The wash-sale rule (US) prevents realising a tax loss without truly stepping out of the position. It applies before and after the sale — a 61-day window in total.
It also applies to purchases in related accounts (spouse's, IRA). Practical workaround for tax-loss harvesting: swap into a similar-but-not-identical fund (e.g. one S&P 500 ETF for another vendor's total-market ETF).
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Open Financial OS →Frequently asked questions
What counts as substantially identical?
The IRS hasn't defined it precisely. Same-index ETFs from different providers are widely considered safe; the same fund is not.