how do taxes work on stocks

[fightclub34]

do you pay them each year on your gains and losses or do you have to pay just when you sell the stock. IVe owned google for 9 months now will i have to pay taxes on all my gains if i dont sell. or if i sold in 3 years do i pay taxes then

 

[LineTamer+]

Only pay tax on realized gain....the year in which you make the sale.

Pay tax on captial gains and dividends in year of distribution.

 

[EinsteinSys]

You pay taxes only when you sell. If you sell before one year, you pay short term gains. Sell after one year and you pay less taxes on long term gains. I've got most of my stocks in my IRA. With my ROTH I pay no taxes when I start to cash out. With my traditional IRA I pay taxes as income when I start to cash out. The nice thing about trading in my IRA is I don't have to worry about the headaches when Uncle Sam comes a knocking during tax time. Especially if you do a lot of buying and selling. Which I do with my favorite stock - SIRI. Be careful if you do buy and sell the same stock in a regular account. Read up on the WASH RULE.