Mary, a single taxpayer, purchased 10,000 shares of § 1244 stock several years ago at a cost of $20 per share.
In Nov of the current year, Mary received an offer to sell the stock for $12 per share.
She has the option of either selling all of the stock now or selling half of the stock now and half of the stock in Jan of next year.
Mary will receive a salary of $80,000 for the current year and $90,000 next year.
Mary will have long-term capital gains of $8,000 for the current year and $10,000 next year.
If Mary’s goal is to minimize her AGI for the two years,:
• Determine whether she should sell all of her stock this year or
• Half of her stocks this year and half-next year.