Our taxable income, including capital gains, for 2013 was ~$52,000. Capital gains amounted to ~$20,000. I used H&R Block Taxcut to file our taxes (married couple filing jointly).
Because we have a large capital loss carryforward, the program used ~$20,000 of our capital loss carryforward to offset the capital gain. So Form 1040, Line 13 had an entry of minus $3,000 (because our cap loss carryforward was much greater than $20,000).
However, in retrospect, I would have preferred to report the capital gain--as we would have had no tax liability on it--and not used up part of the capital loss carryforward. The reason that we would have had no capital gain tax liability is that our taxable income was less than $72,500.
Am I correct that I could have elected not to offset the tax loss carryforward and still not have had any tax liability for the capital gain? If so, how to I file an amended return to accomplish this objective? In particular, how do I "force" that amended Sch D not to offset the capital gain against the capital loss carryforward?
Thank you.