Free capital gains tax calculator — calculate how much tax you owe on investments, property, and home sales
This free capital gains tax calculator (also a 2026 capital gains tax calculator) helps you figure out exactly how much tax you'll owe when you sell investments, property, or stocks. Capital gains tax is one of the most misunderstood taxes — but with the right planning, you can legally save thousands.
Whether you're selling your home, cashing out stocks, or flipping a rental property, this calculator shows you exactly how much the IRS will take.
The IRS taxes your gains differently depending on how long you owned the asset:
Holding onto your investments for more than a year can save you thousands in taxes!
If you sell your primary home, you can exclude up to $250,000 of capital gains from tax ($500,000 if married filing jointly) — as long as you've lived in the home for at least 2 of the last 5 years.
On top of regular capital gains tax, high earners pay an extra 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT). This applies if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is over $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). So if you're in the 20% long-term bracket plus NIIT, your effective rate is 23.8%.
Good news: if you have investment losses, you can use them to offset capital gains. This is called "tax-loss harvesting." You can also deduct up to $3,000 of excess losses against your ordinary income each year, and carry the rest forward to future years.
For example: if you made $10,000 on Stock A but lost $4,000 on Stock B, you only pay tax on $6,000 of net gains.
If you're selling investment property (not your primary home), you can do a 1031 exchange — also called a "like-kind exchange." This lets you defer paying capital gains tax by reinvesting the proceeds into another property of equal or greater value. It's a popular strategy for real estate investors to build wealth tax-deferred.
If it's long-term and you're married with $100k other income, you'd pay 15% = $15,000. If it's short-term, you'd pay your marginal rate, which could be 22-24% = $22,000-24,000. High earners also pay an extra 3.8% NIIT.
The legal ways: hold assets for more than 1 year (long-term rate), use the home sale exclusion ($250k/$500k), use tax-advantaged accounts like 401k/IRA/Roth IRA, do a 1031 exchange for investment property, or harvest capital losses to offset gains.
Yes — you still owe capital gains tax when you sell, even if you reinvest the money. The only exception is a 1031 exchange for investment real estate. Inside a retirement account like an IRA or 401k, gains are tax-deferred.
Long-term rates are 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your income. Short-term gains (held less than 1 year) are taxed as ordinary income (10-37%). High earners also pay an extra 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax.
Yes, but you can exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 married) if it's your primary home and you've lived there 2 of the last 5 years. Anything above that threshold is taxable at long-term rates.
Tax-loss harvesting is when you sell losing investments to offset capital gains from winning investments. You can offset dollar-for-dollar, and if your losses exceed your gains, you can deduct up to $3,000 against ordinary income each year.
Yes! The IRS treats crypto as property, not currency. If you sell crypto for a profit, you owe capital gains tax — same as stocks. Short-term (less than 1 year) = ordinary income, long-term = 0/15/20%.