-rights basis threshold | rights FMV 15% or more of stock FMV = allocation required |
| Alternate valuation date (inherited) | 6 months after death, only if it reduces the estate |
Cost Basis Cheat Sheet
- Purchases: cost basis = purchase price + commissions; net proceeds = sale price minus commissions. Commissions help both sides.
- Convertibles: conversion is never taxable; the bond or preferred cost basis transfers to the common (basis per share = bond cost basis divided by shares received). Conversion price sets the share count; purchase price sets the basis.
- Stock dividends and splits: not taxable; the same total basis spreads across more shares, so per-share basis drops. A reverse split raises per-share basis.
- Inherited: basis steps up (or down) to FMV at date of death; unrealized gains are erased.
- Gifted (dual basis): sold at a gain = donor's carryover basis; sold at a loss = FMV at the gift date; a price between the two = no gain or loss ("no man's land"). Dual basis applies only to depreciated gifts.
Memory Aid: Death vs. Gift Basis
- Death = Delete the gain. Gift = Grandfather the basis.
- Inherited assets step up to FMV at death (capital gains erased = "deleted"). Gifted assets carry over the donor's basis (the gift "grandfathers in" the original cost).
Top Gotchas
- Exactly one year (buy Jan 1, sell Jan 1 next year) is still short-term; long-term needs 366 days minimum.
- The $3,000 limit applies to net capital losses after all gains are offset; the excess carries forward indefinitely.
- The qualified-dividend test is "more than 60 days," not "60 days or more"; Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), money-market, and short-position dividends are non-qualified.
- Wash-sale losses in a taxable account are deferred, not eliminated; the same sale rebought inside an IRA is permanently lost.
- For losses on gifted securities, use FMV at the gift date, not the donor's cost: the single most-missed gift-basis detail.
- Inherited securities are always long-term even if sold the next day; the holding period never restarts.
- When-issued holding period starts at the trade date, not the issuance or settlement date.
- Specific identification (identified shares) must happen at the time of sale; Last In, First Out (LIFO) must be specified since FIFO is automatic.
One-Breath Recap
Split gains at the one-year line, net within each category before netting across, and let the survivor take the larger side's character. Fix cost basis for commissions, conversions, stock dividends, and gift-versus-inheritance rules, then choose FIFO, LIFO, or identified shares. Watch the wash-sale window and never let tax-deferred masquerade as taxable income.
Need more than the recap? This is a condensed summary. If it is not enough, read the full Equity Tax Treatment unit for the complete lesson.