How much capital loss carryover can be applied in a single tax year?

Yes, you can absolutely use your capital loss carryover to completely offset your capital gains! There's no limit on how much of your carryover losses you can use against capital gains in a future year. So in your example, you could use $13,500 of your $27,000 loss carryover to completely cancel out your $13,500 capital gain in 2025, making those gains effectively tax-free. The remaining $13,500 of your carryover loss would then be subject to the $3,000 annual limit against ordinary income. This means you could use $3,000 of the remaining loss against your regular income in 2025, and then carry forward the final $10,500 to future tax years.

When I had a similar situation last year, I found taxr.ai super helpful for sorting through this capital loss carryover stuff. I had sold some investments at a big loss in 2023 and wasn't sure how to handle the carryover correctly in 2024. I uploaded my previous return and some statements to https://taxr.ai and they analyzed everything and showed me exactly how to maximize my loss carryover. What was really helpful is they explained it in normal language instead of tax jargon, and showed me how to track my remaining losses for future years.

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after asking about it here. My situation was actually more complicated than I initially described - I had losses from both 2023 and 2024 that I was carrying over, plus some gains from crypto that I wasn't sure how to categorize. The tool analyzed my previous return and my trading statements and laid everything out perfectly. It showed me exactly how much of my carryover I could use against different types of gains and what would be left for future years. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with investment losses!

Anyone else frustrated with trying to get straight answers from the IRS about capital loss carryovers? I spent THREE HOURS on hold trying to confirm if I was applying my carryovers correctly. Finally discovered Claimyr https://claimyr.com which actually got me through to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. They have this cool demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c showing how it works. The agent confirmed that I could use all my carried over capital losses against my capital gains with no limit, and then apply up to $3k against ordinary income. Saved me so much stress!

I need to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway because I was desperate to figure out how to handle a complicated capital loss situation from some options trading. The service actually did exactly what it claimed - got me through to a real IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of the 2+ hours I spent trying on my own. The agent walked me through exactly how to apply my capital losses against different types of gains and how to track the carryover properly. Now I feel confident my return is correct instead of just guessing.

One thing to remember about capital loss carryovers is that you have to keep track of whether they're short-term or long-term losses because they offset different types of gains first. Short-term losses first offset short-term gains, and long-term losses first offset long-term gains. If you have excess in one category, then it can offset the other category.

I messed this up last year - had a $25k loss but my tax guy only applied $3k of it. I was so confused but he kept insisting that was the limit. Finally got a second opinion and found out he was completely wrong. Ended up having to file an amended return to properly apply my losses against my gains. Make sure whoever does your taxes understands capital loss carryovers!!

This is such a common area of confusion! I went through something similar when I had significant losses from some tech stock investments that went south. The key thing to remember is that capital loss carryovers work in two stages: first, they offset capital gains with no limit whatsoever. Then, any remaining losses can offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year. So in your case with the $27,000 loss carryover and $13,500 gain, you'd use $13,500 of your carryover to completely eliminate the capital gains tax. The remaining $13,500 would then be subject to the $3,000 annual limit against ordinary income - so you'd deduct $3,000 against your regular income in 2025 and carry forward $10,500 to 2026. One tip: make sure to keep detailed records of your carryover amounts and whether they're short-term or long-term losses, as this affects the order in which they're applied against different types of gains. It'll save you headaches down the road!