at-risk rule

At-Risk Rule

In tax law, a rule disallowing investors from deducting more investment money from their taxable income than they have actually invested. For example, if one places $10,000 in a stock and would otherwise derive $15,000 in tax deductions from the investment, the at-risk rule only allows the investor to deduct $10,000. The rule exists to prevent a person from investing in a way that avoids taxes excessively.

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at-risk rule

A law that limits tax write-offs to the amount of money directly invested (and thus, at risk) in an asset. The purpose of an at-risk rule is to prohibit investors from deriving tax benefits that exceed the amount of money actually invested.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.