@saulgoodman
<<So in your scenario, is it a wash sale because you made a loss on one set of purchases while you might have made a profit at another? To clarify, if the stock had gone down to $9, would it have been a wash sale regardless of which lot of shares you sold, just because you purchased shares 30 days prior? That would technically mean that almost any short-term trading loss would result in a wash sale>>
the wash loss is date dependent, not price dependent. The IRS wants to prevent you from creating a loss just to take a tax deduction. And they figure if you sold a security and bought it back within 30 days either side of that loss, that was your motivation - to take the loss on your taxes.
no, in my scenario, it is a wash sale simply beacuse there is a lot that remains outstanding that was purchased within 30 days of the loss transaction.
yes, it would still have been a wash loss sale even at $9 per share because of the remaining lot on May 1 which is within 30 days of the loss sake. it's the date that matters and not the price.
it you have a short term trading loss and exited the positon entirely, you can take the loss on your taxes. there is no lot purchased 30 days either side of the loss transaction that remains, so there is no wash sale transaction.
