"Sharp Dressed Man" <sdm[at]zz.net> wrote in message
news:gkiluu$jjm$1[at]news.motzarella.org...
- quote -

As an added tidbit, which I did not see mentioned, but which I have seen
more than a few times -

Many posters on this board, myself included from time to time talk about
"stepped up basis" on the inheritence of an item. What we're really talking
about is a basis adjustment which may be up, but in this market could just
as easily be DOWN.

Upon death, the beneficiary inherits items - including investments - at the
LOWER of their cost or Fiar Market Value. So if grandma dies with a
portfolio that has a cost basis of $1M and a FMV of $200K, the beneficiary's
inherited basis is $200K.

Sometimes folks get all caught up in what to do with the portfolio to
maximize the available losses. I've seen people hold on to investments that
have huge losses built in because they know Gramps will never live long
enough to use up the losses and they don't want the losses to die with him.
But they miss the fact that the losses always die with the owner - one way
or the other.

Gene E. Utterback, EA, RFC, ABA

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TomYoung <tgyoung[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Your scenario seems to be a rather unusual one in which a taxpayer with
a large unrealized investment loss is also paying little or no tax on
ordinary income. I assume the more usual case in which the tax benefits
of recognizing the loss will exceed any transaction costs of the sale.
After that, buying back an asset that's expected to "trend sideways" for
several years would make little investment sense, tax considerations
aside.

Needless to say, the time for such a sale is _before_ the taxpayer is
clearly on the way out, just as the time for estate planning is before
the first spouse dies.

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On Jan 12, 5:19*pm, nmasse...[at]gmail.com (Neill Massello) wrote:
- quote -

If an elderly person has a net loss in their investment portfolio and
if you expect the market to more or less trend sideways (or down) over
the next few years - a period exceeding the life expectancy of the
elderly person - it doesn't seem like the sell 'em/buy them back
maneuver does much more than enrich the broker. The elderly person
would get very little benefit of the realized capital loss in their
remaining years and the basis of the securities to beneficiaries is
still going to be FMV at date of death.

Am I missing something here?

Tom Young

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

"Sharp Dressed Man" <sdm[at]zz.net> wrote in message
news:gkgcv1$7ag$1[at]news.motzarella.org...
- quote -


Thanks all-- that's what I was afraid of...

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

On Jan 12, 1:41�pm, "Sharp Dressed Man" <s...[at]zz.net> wrote:
- quote -


No. Carryover losses expire with the decedent, and if not used with
the final tax return, are gone forever. They DO NOT become part of the
estate.

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

Sharp Dressed Man <sdm[at]zz.net> wrote:

- quote -

No. That's why it's a mistake, especially for the elderly, to hold on to
investment assets that have experienced large declines in market value.
Sell 'em, use the recognized loss to offset income, then buy back in (if
you want to) after the wash sale period has elapsed.

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

My widowed mother in law died in 2007 and when I filed her decedent's final
return back in April of 2008, there was about $20,000 of capital loss I had
to "leave on the table"-- only being able to take $3000 of it.

Is there a way to take any part of that loss when I file the initial and
final estate tax return- Form 1041-- for 2008 to offset interest income from
the executor's bank account?

TIA...

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >