karoliukas

The main benefit of tax-loss harvesting is:

A) saving on current taxes.

B) saving on future taxes.

C) reducing both current and future taxes.

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Although tax loss harvesting saves on current taxes, the apparent tax savings in a given year are misleading. This is because when the security is sold and the proceeds are reinvested, the cost basis of the new, replacement security is the low sales price of the old security. In other words, when the old security is sold, the cost basis for future taxes is reduced, thereby resulting in higher taxes in the future.

karoliukas

When highest-in-first-out (HIFO) accounting is allowed, it is advisable for:

A) an investor to liquidate the portion of a position with the lowest cost basis first, thereby minimizing current taxes.

B) an investor to liquidate the portion of a position with the highest cost basis first, thereby minimizing future taxes.

C) an investor to liquidate the portion of a position with the highest cost basis first, thereby minimizing current taxes.

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If an investor has accumulated a security position through a series of trades each occurring at different points in time and at different prices and if HIFO accounting is allowed by the government, the investor can liquidate the portion of a position with the highest cost basis first. This minimizes current taxes. As with tax loss harvesting, the total taxes over time are unchanged with HIFO accounting.

karoliukas

On a graph where the risk is on the horizontal axis and the returns are on the vertical axis, the existence of taxes on investment returns would probably shift the mean-variance optimization portfolio:

A) down and to the left.

B) down and to the right.

C) down only, and there would not be a shift left or right.

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Taxes lower returns, but they also shift some of the investment risk to the government.