Question: If I have $103,000 short-term capital losses in year 1, and carry over $100k of them to Year2, and:
- $50k short-term gains in Y2; and
- $40k long-term capital gains in Y2;
Do I *have* to use my carryforwards to offset the long-term capital gains in Y2 ? In other words, could I elect not to apply those carryforwards, in the hope of applying them (more profitably) to short -term capital gains in Y3.
Assume marginal income tax rate 37% in all years. Obviously, the value of applying the carryforwards to offset short-term capital gains (equal to 37% of those gains), would make them more "valuable" than using them to offset long-term capital gains in Y2 (20%). I'd rather pay the 20% long-term rate and bank them.
If this is allowed, how do I achieve it in Turbotax?
