If you plan to engage in a wash sale involving an IRA or another retirement account, it is important to be aware that special tax rules may apply.

Where a taxpayer sells securities at a loss and purchases substantially identical securities in the taxpayer’s IRA or Roth IRA, the IRS in Revenue Ruling 2008-5 has determined that the wash sale rules apply to such a sale and the loss is disallowed.  The basis of the securities in the IRA is increased by the amount of the loss (but the basis of the IRA itself is not increased).