Covered call selling and wash sale or potential IRS problems?

A wash sale occurs if you buy substantially identical replacement shares within 30 days before or 30 days after realizing a loss. If your last purchase was 4 months ago and you don't buy the stock back for 30 days after realizing a loss then there will be no wash sale. Note that this pertains to the date of the realized loss not "after writing the call".

A wash sale has no tax consequences if you are completely out of the stock by the end of the year and remain out for 30 days. It only comes into play if you carry an adjusted wash sale position into the next year.

Another thought for your consideration: If you're willing to forego the $1 of premium and there's a $10 call trading for 1/2 the price of an $8 call, consider a Repair Strategy. It will get you out at break even if your stock rallies to $10. You must have spread approval from your broker to do this.

If the call is exercised, that means that the price of the stock went above $8 but you sold it for $8 for a net loss of $3 per share. No wash sale rules will apply since the position was exited in the same tax year and you're not planning to buy any more stock for >30 days.

If it is not exercised, that means that the stock went below $8 and your paper losses have grown (less the $1 that you got in premium). Wash sale rules do not apply since you haven't yet realized a loss. If you do sell the position for a loss at some point you'll just need to not buy back for 30 days to avoid any potential wash sale implications.