Richard <rgc1042[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
- quote -

The wash sale rule only prevents you from taking a loss.
You would still report the gain even if you sold and
rebought on the same day.

Seth

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Seth Breidbart wrote:
- quote -

The point to doing this is not necessarily to sell off a
particular asset, but to increase the cost basis of whatever
asset class happens to have performed the best. If I have a
small cap value mutual fund with a low cost basis, by
selling and then repurchasing the same fund I now have a
'stepped up' tax basis for some time in the future when I
may want or need to sell.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Seth Breidbart wrote:
- quote -

The point to doing this is not necessarily to sell off a
particular asset, but to increase the cost basis of whatever
asset class happens to have performed the best. If I have a
small cap value mutual fund with a low cost basis, by
selling and then repurchasing the same fund I now have a
'stepped up' tax basis for some time in the future when I
may want or need to sell.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Richard <rgc1042[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Why worry about the wash sale rule? It only prevents you
from taking losses, not recognizing gains.

Seth

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

- quote -

I agree that you should not let "the tax tail wag the dog".
I don't intend to hold off making a decision on selling any
particular investment. What I would do is to look at any
stocks or mutual funds in 2008 (09-10 ??), select the one
that has appreciated the most since purchase, perhaps buy a
similar number of shares 31 days before (or after !) the
proposed date of sale. In this way I could capture some
measure of the (hoped) for gain and increase my cost basis.
Inasmuch as the least amount of taxable income I could
possibly recognize in '08 would be in the neighborhood of $
55,000 +/-, I would not be looking at a killing in the
market, just to capture some tax free long term capital
gains. I should point out that for the last six years I have
been doing a Roth conversion from my IRA, converting just
enough to take us to the upper limit of the 15 % bracket and
recharacterizing any 'overage' back to the IRA. I too have
little faith that the government won't at some point start
raising tax brackets from their present levels and reneging
on at least some (tax) promises. My intent is to be
positioned to avail myself of whatever (tax) opportunities
present themselves, Roth conversion or 0 % long term capital
gains.

Thanks for the feedback

dpb wrote:

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Phil Marti wrote:
- quote -

.....

Personally, I think even 2008 is not very likely. I'd
suggest if one has significant capital gains one would like
to capture to make their strategy for doing so essentially
independent of this additional "windfall". IOW, I'd not hold
off a lot based on this (likely to be illusory imo) window
as it could lead to both missing out on actually realizing
the gain by holding too long and not getting the foreseen
tax benefit, either.

Making investment decsions controlled by tax avoidance is
not a good strategy. That's not to say to not consider the
implications of any move, but to plan on such a long term
event as a major factor in a plan is premature at this
juncture imo. If it comes to pass that 2006 goes by with
the provisions still in place, _then_ there would be a
reasonable probability it might survive--until at least
then, I think it's likelihood is about like that of the
proverbial snowball's long-term chances.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Thanks for the reply Phil

I presumed this was the case but I was having trouble
confirming the information. The reason for the question was
simply to be able to try and structure our income to take
advantage of the opportunity to avoid some taxes. We are
retired and I can manipulate our taxable income to a certain
extent but I need to understand the parameters with which I
will be working.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

"Richard" <rgc1042[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Just an aside. I think that's a safe bet for 2008, but pay
attention to the elections in 2006 and 2008 before you plan
on it for the other two years. It could change.

- quote -

The former, but you won't know the 2008 numbers until late
2007. You can see how the tax calculation works in the
worksheet in the 1040 instructions.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

Capital gains taxes in 2008 - 2010 for people in the 15 % or
less tax bracket will be 0 %. If I have other taxable income
of $ 50,000 (married), what is the most in capital gains I
could have in those years and pay no capital gains taxes,
the difference between $ 50,000 and the approximately $
78,000 which would be the top of the 15 % bracket or would
it essentialy be unlimited because my other taxable income
would put me in only the 15 % bracket?

Any feedback would be appreciated

Richard

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >