Capital Gains Tax Calculator

The gain is the amount realized minus your adjusted basis. Amount realized is the sale price less selling costs — commissions, transfer taxes, title fees, and closing costs on real estate; commissions and fees on securities. Adjusted basis starts with what you paid, then adds capital improvements and certain acquisition costs, and subtracts any depreciation you claimed.

Basis is the single most under-tracked number in personal finance. Every capital improvement you made to a property — a new roof, an addition, a full kitchen remodel — raises basis and lowers the taxable gain dollar for dollar. Ordinary repairs and maintenance do not. Keeping receipts for improvements over the years is worth real money at sale.

Selling costs are not deductions in the usual sense; they reduce the amount realized, which produces the same outcome. On a real estate sale, agent commissions alone commonly run 5% to 6% of the price, so including them changes the answer materially.

If the result is negative you have a capital loss. Losses offset capital gains dollar for dollar, and a net loss can offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year, with the remainder carried forward indefinitely.

An asset held more than one year produces a long-term capital gain, taxed at preferential federal rates of 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your taxable income and filing status. An asset held one year or less produces a short-term gain, taxed at your ordinary income rate, which can be roughly double.

The holding period starts the day after you acquire the asset and ends on the day you dispose of it. Waiting a few extra weeks to cross the one-year line can be one of the highest-value decisions available to an investor — on a $100,000 gain, the difference between a 32% ordinary rate and a 15% long-term rate is $17,000.

High earners may also owe the 3.8% net investment income tax on top of the capital gains rate once modified adjusted gross income exceeds a threshold that depends on filing status. Add it to your federal rate input if it applies to you.

Some assets have their own rules. Collectibles are taxed at up to 28%. Section 1202 qualified small business stock can be excluded entirely under specific conditions. Cryptocurrency is treated as property and follows the standard short- and long-term rules.

The primary residence exclusion is the largest tax break most households will ever use. If you owned and lived in the home as your main residence for at least two of the five years before the sale, you may exclude up to $250,000 of gain if single and $500,000 if married filing jointly. The two years do not need to be consecutive, and the exclusion is generally available once every two years.

The exclusion applies to the gain, not the sale price, and it applies before any tax is calculated. A couple with a $400,000 gain on a qualifying primary residence typically owes nothing federally. Partial exclusions are available for sales driven by a work relocation, health reasons, or certain unforeseen circumstances.

Investment property is different. Depreciation you claimed — or were entitled to claim — while renting the property must be recaptured at sale, taxed at up to 25% rather than the lower long-term capital gains rate. This surprises many landlords, because the recapture is owed even if the property barely appreciated. Enter your accumulated depreciation so the calculator separates it from the rest of the gain.

A 1031 like-kind exchange lets an investor defer the entire tax bill by rolling the proceeds into another investment property, subject to strict timelines: 45 days to identify replacement property and 180 days to close. It is a deferral, not forgiveness — the deferred gain follows into the new property's basis. Primary residences do not qualify.

Heirs generally receive a stepped-up basis to the fair market value at the date of death, which erases the built-in gain entirely. That single provision is why some long-held, highly appreciated property is best not sold during the owner's lifetime.

Hold for more than a year whenever you have the choice. It is the simplest and largest lever available, and it requires nothing but patience.

Harvest losses. Selling losing positions to offset gains in the same tax year directly reduces taxable gain. Watch the wash sale rule, which disallows the loss if you buy the same or a substantially identical security within thirty days before or after the sale.

Time the sale into a low-income year. The 0% long-term capital gains bracket is real: a household with modest taxable income can realize meaningful long-term gains at no federal tax at all. A gap year, a sabbatical, or early retirement before Social Security begins is often the cheapest window to realize gains you have been deferring.

Use tax-advantaged accounts. Gains inside an IRA, 401(k), or HSA are not taxed as they are realized, so rebalancing inside those accounts costs nothing. Keep your highest-turnover strategies there and your most tax-efficient holdings in taxable accounts.

Consider donating appreciated assets. Giving long-held appreciated stock directly to a qualified charity generally avoids the capital gains tax entirely while allowing a deduction for full fair market value if you itemize — better on both counts than selling and donating cash.

Installment sales spread the gain across multiple tax years, which can keep you in a lower bracket. This calculator estimates the tax on a single-year sale; confirm multi-year strategies with a CPA.

Most states tax capital gains as ordinary income, with no preferential rate. A few states have no income tax at all, and a small number apply a distinct rate or surtax to investment income. State treatment can move the total bill by ten percentage points or more, so enter your state rate rather than assuming federal-only.

State residency at the time of sale generally controls, but real estate is usually taxed by the state where the property sits regardless of where you live. Selling an out-of-state rental commonly means filing a non-resident return in that state, with a credit against your home state's tax.

Capital gains are not withheld the way wages are. A large gain can create an underpayment penalty even if you pay in full by April. Make an estimated tax payment in the quarter of the sale, or increase withholding elsewhere, to satisfy the safe harbor.

The safe harbor is generally met by paying 100% of last year's tax liability, or 110% if your prior-year adjusted gross income was high. Meeting it protects you from penalties even if this year's bill turns out to be much larger.

Enter the sale price and your original purchase price. Add capital improvements separately so they raise your basis, and enter selling costs — commissions, closing costs, and transfer taxes — so they reduce the amount realized.

Set the holding period in months. Anything over twelve is treated as long term. Enter the federal rate that applies to you: 0%, 15%, or 20% for long-term gains, or your marginal ordinary rate for short-term gains, plus 3.8% if the net investment income tax applies.

For a rental or other depreciated property, enter accumulated depreciation. The calculator reduces basis by that amount and taxes it separately at the 25% recapture rate, which is how the IRS treats it.

Enter your state rate if your state taxes capital gains. Leave it at zero for a no-income-tax state.

The results show the total gain, the split between recapture and capital gain, each tax component, the effective rate on your gain, and the net cash you keep after tax. This is a planning estimate, not tax advice — the primary residence exclusion, 1031 exchanges, loss carryforwards, and bracket-straddling gains all need a professional review before you rely on a number.