What is the tax law for options investing concerning selling for losses?

I do a lot of options trading, I have some longer term options that are way down but I am sure that in the long run they will be way up....If I sell them now for tax benefits (loss), can I pick them right back up but for a different month or different strike price...that is, is each option treated as a different investment or are all options on the same stock treated as the same investment?

If you sell your options now, then this loss will be applicable to your taxes for this year...but the transactions MUST clear before Dec. 31.
So these losses will offset your gains.

If you want to buy these same options, you SHOULD NEVER buy them within 30 days of the sale transaction date. This is called a Wash, and you will NOT receive the benefit of claiming these as a loss. So avoid the burn of getting hit with the Wash-Sale Rule.

Trust me on this. I wish I would have had this lesson taught to me besides by anyone/anything BESIDES the IRS...
Once this 30 days passes, than you can pick them up again. The strike price is irrelevant....

hope this helped

You should ask this in the taxes section but I know that if you sell, you can claim the loss up to $3000 a year and it does carry forward. You can buy the same options after 1 month. Otherwise it counts as a wash sale and no loss is allowed as a deduction.

An option on the same security or stock, no matter what the strike price, would be considered the same instrument for IRS purposes. Wait the 30 days as suggested to avoid wash sale, you may even get a better price.

sorry i'm unabile to help you on this one.