For the $3000 Long-Term Capital Loss carryover on my Schedule D, do I have to take that every year?

Question

Or can I refuse to take it during a year that I had no income? I don't want to use it when I don't need it, and would prefer to save it for a year that I had income.

Answer 1

Yes, you still have to take it every year until it's exhausted. You use up $3000 of your carryover every year even if you don't have any gains to take it against. If you had a gain larger than $3000 you would use up whatever part of the carryover it took to zero that out. But you can't skip years and keep the whole carryover for later years.

Answer 2

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