Capital Gains Tax

You pay capital gains taxes on realized gains from long-term investments held longer than one year, and ordinary income tax on realized short-term gains from investments held for a year or less.

Consider gifting appreciated stock or mutual funds to relatives in lower tax brackets. They will pay less or no tax on the long-term capital gains when the shares are sold.

TREATMENT OF LOSSES

With stock markets exhibiting volatility in 2022, this may be a good time to use capital losses to lower your taxable income. A capital gain or loss is the difference between your basis, which is typically the cost of buying an asset adjusted by previous deductions for depreciation and depletion and what you get for selling it.

If your investments have a net capital loss, you can deduct up to $3,000 of the loss against your income annually if filing jointly, ($1,500 married when filing separately). If your losses exceed the annual limit, you may carry losses forward to future years, deducting up to $3,000 per year against your income until your capital losses are exhausted.

A WORD ABOUT DIVIDENDS

Qualified dividends are eligible for more favorable capital gains tax rates, while unqualified dividends are taxed as ordinary income.