Well, looks like taxact might have been right after all. That $3,000 made no difference to the bottom line of the return, so I can used the entire $4,111 this year. Here's the response from tech support:
Dear TaxACT(R) Customer:
Please see the information below to gain a better understanding of why TaxAct carried forward the $4111 you mentioned in your email.
You may deduct capital losses up to the amount of your capital gains, plus $3,000 ($1,500 if married filing separately). If part of the loss is still unused, you can carry it forward to later years until it is completely depleted. This "unused loss" includes any amount appearing on Line 13 of Federal Form 1040 that is not of benefit to the bottom line of the return. While the amount will appear on that line, the worksheet calculation will take into account that the amount is not actually being used in the current year, and the entire amount will transfer through the worksheet to the following year when import is done from one year to the next.
Any capital loss carryover to the following tax year will be calculated in TaxACT, and if the return is imported to the following year's return, the amount will automatically be transferred.
There are worksheets in the TaxACT program,
Capital Loss Carryover and
Capital Loss Carryforward, which reflect the amount of capital loss carried over from the prior year and the amount to be carried forward to the following year.
To view either of these worksheets in TaxACT:
TaxACT Desktop Users:
1. Click on the
Forms icon in the toolbar to open the Forms View
2. Expand the Federal view
3. Expand the Worksheets view
4. Scroll down and double click
Schedule D Capital Loss - Carryover from Prior Years or
Schedule D Capital Loss - Carryforward to Next Year
For additional information please refer to the
Schedule D Instructions or
Publication 550.
Please note that the links in the information above are updated each year automatically. The links will take you to the most recent IRS version of the form instructions or publication at the time it is accessed.
Thank you for using TaxACT. Please let us know if you have any further questions.
TPS-Deb Rowley
TaxACT TaxPayer Support Services