Capital Gains Tax Calculator 2026: Short & Long Term

Short-term vs long-term: the one-year line

When you sell a stock, fund, crypto, or property for more than you paid, the profit is a capital gain. How it's taxed depends on how long you held it. Hold more than one year and it's a long-term gain, taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20%. Hold one year or less and it's a short-term gain, taxed exactly like your paycheck, at ordinary rates from 10% to 37%. The IRS counts from the day after you bought to the day you sold, so selling one day too early can more than double the tax.

Gain = amount realized (sale price minus commissions and selling costs) − cost basis (what you paid plus purchase fees and improvements). Inherited assets usually get a basis stepped up to the value on the date of death, and they're treated as long-term no matter how briefly you held them.

2026 long-term capital gains brackets

These apply to sales in tax year 2026, reported on returns filed in 2027, per IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The thresholds are based on your total taxable income, including the gain.

0% rate: taxable income up to $49,450 single or married filing separately, $98,900 married filing jointly, $66,200 head of household.

15% rate: up to $545,500 single, $613,700 married filing jointly, $579,600 head of household, $306,850 married filing separately.

20% rate: taxable income above those amounts.

On top of that, the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax applies to the smaller of your investment income or the amount your modified AGI exceeds $200,000 single, $250,000 married filing jointly, or $125,000 married filing separately. Those thresholds are set by law and not adjusted for inflation, so more people cross them every year.

How the stacking works

Long-term gains sit on top of your ordinary income. Your salary and other income fill the brackets first; the gain fills whatever room is left in the 0% band, then the 15% band, then 20%. That's why the same gain can be taxed at different rates for different people, and even partly at 0% and partly at 15% for one person.

Short-term gains are simply added to your ordinary income. The tax is the difference between the tax on your income with the gain and the tax without it.

Worked examples

Single, $85,000 of other taxable income, $30,000 long-term gain. Income already exceeds the $49,450 top of the 0% band, and $115,000 total is well under $545,500, so the whole gain is taxed at 15%: $4,500 federal. Had you sold within a year, the gain would be taxed at 22% and 24%: $6,786. Waiting past the one-year mark saves $2,286.

Single, $40,000 of other taxable income, $30,000 long-term gain. The first $9,450 of gain fills the rest of the 0% band tax-free; the remaining $20,550 is taxed at 15%. Total: $3,082.50, an effective 10.3% on the gain.

Married filing jointly, $80,000 of other taxable income, $40,000 long-term gain: $18,900 at 0% and $21,100 at 15%, for $3,165.

Single, $400,000 of other taxable income, $300,000 long-term gain: $145,500 at 15% and $154,500 at 20%, for $52,725, plus $11,400 of NIIT on the full gain. Total federal: $64,125.

Legal ways to pay less

Hold past one year. The single biggest lever for most people.

Harvest losses. Selling losers offsets gains dollar for dollar, and up to $3,000 of net loss ($1,500 married filing separately) offsets ordinary income each year, with the rest carried forward indefinitely. Don't buy the same or a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after, or the wash sale rule disallows the loss.

Use the 0% band on purpose. In a low-income year, such as early retirement, a sabbatical, or between jobs, you can realize gains at 0% and reset your cost basis higher.

Use the home sale exclusion. If you owned and lived in your home for at least two of the last five years, up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 married filing jointly) is tax-free. Enter only the gain above the exclusion here.

Give appreciated shares instead of cash. Donating long-held stock to charity avoids the gain entirely and can give you a deduction for the full value if you itemize.

What this calculator doesn't cover

Collectibles such as art, coins, and precious metals, including many gold ETFs, are taxed at up to 28%. Depreciation on rental property is recaptured at up to 25%. Qualified small business stock may be partly or fully excluded. State taxes vary: several states have no income tax, and most others tax capital gains as regular income, so enter your state rate for a rough estimate. For large or complicated sales, run the numbers with a tax professional before you sell, not after.