Understand how wash sales affect RSU vesting with real 2025 Meta examples. Learn when losses are disallowed, how cost basis adjustments work, and what to watch for with monthly vests.
As someone who didn't sell the Q1 vest and are considering selling this time, this is the exact situation I am in. What a timely post! Super helpful as always
Thanks for clearly explaining! I am wondering if then the best practice to sell RSUs is right after the vest (e.g. next day?), and only then? In this case, the last sale of RSU would be at-least 89 days before the next vesting date. This would not turn into a wash sale, am I right?
Great post. Wash sales can be tricky and get trickier if they are done in IRA because the basis does not get adjusted. Also, IRS treats IRA and taxable accounts owned by the same person as related parties, even though 1091, for now, has no related party rule. So, if you sell in taxable and buy in IRA within the 30-day window, it will trigger wash sale.
Given the lost added to the cost basis of the newly purchased shares, is it our own responsibility to keep track of this for filling tax return? Or generally the 1099B would adjust accordingly?
As someone who didn't sell the Q1 vest and are considering selling this time, this is the exact situation I am in. What a timely post! Super helpful as always
Exactly what I was looking for. Best substack ever!
About to join Meta and reading all this is exciting tbh
Thank you for your post. I have a follow-up question regarding the wash sale rule.
Here's my scenario:
1. 5/15/2025: Vesting date
2. Sell all shares from the 5/15/2025 vest (resulting in a $1,000 loss) on 5/30 (within the 30-day window)
3. Sell all shares from the 2/2025 vest (resulting in a $10,000 loss) within the 30-day window
3. Sell all shares from the 2/2024 vest (resulting in a $15,000 gain) within the 30-day window
Would my scenario above trigger a wash sale, or would the loss be realized, resulting in a tax on the $4,000 gain ($15,000 - $11,000)?
Thanks for clearly explaining! I am wondering if then the best practice to sell RSUs is right after the vest (e.g. next day?), and only then? In this case, the last sale of RSU would be at-least 89 days before the next vesting date. This would not turn into a wash sale, am I right?
Great post. Wash sales can be tricky and get trickier if they are done in IRA because the basis does not get adjusted. Also, IRS treats IRA and taxable accounts owned by the same person as related parties, even though 1091, for now, has no related party rule. So, if you sell in taxable and buy in IRA within the 30-day window, it will trigger wash sale.
Thank you! A few questions:
- What if the Meta employee only sells stocks from the Q2 vest?
- What if Q1 shares are sold during some open window in the future when the stock is above water?
- is it different if the loss is long term? ie. the Q1 stocks under water are sold sometime in 2026?
This post is super helpful.
Given the lost added to the cost basis of the newly purchased shares, is it our own responsibility to keep track of this for filling tax return? Or generally the 1099B would adjust accordingly?
Your broker will track it. Often you will see a nice “w” symbol next to the lot.
It can get tricky if you do it across accounts or people in your household. In that case you would need to manually track.