Can I choose how much of my prior year capital loss to carry over this year to offset gains? I’d like to only use part of it and save the rest for next year.

[rjs · Accepted solution]

No, you can't do that. You have no choice about when your capital loss carryover is used. The calculations have to be done as specified in the tax law, and there is only one way to do it. The full amount has to be carried over from one year to the next. Each year it is applied first to any capital gain that you have, and then up to $3,000 is applied against other income. You can't skip years or carry over less than the full amount.