The IRS is clear.
the gain on a short is always a short term capital gain.
The date you entered into the position is irrelevant.
In order to close a short you must go to the market and acquire some securities, in this case, some options.
The acquired date is the date you closed the short sale.
For Stocks, the disposed date is two business days later (settlement).
Options settle in one day.
If you have a gain, Date Disposed is the same date.
If an option that was granted (written) expired, enter the expiration date in column (b) and enter “Expired” in column (e).
From this you can see that a short is always a short term capital gain or loss, no matter how long you are short.
