When do I pay tax on a premium I earn by selling a call option. Let’s say I have 100 stocks of a company abc. I open an options contract “Call Sell” on 12/24/2020 at a certain strike

[gudka-bhavik]

Let’s say I received a premium of 500 dollars for opening this contract and I plan to keep it open till expiry date in Jan 2022. Will I be taxed in 2020 or in 2022?

[DJS]

Both long and short options for the purposes of pure options positions receive similar tax treatments. Gains and losses are calculated when the positions are closed or when they expire unexercised. In the case of call or put writes, all options that expire unexercised are considered short-term gains.

[gudka-bhavik]

Thank you @DJS. Does this mean that I will need to pay taxes on this premium in 2023 for the tax year 2022?

[DJS · Accepted solution]

You'll pay tax on the premiums in the year that the options are either exercised or expire, whatever tax year that may be. 

The premiums received from selling call options are classified as capital gains. A gain is not realized until an option expires or is bought back with an off-setting buy order. If sold call options expire worthless, the whole premium received is classified as a short-term capital gain.

[fanfare]

@gudka-bhavik 

if you collect a big profit on that trade in 2022 you made need to pay an estimated tax payment in 2022.

[gudka-bhavik]

Thanks for the tip. I was not sure if I declare it in 2020 when I receive the premium or 2022 when the contract will expire. I will check more about the rules related to estimated payments.