Week 42 Day 2: The Wash Sale Rule: The IRS Trap You Must Avoid

If you sell a security at a loss and buy the same or 'substantially identical' security within 30 days (before or after the sale), the IRS disallows the loss. This is the wash sale rule, and violating...

If you sell a security at a loss and buy the same or 'substantially identical' security within 30 days (before or after the sale), the IRS disallows the loss. This is the wash sale rule, and violating it wastes your tax-loss harvest completely. The 30-day window applies in both directions.