<prompt> Human: So a few years back a friend of mine convinced me to buy the stock JAMN. Unfortunately I listened, and it looks like it will be going bankrupt. I purchased around 1500 of shares. I know if I were to sell the stock which right now it wont sell I can claim capital losses 3000 a year and get the 1500 back after I file taxes. My question is how does this process work if I literally cannot sell the stock?  <response>: I purchased around 1500 of shares. I know if I were to sell the stock which right now it wont sell I can claim capital losses 3000 a year and get the 1500 back after I file taxes.No, you wont get the 1500 back. You get to deduct 1500 of income and not pay taxes on that income. My question is how does this process work if I literally cannot sell the stock?If the stock is still listed on the exchange, it can be quite difficult or impossible to claim a capital loss on it. If it gets delisted, or if you can prove that its effectively worthless which can be quite hard to do, you can claim a 100 capital loss on it.See this for a bit more info. 