I exercised options and sold the stock from the exercise after owning the stock for a very short period - much less than a year. I will now owe short term capital gains on my 2018 return.
Before 2018 is over, is there any way I can defer those capital gains taxes?
Once you have a realized gain from the sale of a security, you owe taxes on it. The only way to reduce that taxable gain or make it 'disappear' is to harvest tax losses on other positions.
The limitation is that up to a maximum $3,000 of loss can be used to reduce your taxable income ($1,500 each if married filing separately).
If you are reinvesting the proceeds from the position(s) sold for losses, make sure not to run afoul of the "wash sale rule."
