Tax Loss Harvesting
Offset capital gains with losses
🔒 Browser-side · Method · · Disclaimer · Tax Loss Harvesting
Tax Loss Harvesting turns the numbers behind offsetting capital gains with losses into an instant, step-by-step result. Fill in Capital Gains ($), Capital Losses ($) and Tax Rate (%) on Tax Loss Harvesting and read your answer immediately. Nothing in Tax Loss Harvesting is a black box. Tax Loss Harvesting replaces guesswork. Tax Loss Harvesting runs in your browser. Finance data stays in the tab. Looking for tax loss harvesting calculator offset gains losses or free online tax loss harvesting calculator? Tax Loss Harvesting covers both. Tax Loss Harvesting has no learning curve. The fields are labeled. No sign-up or email — Tax Loss Harvesting answers as you type.
What the defaults give
Against $10,000 of realised gains, $6,000 of harvested losses saves $1,320 of tax at 22%.
Net gain falls to $4,000, so $4,000 remains taxable and the loss offset is fully used.
The formula
Net gain = gains − losses
Losses used = min(losses, gains)
Tax saved = losses used × rate
Tax still owed = max(0, net gain) × rate
The minimum matters. Losses can only shelter gains you actually have, so a $12,000 loss against $10,000 of gains saves tax on $10,000 and leaves $2,000 to carry forward, not $12,000 of saving today.
Worked examples
10,000 gains, 6,000 losses, 22% → save $1,320; net $4,000 taxable
10,000 / 10,000 / 22% → save $2,200; net $0
10,000 / 12,000 / 22% → save $2,200; $2,000 carries forward
10,000 / 6,000 / 15% → save $900; net $4,000
10,000 / 6,000 / 32% → save $1,920; net $4,000
0 gains / 5,000 losses → save $0; loss carries to another year
The rate that matters
A harvested loss is worth the rate that would have applied to the gain it offsets. Short-term gains taxed as ordinary income at 32% make a loss worth 32 cents on the dollar; a long-term gain taxed at 15% makes the same loss worth half that. Selling a loser to offset a low-rate gain is often a poor trade, because the loss is consumed at the cheap rate.
Timing is the other half. A loss realised in December can only go back against gains already booked that year. If the gains are unrealised, the cheaper path may be to delay selling the winner rather than to sell a long-held loser purely for the offset.
What harvesting costs
The loss is real: you sold something below what you paid. The tax saving recovers only the rate, so a $6,000 loss at 22% returns $1,320 and leaves $4,680 of genuine loss unless the position was going to be sold anyway. Harvesting works best when you intended to exit, or when you immediately re-establish exposure in a similar but not identical holding.
Watch the wash-sale window: buying the same or a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after the sale disallows the loss. A replacement fund tracking a different index avoids that, but it is not the same position, and the tracking difference is a cost too. Carry-forward rules, and the annual limit on offsetting ordinary income, vary by country and are not modelled here.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much tax do $6,000 of losses save on $10,000 of gains?
$1,320 at a 22% rate. The losses offset $6,000 of the gain, leaving $4,000 still taxable.
What if losses are larger than gains?
Only the gain amount can be offset this year. $12,000 of losses against $10,000 of gains saves $2,200 and leaves $2,000 to carry forward.
Does the tax rate change the benefit?
Directly. The same $6,000 loss saves $900 at 15% and $1,920 at 32%, because it is worth the rate that would have applied to the offset gain.
Is harvestable loss the same as free money?
No. The loss is a real loss of capital; the tax saving returns only the rate. It makes sense when you intended to exit or can re-establish similar exposure cheaply.
What is the wash-sale rule?
Buying the same or substantially identical security within 30 days before or after the sale disallows the loss. The window and the annual ordinary-income offset limit differ by country.
Current Ratio Calculator and other Finance tools
Current Ratio Calculator · Loan Balance Calculator · Home Office Deduction · CAGR Calculator · ESPP Calculator (Stock Purchase Plan) · Stock Split Calculator · Finance Guides