JohnB5677
Expert Alumni

Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Let's try an example:

 

September 9  An investor buys 100 shares of XYZ common stock for $58

October 12     The stock price closes at $56

October 13     The investor writes an XYZ December 55 call

                       This option is an in-the-money qualified covered call

November 14  The investor closes the XYZ December 55 call by making a closing purchase

November 16  XYZ stock goes ex-dividend to shareholders of record on November 18

December 2    The investor sells the XYZ stock

 

Tax treatment:

  • The investor is not entitled to the 15% rate on the dividend, because the stock was not held for 61 days during the required 121-day period.
  • The stock was deemed to be held from September 9 to October 13 (34 days) and from November 14 to December 2 (17 days) for a total of 51 days.
  • The period from October 13 to November 14 is not included in the holding period because of the in-the-money covered call.

Note: Writing an at-the-money or out-of-the-money covered call allows the holding period of the stock to continue. In the example above, had a 42.50-strike call or a 45-strike call been written with the stock price at $41, then the investor would have met the holding period requirement to be eligible for the lower tax rate of qualified dividends.

 

I recommend that you seek the advice of a Licensed Financial Adviser, because this isn't an area of TurboTax expertise. 

 

Please see  Covered Call Qualified Dividend

 

 

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