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Tax loss harvesting

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 2:26 am
by halfmanhalfsenbei
I have both NISA and taxable accounts with Rakuten sec.
Mostly global indexes, but also some US individual stocks.
After a bumpy few months, some of the US stocks are at a loss.
I would like to hold onto them, rather than sell completely, but I wonder if it would be worth selling then rebuying to benefit from tax loss harvesting.
I guess this would only apply to stocks in the taxable account, and leave the NISA alone.
Any advice or comments hugely appreciated :)
Cheers

Re: Tax loss harvesting

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 2:31 am
by RetireJapan
The exchange rate might screw that up and make it less useful. For US heavy indexes and single US stocks, the weak yen may largely cancel out the stock price losses.

Re: Tax loss harvesting

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 2:53 am
by zeroshiki
If you have gains that you want to offset and you're sure about holding onto these stocks past this year then I don't see why it would hurt (although make sure the fees on your broker don't screw you over).

Also, under no circumstance should you sell the ones in NISA because you lose that allowance.

Re: Tax loss harvesting

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:47 am
by halfmanhalfsenbei
Thanks for the replies.
Ah, sorry, rookie here, so TLH is basically used to cancel out the tax on gains realized in a given year?
So selling the losers to reduce tax on the winners?
I do have a couple of oil stocks which were short-term bets and are up significantly this year.
Maybe a good opportunity to sell some losers (US tech) and realize some gains from the winners.
Of course the risk is that the losers rebound after I sell them.

Re: Tax loss harvesting

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:12 am
by TokyoWart
Ah, sorry, rookie here, so TLH is basically used to cancel out the tax on gains realized in a given year?
If TLH is done in a Japan-domiciled account the losses can also offset dividend income this year. You get a refund on the dividend taxes withheld (paid in late December in my experience).

In the US TLH has the advantage that your capital gains tax rate might be high now when you TLH and lower in retirement or you can TLH to maximize the unrealized gains in shares and then give them to charity (for those charitably inclined) or leave them to your heirs at which point the basis is reset so that taxes are never paid. In Japan TLH is handicapped by the fact that the capital gains tax rate is essentially the same for all income levels and inheritance/estate taxes are relatively high.