In almost all cases, the trade date controls the tax-reporting year for a stock sale. That is, if you sell stock by the last trading day of this year, you report the sale on this year’s taxes. The exception occurs when you close out a short sale for a loss, in which case the settlement date controls the reportable tax year.
if your fund is in a dividend reinvestment program (DRIP), be very vary of inadvertent wash sales. for example; say it is in a DRIP. you sell 100 loss shares today. At year end the fund pays a dividend which is reinvested in 25 shares. this results in a non-deductible loss on 25 of the shares you sold. .
