Capital Gains Tax Calculator 2026

Long-term gains (assets held over a year) are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% depending on taxable income; short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income. The 0% rate applies to single filers with taxable income up to $49,450 in 2026.

Updated 2026-10-03 · 2026 IRS figures

Tax on this gain$3,00015.0% effective rate on the gain

Federal capital gains tax	$3,000
Net investment income tax (3.8%)	$0
State tax	$0
Gain kept	$17,000

Gain kept $17,000 85.0%
Federal $3,000 15.0%

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Key 2026 federal tax facts

For 2026, Social Security tax of 6.2% applies to wages up to $184,500, up from $176,100 in 2025.
Medicare tax of 1.45% applies to all wages with no cap, plus a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly).
The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.
The seven federal income tax rates of 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37% were made permanent by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act.
In 2026 the 37% top rate applies to taxable income over $640,600 for single filers and over $768,700 for married couples filing jointly.
The Child Tax Credit is $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026, of which up to $1,700 is refundable.

Effective vs marginal tax rate

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

Hold an asset for more than one year before you sell it and the gain is long-term; hold it one year or less and it is short-term. The holding period starts the day after you acquire the asset and includes the day you sell. Buying a stock on March 10 and selling it on March 10 of the following year is still short-term; selling on March 11 makes it long-term.

Short-term gains are added to your wages and taxed at ordinary rates up to 37%. Long-term gains get their own lower rate schedule. Inherited property is always treated as long-term, no matter how soon after inheriting you sell it.

2026 long-term capital gains rates by filing status

The thresholds apply to total taxable income, including the gain itself, not to the gain alone.

Rate	Single	Married filing jointly	Head of household
0%	$0 – $49,450	$0 – $98,900	$0 – $66,200
15%	$49,450 – $545,500	$98,900 – $613,700	$66,200 – $579,600
20%	Over $545,500	Over $613,700	Over $579,600

How gains stack on top of your other income

Long-term gains are taxed as if they sit on top of your ordinary taxable income. Your wages fill the brackets first; the gain then fills whatever room is left in the 0% band before spilling into 15%.

Example: a single filer with $40,000 of wages has $23,900 of ordinary taxable income. That leaves $25,550 of room in the 0% band (which ends at $49,450). A $30,000 long-term gain is taxed at 0% on the first $25,550 and 15% on the rest, for $668 of federal tax, an effective 2.2% on the gain. Had the same asset been sold after eleven months, the gain would be taxed as ordinary income and cost $3,950.

This is why retirees and people between jobs sometimes realize gains in low-income years: the 0% band can absorb a meaningful amount of gain tax-free.

Gains that don’t follow the 0/15/20 schedule

Collectibles such as coins, precious metals held as collectibles, and art are taxed at a maximum 28% rate on long-term gains.
The taxable part of a gain on qualified small business stock under section 1202 is also subject to the 28% maximum rate.
Unrecaptured section 1250 gain — the depreciation you claimed on real estate such as a rental property — is taxed at up to 25% when you sell.
The 3.8% net investment income tax applies on top of these rates to the smaller of your net investment income or the amount by which modified AGI exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 married filing jointly).

Using losses, and the wash-sale trap

Capital losses first offset capital gains of the same type, then the other type. If losses exceed gains, up to $3,000 a year ($1,500 married filing separately) can be deducted against wages and other income, and anything left over carries forward to future years with no expiry.

If you sell a security at a loss and buy the same or a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after the sale, the loss is disallowed under the wash-sale rule. It is not lost forever: it is added to the cost basis of the replacement shares and reduces the gain when you eventually sell them.

Crypto, gifts and your home

Digital assets are property for US tax purposes, not currency, so selling, swapping or spending crypto is a taxable disposal measured against your cost basis. Brokers report digital asset sales on Form 1099-DA for transactions on or after January 1, 2025, and every Form 1040 asks whether you received, sold or exchanged a digital asset during the year.

Property you receive as a gift keeps the donor’s cost basis, so the donor’s unrealized gain becomes yours when you sell. Property you inherit generally gets a basis equal to its value at death, which is why inherited stock can often be sold with little tax.

Gain on a main home is excluded up to $250,000 ($500,000 joint) only if you owned it and lived in it for at least two of the five years before the sale, and you haven’t used the exclusion on another home in the previous two years. You still report the sale if you receive Form 1099-S or if part of the gain is taxable.

How to report a sale

List each sale on Form 8949 with the dates, proceeds and cost basis from your broker’s Form 1099-B (or 1099-DA for crypto), then carry the totals to Schedule D of Form 1040. Gains are not withheld at sale, so a large gain may require an estimated tax payment for the quarter in which you sell.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 2026 long-term capital gains brackets?

Single: 0% up to $49,450, 15% up to $545,500, 20% above. Married jointly: 0% up to $98,900, 15% up to $613,700.

Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell my home?

You can exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 married jointly) on a main home you owned and lived in for 2 of the last 5 years. This calculator does not apply that exclusion — subtract it from your gain first.

Is crypto taxed as a capital gain?

Yes, when you hold it as an investment. The IRS treats digital assets as property, so selling, trading one coin for another or paying for something with crypto creates a capital gain or loss. Coins received as payment or rewards are ordinary income when received.

Can capital losses reduce the tax on my salary?

Up to $3,000 a year ($1,500 married filing separately) after losses have offset all your gains. Unused losses carry forward indefinitely.

I inherited shares and sold them a month later. Is that short-term?

No. Inherited property is treated as held long-term regardless of how long you owned it, and its basis is generally its value on the date of death.

Do I pay state tax on capital gains?

In most states with an income tax, yes: gains are added to your other income and taxed at ordinary state rates. Pick your state in the calculator to include it.

Sources

Figures are taken from official government publications and were last reviewed on 2026-10-03.