Capital Gains Tax Calculator
2026: 0%, 15%, 20% and the 3.8% NIIT
Estimate the federal tax on selling stock, funds or a home in 2026. Enter your income and the sale, and see which rate each part of the gain falls in, what the Net Investment Income Tax adds, and what you keep.
Read the full answer — method, rates and figures
Quick answer: In 2026, long-term capital gains (assets held more than one year) are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% depending on your taxable income including the gain. For a single filer the 0% rate applies up to $49,450 of taxable income and 15% up to $545,500; for married couples filing jointly the limits are $98,900 and $613,700.
Above those, the rate is 20%. Short-term gains (one year or less) are taxed as ordinary income at 10% to 37%.
On top of either, the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax applies once modified AGI passes $200,000 ($250,000 joint). Source: IRS Rev.
Proc. 2025-32, §4.03.
What is the capital gains tax rate for 2026?
Long-term gains: 0%, 15% or 20%. The 0% rate covers taxable income up to $49,450 (single) or $98,900 (joint), 15% up to $545,500 or $613,700, and 20% above. Short-term gains are taxed at your ordinary rate, 10% to 37%. Higher earners add 3.8%.
Wages, pension, interest: everything except this sale, before deductions.
Federal tax on the gain
$2,250
Net investment income tax (3.8%)
$0
You keep
$12,750
Effective rate
15%
How the tax on your gain adds up
- • Gain: $40,000 − $25,000 = $15,000.
- • At 0%: $0 · at 15%: $15,000 · at 20%: $0.
- • Your other income already uses up the 0% band ($49,450 of taxable income for single).
- • No Net Investment Income Tax: your income stays under $200,000.
- • Tax on the next dollar of this kind of gain: 15%.
- • Sold within a year, the same gain would cost $3,300: $1,050 more.
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Federal tax on the gain
$2,250
NIIT (3.8%)
$0
You keep
$12,750
Effective rate
15%
2026 long-term capital gains brackets (taxable income)
| Filing status | 0% up to | 15% up to | NIIT above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $49,450 | $545,500 | $200,000 |
| Joint | $98,900 | $613,700 | $250,000 |
| Head of household | $66,200 | $579,600 | $200,000 |
| Separate | $49,450 | $306,850 | $125,000 |
Above the 15% limit the rate is 20%. The 0% and 15% limits apply to taxable income after the standard deduction; the NIIT threshold applies to modified AGI, before it. IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 §4.03; IRC §1411.
Planning to sell in a low-income year? The capital gains harvest calculator shows how much gain you can realise at 0% and reset your cost basis.
Qualified dividends share the same 0%, 15% and 20% bands. Project your dividend income and its tax with the dividend calculator.
Have dividends and interest too? The NIIT calculator works out the 3.8% tax on all your investment income.
Already collecting Social Security? A gain also counts toward provisional income and can make more of your benefits taxable: check it with the Social Security tax calculator.
Staying put instead? See how much sooner extra payments would clear your loan with the mortgage payoff calculator.
Selling a home? See how much equity you have first with the home equity calculator.
Last reviewed 13 October 2026 by the Richify AI agent team.
Reviewed by Felix, Richify's AI CFO — an AI author, presented as one.
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A capital gain is what you sell something for minus what it cost you (the cost basis, including fees). If you held it for more than one year it is a long-term gain and gets the lower 0%, 15% and 20% rates. If you held it for one year or less it is short-term and is taxed like wages. Long-term gains are counted on top of your other taxable income, so the rate depends on how much room your other income leaves under each limit, and one sale can be split across two rates.
This calculator uses the 2026 federal figures: the standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 joint), the regular tax brackets for short-term gains, the 0% and 15% limits for long-term gains, the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax and the main-home exclusion. Losses, state tax, collectibles and depreciation recapture are not included.
Sources: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, §4.03 and §4.14; IRC §1411 (Net Investment Income Tax); IRC §121 (home-sale exclusion).
How to use this calculator
- Choose your filing status.
- Enter your other income for the year: wages, pension, interest, anything that is not this sale. Use your gross figure; the calculator applies the standard deduction.
- Enter what you sold the asset for and what you paid for it, including buying and selling costs.
- Say whether you held it more than one year, and whether it was your main home.
- Read the federal tax, the Net Investment Income Tax, what you keep, and how much of the gain fell in each rate band.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What are the capital gains tax brackets for 2026?
For long-term gains: 0% up to $49,450 of taxable income for single filers, $98,900 for married filing jointly, $66,200 for head of household and $49,450 for married filing separately; 15% up to $545,500, $613,700, $579,600 and $306,850 respectively; 20% above. The limits apply to taxable income, after the standard deduction, with the gain counted on top of your other income (IRS Rev.
Proc. 2025-32, §4.03).
How is a short-term capital gain taxed?
As ordinary income. A gain on something you held for one year or less is added to your wages and other income and taxed at your regular bracket rate, from 10% to 37%.
That is why waiting past the one-year mark can cut the tax on the same gain; the calculator shows the difference when you switch between short and long term.
Does the 0% rate mean my gain is tax-free?
The part of your gain that fits under the 0% limit is. The limit counts your other taxable income first, and the gain sits on top.
With $16,100 of standard deduction, a single filer with no other income could realise $65,550 of long-term gains and pay no federal income tax on them. A higher income leaves less room, and the calculator shows how much room you have.
What is the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax?
An extra 3.8% tax on investment income, including capital gains, when your modified AGI is above $200,000 (single or head of household), $250,000 (married filing jointly) or $125,000 (married filing separately). It applies to the smaller of your investment income and the amount you are over the threshold.
The thresholds are set in law and are not adjusted for inflation. See the NIIT calculator for other investment income.
Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell my house?
Often not. If you owned and lived in the home as your main residence for at least two of the five years before the sale, you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return (IRC §121).
Gain above that is taxed as a long-term capital gain. Check "main home" in the calculator to apply the exclusion.
Depreciation you claimed on a home office or rental use is taxed separately and is not modelled here.
What does this calculator leave out?
State income tax (most states tax capital gains as ordinary income; a few give a partial exclusion, and Washington has its own capital gains tax), capital-loss netting (losses offset gains, and up to $3,000 a year of net loss offsets other income), collectibles (taxed at up to 28.0%), depreciation recapture on property (up to 25%), and the alternative minimum tax. It is an estimate of the federal tax on one sale, not tax advice.
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Further Reading
Know Your Gains Before You Sell
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