Tax calculator
How much of a capital loss may reduce income now, and what may carry into next year?
Net short- and long-term gains and losses, estimate the current deduction, and carry the remaining loss forward.
How much of a capital loss may reduce income now, and what may carry into next year?
Capital gains and losses do not all collapse into one number immediately. Short-term amounts are netted, long-term amounts are netted, and those two results are then combined. This calculator makes that sequence visible, applies the federal deduction limit, and estimates the loss character that may remain for the next return.
Before you act on the number
Use the result to identify which assumption needs verification, then bring that question to the professional helping you make the decision.
Transparent method
Combine current short-term gains, current short-term losses, and the short-term loss carried into the year; repeat that process for long-term amounts.
Net the short-term and long-term results against each other to determine whether the return has an overall capital gain or an overall capital loss.
Apply the $3,000 federal deduction limit—or $1,500 when married filing separately—and carry the estimated unused loss forward with its remaining character.
Common questions
The general annual limit is $3,000, or $1,500 for married taxpayers filing separately. The unused net loss can generally carry forward.
For an individual federal return, unused capital losses generally carry forward until absorbed, subject to the tax rules and the taxpayer’s records.
Short-term and long-term categories are netted separately first. If one is a gain and the other a loss, they are then netted against each other.
Use the prior federal return and its capital-loss carryover worksheet. A broker statement alone may not show the return-level carryover.
Sources
Want the fine print? See sources, methods, and limits.