Wash sales on a liquidated account

I'm having problems finding a tax code or IRS statement on point.

Is it accurate to say that there is no wash sale when you liquidate your holdings even if you bought a "replacement" security days before liquidating?

For example:

12/1/14 Buy 1 share @$10 12/1/16 Buy 1 share @$10 12/5/16 Sell 2 shares @$9 - complete liquidation

I've got a 1099 claiming that the sale of the first share is a wash sale, because the "replacement" share was purchased w/i 30 days of sale

12/5/16.

So instead of having a long term loss of $1 and a short term loss of $1, the 1099 washes out the first sale and adds its loss to the second share (making the second sale a $2 loss). Since it says this is a wash sale, it also changes the dates so that the second sale with the $2 loss is now a long term loss.

I don't believe the 1099 is correct.

FWIW, Kaye Thomas @ Fairmark writes that this is not a wash sale.

formatting link
(See the final comment in the thread, which is his take.)

Reply to
Mark Freeland
Loading thread data ...

I quite agree: not a wash sale. There has to be a share to attach the wash to after the sale. Hypothetically, though, suppose there were two sales:

12/1/14 Buy 1 share @$10 12/1/16 Buy 1 share @$10 12/5/16 Sell 1 share @$9 12/6/16 Sell 1 share @$9.

If FIFO is applied, the "wash sale: is the liquidating sale, so there is nothing to attach it to. If specific allocation is applied to make it LIFO, you probably do have a wash sale.

But I could be wrong.

-- Arthur L. Rubin, CRTP, AFSP, Brea, CA

Reply to
Arthur Rubin

If the loss is disallowed by the IRS because of the wash sale rule, the taxpayer has to add the loss to the cost of the new stock, which becomes the cost basis for the new stock.

Read more: Wash-Sale Rule

formatting link
Follow us: Investopedia on Facebook

Reply to
Taxed and Spent

BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.