You generally think of tax loss harvesting as a year-end strategy. And it truly is a good one.

But it’s also a “whenever you need it” strategy.

For example, say you used a lot of “kick the can down the road” strategies this year and need a big loss to offset gains in 2024. You can set up that accomplishment now.

When you make what turns out to be an ill-fated investment in a taxable brokerage firm account, the good news is that you can harvest a tax-saving capital loss by selling the loser security. Right? Well, maybe not.

You could destroy that loss deduction by running afoul of the dreaded wash sale rule.

Let’s say you have harvesting tax losses to offset gains on your mind. Here’s the current story on

how the wash sale rule works,

a couple of ways to defeat it,

some questionable IRS positions on the subject, and

whether the rule applies to cryptocurrency losses. ... Log in to view full article.