Carryover Business Loss

[BillieT]

I have a home based, trading securities business in retirement. I had 122,000.00 in excess loss in 2023 that I want to carryover to 2024. Can I just enter it as a negative number in the business income section on TurboTax?

[Mike9241]

on what forms did you report gains and losses in 2023.

it is unclear if you are, based on IRS criteria, a trader or investor, or even something else. A trader or investor would normally report gains and losses and capital gains and losses and is subject to the wash sale rules. The exception is for a trader who made a valid 475F election. Then trading gains and losses are ordinary but reported on form 4797 line 10 and are not subject to wash sale rules because any unrealized gains or losses at the beginning and end of the year must be taken into account. 

[BillieT]

Hi Mike, thanks for reply to my post. I’m a trader, not an investor. I lumped all my retirement trading accounts into one entity, my trading business. I started the business in 2023. I had one very bad trade that wiped out all my income for the entire year, (lesson learned). I don’t know forms; I trust turbo tax for that. In reviewing the PDF for 2023 I found -125300.00 on line 3, schedule 1, also, -122497.00 on Schedule C, lines 6 and 7; -125300.00 on schedule C lines 29 and 31. On schedule C form 8995-A I found (125300.00) on lines 3 and 6. Also Qualified Business Income, (loss), column a,  -125300.00, on that same form. Also on schedule A, form 8995-A, line 11, -125300.00. I hope that answers your question. My accounting system is cash.

[BillieT]

One more thing, My broker, Schwab, does the wash sales calculating. I use the totals after they do that.