We provide ten automated tax strategies for selling your securities. One click automates the entire tax lot selection process—every trade you make in your account will be based on the strategy you select.
What are tax lots?
Tax lots are records that track the date of purchase and sale, cost basis, and transaction size for each security in an account portfolio. Each of your security holdings will have at least one tax lot. If you purchased a security on multiple occasions, each purchase will be represented by a tax lot.
Strategies to Minimize Capital Gains
- Maximize Losses/Minimize Gains, Tax Weighted
Adjust short-term gains/losses based on capital gains tax rates. Sell shares in the order of largest loss to largest gain. - Maximize Losses/Minimize Gains
Sell shares with the largest losses first, largest gains last, regardless of long- or short-term tax status.
Strategies to Maximize Capital Gains
- Maximize Gains/Minimize Losses, Tax Weighted
Adjust short-term gains/losses based on capital gains tax rates. Sell shares in the order of largest gain to largest loss. - Maximize Gains/Minimize Losses
Sell shares with the largest gains first, largest losses last, regardless of long- or short-term tax status.
Other Strategies to Manage Capital Gains and Losses
- First In – First Out
Sell shares in the order that they were purchased from oldest to most recent. - Last In – First Out
Sell shares in reverse order of purchase from most recent to oldest. - Maximize Short-Term Losses
Sell shares with short-term losses (large to small), then long-term losses (large to small), then long-term gains (small to large), then short-term gains (small to large). - Maximize Long-Term Losses
Sell shares with long-term losses (large to small), then short-term losses (large to small), then short-term gains (small to large), then long-term gains (small to large). - Maximize Long-Term Gains
Sell shares with long-term gains (large to small), then short-term gains (large to small), then short-term losses (small to large), then long-term losses (small to large). - Maximize Short-Term Gains
Sell shares with short-term gains (large to small), then long-term gains (large to small), then long-term losses (small to large), then short-term losses (small to large).