Thank you for your help @Bsch4477 . I'm sorry if I wasn't clear.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the tax laws. I thought I HAD to pay capital gains to both the fed & the state of North Carolina. Is that wrong?
In our case, I believe we will fall under the "Taxable Income" threshold which will allow us 0% tax rate on federal capital gains tax. (I'm under the impression the feds use "taxable income" vs. AGI to calculate the rates. Please let me know if I'm wrong.) So, with 0% federal tax on capital gains (due to married low "taxable income").
Which leaves me with North Carolina state taxes. (I also thought North Carolina does NOT allow carry over of a loss deduction?)
I was under the impression NC taxes capital gains as income, which is a flat 5.25% flat income tax. So, I would assume any stocks I cash (all long term, for which I have gains) would be taxed at 5.25%. My question is, can I offset that same amount I would be taxed on if I also cashed out of stocks with the same amount of capital losses? (I'm wanting to avoid having to pay capital gains tax if I can.)
Example hoping to illustrate what I'm asking:
If I cash out 100 shares of company A, for $1,000 (cost basis $500), my gain is $500.
AND
If I cash out 50 shares of company B, for $5,000 (cost basis $5,500), my gain is -$500 (a loss).
SO... *(Edited to correct my math to show a $500 loss)*
I cash out $6,000 with $0 in capital gains overall.
These are made up numbers... but since in my scenario I would owe 0% to the fed in capital gains tax, I would be subject to NC income tax. My question is, for NC income tax, would I have 0% income tax on these stocks being sold and cashed out? Would the $500 gain and the $500 loss cancel each other out?
Thank you. I hope my question makes sense and I apologize if I'm asking it the wrong way.
