TAX LOT SALE OPTIMIZER · RUNS IN YOUR BROWSER · NOTHING UPLOADED

Which shares should I sell to pay the least tax?

Selling the same number of shares can cost very different tax depending on which lots you sell. Most brokers default to oldest-first. Paste your purchase lots, say how much cash you need, and the tool works out the exact shares to sell from each lot, what it saves against FIFO, LIFO and highest-cost-first, and whether waiting a few days for a lot to turn long-term is worth the risk.

Planning arithmetic on numbers you type in. Not legal, tax or financial advice. The example figures are placeholders, not a recommendation or a real account.

1. Your lots (one security)

One line per purchase: date, shares, cost per share. Dates as 2024-03-15 or 3/15/2024. Copy them from your broker's cost-basis page.

2. Your tax rates and this year so far

Questions people ask

Which lots should I sell to raise cash with the least tax?

Usually a mix. Lots sold at a loss lower the tax bill, lots held more than a year are taxed at the lower long-term rate, and among lots of the same kind the highest-cost ones give the smallest gain. The best mix depends on your gains and losses already realized this year, so the tool searches every split between short-term and long-term lots and shows the lowest-tax plan next to FIFO, LIFO and highest-cost-first.

What is specific identification and how do I use it?

Specific identification means telling your broker exactly which lots to sell instead of letting the default method pick, which at most brokers is first-in, first-out. You choose the lots before the trade settles, through the broker's cost-basis or lot-selection setting on the order ticket, and keep a record. The table lists the shares to sell from each lot so you can enter them.

How does the tool decide a lot is long-term?

A lot is long-term when the sale date is more than one year after the purchase date. A sale on the first anniversary is still short-term; the next day is long-term. The waiting table re-runs the plan on the dates short-term lots turn long-term, so you can see what a few days of patience is worth before you accept the price risk.

Does it handle the wash-sale rule?

It warns, it does not apply the rule. If the plan sells shares at a loss while you still hold shares bought in the 30 days before the sale, part of the loss can be disallowed, and so can a loss if you buy the same security again within 30 days after. Purchases in other accounts, including a spouse's or an IRA, can also trigger it, and the tool cannot see them.

What tax rates should I enter?

Your federal rate on ordinary income (short-term gains are taxed at it), your long-term capital-gains rate, your state rate on gains, and 3.8 for the net investment income tax if your income is over its threshold, otherwise 0. The tool embeds no tax tables because they change; check the current ones or ask your tax preparer.

Is this tax or financial advice?

No. It is arithmetic on the rates and amounts you type, with simplifications: one security, one sale date, one price, a flat rate per character, and no alternative minimum tax. It does not decide your tax. Confirm the plan with your tax adviser or broker before you trade.

Not decided

Your actual tax: alternative minimum tax, the phase-outs of other deductions, the income-based bracket your gain lands in (one flat rate per character is used), state rules, collectibles and real-estate-fund rates, covered-versus-noncovered lot rules, mutual-fund average cost, and wash sales across accounts or relatives. It also cannot see what the price does while you wait. One security and one sale date at a time.

Related tools: the CD and Treasury ladder planner, the tax-loss harvesting calculator for year-end loss selling, the wash sale checker, the covered call and wheel calculator if you sell options on shares you keep, and the quarterly estimated tax calendar for the payment the sale may add.