Can I choose to not offset this year's gain with carryover?

Question

Say if I have a ST loss carryover of $10,000 and a ST gain of just 8,000 this year but a LT gain of 12,000 this year. Can I choose to just offset the 8,000 ST gain and pay taxes for the 12,000 LT gain this year, and carry the remaining 2,000 of ST loss over to next year?

Yes, v b, it is related to the ESPP loss. I knew it's probably long-term but wanted to understand the scenario anyway if it's not. I made another mistake this year -- should have held onto the long-term investment until this mess is all cleared.

Answer 1

No.

Follow the form.

(By the way, does the loss have anything to do with your ESPP question? I thought you had owned that stock a little over a year, which would make the loss long term.)

Answer 2

No, you lose $3000 off the carryover each year whether you use it or not, so you might as well use it against the LT gain since otherwise you'll get no benefit from it at all. You can't just save it until the next ST gain.