Can a parent's short-term capital loss be used to offset child's capital gain if filed on the same IRS return?

My son's custodial account has ~2k of short-term gains for TY07. I'm wondering if I can use a short term capital loss from my own account to offset his gain.Can a parent's short-term capital loss be used to offset child's capital gain if filed on the same IRS return?
You cannot add a child's capital gain to a parent's tax return. (If you look at the form, it talks about ';capital gain distributions'; which is a different form of income.)





If your son has $2000 of realized capital gains (as in something was sold), then it goes on HIS tax return, not yours.


You will need to file a 1040 for him with a schedule D .





When you say custodial account, I'm assuming a bank or college account that issues a 1099 at the end of the year, not a tax deferred account like a QTP or ESA.