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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bag of Pucks who wrote (22045)	10/27/2000 5:27:12 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

I am just trying to understand that myself...how and why's big brokerages, mutual funds, etc etc etc. do that....But perhaps if you go to the GNET home page ..www.Go2Net.com ... and under Metacrawler, put in "tax loss selling".....see what comes up....And please let us know what you find... KLP

To: Bag of Pucks who wrote (22045)	10/27/2000 7:50:54 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 28311

bosquedog put the info quite well, but here's some Tax Loss Selling info I was able to find... The sites listed below the article seem pretty good as well, particularly the one from the Treasury.... quicken.com Taxes Turning a Loss into a Tax Win By Mary Pitzer The roller coaster ride in the stock market this year has left many investors with unsettling losses to stomach. But don't despair if you are one of the unlucky owners of losing stocks or mutual funds. You still have a chance to make lemonade out of lemons if you sell a loser before December 31. That's because the Internal Revenue Service allows you to use realized capital losses to offset any capital gains; or up to $3,000 in ordinary income. In essence, your losers can become a smart tax-reducing tool. Now, of course, you shouldn't sell purely for tax reasons. Dump an investment only if it has truly poor long-term prospects, or simply no longer fits into your investment plan. But if either scenario fits, there's no need to hang on for sentimental reasons. "If you have a dog that won't hunt anymore, it's time to sell," says Rande Spiegelman, manager of investment advisory services at KPGM Peat Marwick in San Francisco. The first step is to make sure you have a loser. Let's say you invested $10,000 in a stock and it appreciated to $15,000 in 1997, but lost $2,000 in 1998. That's not a loss; you still have a nice $3,000 gain on your original investment. But if that $10,000 is now worth $8,000, that's a real loss. IRS rules for taking tax losses are straightforward: You can write off any amount of capital loss against an equal amount of capital gain. Once you run out of gains to be offset, you can apply as much as $3,000 in unused losses annually against ordinary income. Any additional capital losses can be carried forward to later years indefinitely. A savvy move is to use losses to offset any short-term gains, since those gains are taxed as ordinary income at your regular tax rate. While the top capital gains tax rate is 20%, ordinary income can be taxed at rates as high as 39.6%. Another tax strategy is to sell a stock that you still like, and then wait the IRS-mandated 31 days to buy back the stock. (Repurchase the same exact stock any sooner and you will run afoul of the IRS' wash-sale rule.) "If you are a long-term investor, 31 days will not make much of a difference," says Dean Mioli, personal financial planning manager at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in New York. "You're betting the price will not be much different, and if it goes down, you could be in an even better position to buy." Or if you don't want to wait the 31 days to plow the money back into the same stock, the IRS allows you to immediately reinvest the proceeds in any other stock of your choosing. Selling an underwater mutual fund can be especially prudent since some funds with negative returns still make large taxable distributions to investors. If you manage to sell your shares before the distribution is declared, you will avoid the double indignity of being stuck paying taxes on a fund investment that has had a losing year. The wash-sale rule is the same for funds as it is for individual stocks. Sell shares in the Eden fund and you'll have to wait 31 days before returning to Eden. Or you can immediately use your sale proceeds to purchase sales of any other fund. Once you complete all your loser-into-winner maneuvers, by all means, sit back and enjoy a tall glass of lemonade. rbt.treasury.gov.au Tax System Integrity This appears to be pretty comprehensive investorama.com Tax loss, and wash rules stocks.about.com Tax Planning - Capital Gains Tax usatoday.com Selling at a loss can lighten your tax load fool.com Tax Loss Selling - 1996 Motley Fools article (about middle of page) gsnews.com Goldman Sachs site.....must register first and if not paid, will be able to preview a summary