1000nam writes (in part):

To qualify for the capital loss do I have to suspend the dividend reinvestment for at least a month and then sell the shares?

I reply:

Possibly not. The wash sale rule does apply to mutual funds. However, if you have never redeemed any money from that fund, you are eligible to specifically identify your withdrawals. Wait until February 29, and then specifically identify your most recent reinvestments as part of the shares being withdrawn. (Your March 31 reinvestment will fall outside the wash sale period.) In any event, only the number of shares that were reinvested within the 30 day period (before or after the sale) will be subject to the wash sale rule; to the extent you redeem more shares than that, you may claim the loss. In other words, if you sell 10 shares and your reinvestments subject to the wash sale rule total only 2 shares, you can still claim the loss on 8 shares. --Bob