Capital Gains Tax Calculator
Compute United States federal capital gains tax: short-term (ordinary income) vs long-term (0/15/20%) plus NIIT and state tax. Uses the 2026 IRS brackets and the IRS NIIT rule. Free.
Capital Gains Tax Calculator
⚠ Disclaimer: Estimates only. Not investment advice. RECATOOLS is not a licensed or registered investment adviser in any jurisdiction. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Trading and investing carry risk of partial or total loss of capital.
US capital gains tax: short-term (held under 1 year) taxed as ordinary income; long-term (1+ year) at preferential 0/15/20% LTCG rate. Plus NIIT (3.8% for high earners) and state tax. The single biggest tax-savings lever for investors is the 1-year holding rule.
How to Use the Capital Gains Calculator
Use accurate cost basis
Original purchase price + reinvested dividends + commissions paid. Your brokerage 1099-B shows basis but verify against your records — basis errors are common, especially for old purchases or DRIP positions.
Check the holding period
An asset held for more than one year gives a long-term gain; one year or less, short-term (IRS Topic 409). Publication 550 explains that the holding period starts the day after you acquired the asset. For a position near the one-year mark, check the dates before selling.
Include other income for proper bracketing
Enter your other taxable income, because the rate on a long-term gain depends on where the gain lands on top of it. If you tick NIIT, the calculator charges 3.8% only on the part of the gain above $200,000 of income ($250,000 joint), using your income plus the gain as a stand-in for MAGI.
Consider tax-loss harvesting
Losses elsewhere offset this gain first. If losses exceed gains, up to $3,000 a year ($1,500 married filing separately) can reduce other income, and the rest carries forward. A loss is disallowed under the wash-sale rule if you buy substantially identical stock or securities within 30 days before or after the sale.
Capital Gains Tax — The Holding-Period Rule and Why It Pays
Short-term and long-term
The IRS classifies a gain by how long you held the asset. IRS Topic 409 puts it simply: generally, if you hold the asset for more than one year before you dispose of it, your gain or loss is long-term; one year or less, short-term. Short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income, at 10% to 37%. Long-term gains get rates of 0%, 15% or 20% depending on your taxable income.
"Generally, if you hold the asset for more than one year before you dispose of it, your capital gain or loss is long-term."
IRS Topic 409The 2026 thresholds
Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the 2026 figures. The 0% rate applies to long-term gains that fit under $49,450 of taxable income for a single filer ($98,900 married filing jointly); the 15% rate runs up to $545,500 ($613,700 joint); above that the rate is 20%. A gain is taxed in slices: the part that fits under a threshold pays the lower rate and only the part above it pays the higher one. This calculator works it out that way, using the same IRS tables as the site's crypto tax calculator.
Net investment income tax
On top of the capital gains rate, the net investment income tax is 3.8% of the lesser of your net investment income and the amount by which your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 (single or head of household) or $250,000 (married filing jointly), according to the IRS. Until 1 October 2026 this page charged 3.8% on the whole gain whenever NIIT was ticked; it now charges it only on the part above the threshold.
Losses and the wash-sale rule
Capital losses offset capital gains. If your losses are larger, Topic 409 lets you deduct the lesser of $3,000 ($1,500 if married filing separately) or your net loss against other income, and carry the rest forward. IRS Publication 550 describes the wash-sale rule: a loss on stock or securities is disallowed if, within 30 days before or after the sale, you buy substantially identical stock or securities.
Exceptions to the 0/15/20 rates
Topic 409 lists gains taxed at higher maximum rates: collectibles such as coins or art at up to 28%, the taxable part of gains on qualified small business stock at up to 28%, and unrecaptured section 1250 gain on real property at up to 25%. This calculator does not model those, and it applies the state rate you enter as a flat percentage of the gain.
The holding period, the 2026 brackets, NIIT and the loss rules
Held more than one year, a gain is long-term; one year or less, short-term (IRS Topic 409).
The holding period starts the day after you acquired the asset (IRS Publication 550).
Long-term gains pay 0% up to $49,450 of taxable income for a single filer in 2026 ($98,900 joint).
The 15% rate runs to $545,500 single and $613,700 joint; above that, 20% (Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
Short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income, at 10% to 37%.
NIIT is 3.8% of the lesser of investment income and MAGI above $200,000 ($250,000 joint).
Excess capital losses reduce other income by up to $3,000 a year ($1,500 married filing separately).
The wash-sale rule disallows a loss if you buy substantially identical securities within 30 days before or after.
Collectibles such as coins or art are taxed at up to 28%, not 0/15/20.
The 2026 federal estate tax basic exclusion is $15,000,000 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
Frequently Asked Questions
- More than one year. IRS Topic 409 says that if you hold an asset for more than one year before you dispose of it, the gain or loss is long-term; one year or less, short-term. Publication 550 says the holding period starts on the day after you acquired it. If you are close to the line, check your trade dates before selling.
- For 2026, long-term gains are taxed at 0% to the extent they fit under $49,450 of taxable income for a single filer or $98,900 for a joint return (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). That is taxable income after deductions. The calculator works out how much of your gain fits under the threshold and taxes only the rest.
- The net investment income tax is 3.8% of the lesser of your net investment income and the amount by which your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 (single or head of household) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). So someone $20,000 over the threshold with a $50,000 gain pays 3.8% of $20,000. This calculator uses your other taxable income plus the gain as a stand-in for MAGI; your actual MAGI is usually higher.
- States set their own rules and rates; some have no income tax and others tax capital gains as ordinary income. Enter your state's rate on the gain and the calculator applies it as a flat percentage. Check your state tax department for the rate that applies to you.
- Selling investments at a loss to offset gains. Losses offset gains first; if they are larger, up to $3,000 a year ($1,500 married filing separately) can reduce other income, and the rest carries forward (IRS Topic 409). Mind the wash-sale rule if you want to keep similar exposure.
- IRS Publication 550: a wash sale occurs when you sell stock or securities at a loss and, within 30 days before or after the sale, buy substantially identical stock or securities (or acquire them in certain other ways). The loss is then disallowed and generally added to the basis of the new shares. Whether two different funds are substantially identical depends on the facts, so take advice before relying on a swap.
- If you bought the same security at different times and prices, you can choose which shares you sell, provided you identify them to your broker at the time of sale. Selling the lots with the highest cost reduces the gain now. If you do not identify shares, the broker generally treats the earliest-bought ones as sold first.
- Inherited property generally takes as its basis its fair market value at the date of death, so gains that built up during the original owner's life are not taxed when the heir sells. The heir is taxed only on the change in value after the date of death.
- Yes. IRS Topic 409 lists net capital gains from selling collectibles, such as coins or art, as taxed at a maximum 28% rate instead of the usual 0, 15 or 20%. This calculator does not apply that rate, so do not use it for collectibles.
- The heir's basis is generally the fair market value at the date of death, so only growth after that date is taxed when they sell. Separately, the federal estate tax applies only to estates above the basic exclusion amount, which Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets at $15,000,000 for 2026.
Method & sources
What this tool implements
- With NIIT ticked the page charged 3.8% on the whole gain; the IRS rule is the lesser of net investment income and MAGI over the threshold. At $220,000 MAGI and a $50,000 gain that is $760, not $1,900. Added to the shared kernel with 6 tests; the existing 13 mutations still die.
- Holding period, $3,000 / $1,500 loss limit and the 28% / 25% exceptions from Topic 409; day-after counting, wash sales, basis on wash sales and first-in-first-out without identification from Pub 550; inherited basis from Pub 551; $15,000,000 2026 estate exclusion from Rev. Proc. 2025-32.
- Removed as unsourced: 'wash-sale does not apply to crypto as of 2026', state rate figures, robo-adviser fees, an NFT 'look-through' claim and a $50K pull-quote.
Sources
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 409, Capital gains and losses. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc409
- Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (§3.03 capital gains rates; §3.01 tax tables; §3.41 estate basic exclusion). https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
- Internal Revenue Service. Net Investment Income Tax. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/net-investment-income-tax
- Internal Revenue Service. Publication 550 (2025), Investment Income and Expenses (holding period, wash sales, identifying shares). https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p550.pdf
- Internal Revenue Service. Publication 551, Basis of Assets (inherited property). https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p551.pdf
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