Tax Guru-Ker$tetter Letter

Tuesday, October 08, 2002

All Talk & No Action

While the chances of anything actually being done this year are slim to none, at least the subject of some tax breaks for investors will be out in the open for the next few weeks in the form of campaign rhetoric.

Rather than holding your breath waiting for our rulers to do anything to help you out, you will need to take steps on your own to reduce your taxes. Of main concern this year is the insanely unfair capital loss limit of $3,000 per person or couple. If you have a lot of losses that would otherwise go to waste on your 2002 1040, you may want to consider selling some assets that will show profits. The wash sale rule, which disallows capital loss deductions when equivalent stock is repurchased within 30 days, doesn't apply when the sale has a profit. Obviously, close consultation with your personal tax advisor is required to fine tune your strategy for dealing with capital gains and losses.

KMK
- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 10/08/2002 04:43:00 PM Send this post: