Brackets · calculator
Long-term capital gains tax rates for 2026
Three rates for assets held more than a year, set by taxable income bands, with your wages filling the bands first.
Tax on your long-term capital gains
Federal tax on the gains
$3,083
Effective rate on the gains: 10.3%
- Taxed at 0%$9,450
- Taxed at 15%$20,550
- Taxed at 20%$0
- Net investment income tax (3.8%)$0
- 0% band ends at taxable income of$49,450
Assets held more than one year. Short-term gains are ordinary income. Collectibles (28%) and unrecaptured section 1250 gain (25%) are not modeled.
Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% depending on taxable income, with 2026 bands from section 4.03 of Rev. Proc. 2025-32. The 0% rate applies up to $49,450 of taxable income for a single filer, $98,900 for a married couple filing jointly and $66,200 for a head of household; the 15% rate up to $545,500, $613,700 and $579,600; 20% above. For 2025 the 0% band ended at $48,350 single and $96,700 joint. Gains sit on top of ordinary income: wages and interest fill the bands first, and only the room left at 0% shelters the gains. A couple with $70,000 of ordinary taxable income and $40,000 of long-term gains has $28,900 taxed at 0% and $11,100 at 15%, $1,665 in all. Above $200,000 of modified AGI single or $250,000 joint, a further 3.8% net investment income tax applies. Short-term gains, on assets held a year or less, are taxed as ordinary income.
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The 2026 and 2025 bands
| Filing status | 0% up to (2026) | 15% up to (2026) | 0% up to (2025) | 15% up to (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $49,450 | $545,500 | $48,350 | $533,400 |
| Married filing jointly | $98,900 | $613,700 | $96,700 | $600,050 |
| Head of household | $66,200 | $579,600 | $64,750 | $566,700 |
| Married filing separately | $49,450 | $306,850 | $48,350 | $300,000 |
The limits are expressed in taxable income, after the standard or itemized deduction, not in gains. A single retiree with a $30,000 pension and $30,000 of gains has $43,900 of taxable income: $30,000 of the gains fall at 0%.
Stacking, step by step
The Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet of Form 1040 separates taxable income into two parts: ordinary income, taxed through the regular brackets, and net capital gain, taxed through the bands above. Gains start where ordinary income ends. With $70,000 of ordinary taxable income, a couple's gains begin at $70,000 and fill the remaining $28,900 of the 0% band before moving to 15%. That ordering makes a low-income year, a sabbatical or early retirement before Social Security, the cheapest time to realize gains.
Gifts, inheritances and the step-up
Shares given during life keep the donor's purchase price, so the person who receives them and sells them pays tax on the whole gain, at the recipient's rates; a child or grandchild may also face the kiddie tax. Shares inherited at death generally take their value on the date of death, which wipes out the gain built up during the deceased owner's life. That difference shapes many estate plans, alongside the estate tax exclusion.
The 3.8% surtax and the holding period
The net investment income tax adds 3.8% on the lesser of net investment income and the amount by which modified AGI exceeds $200,000 single, $250,000 joint or $125,000 separately. Those thresholds are fixed in the statute and do not rise with inflation. A gain counts as long-term when the asset was held more than one year; the day after purchase starts the count.
Sources: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 inflation-adjusted items and 2025 items modified by Public Law 119-21 (October 9, 2025); IRS Topic no. 409, Capital gains and losses; IRS: Net Investment Income Tax, read on October 11, 2026.