Tax guide
US capital gains tax rates for 2026
Updated 2026-08-18 · Educational only — not tax advice
Tax year 2026 uses inflation-adjusted federal brackets from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. Long-term capital gains still use the familiar 0%, 15%, and 20% structure, but the income thresholds that separate those rates moved up from 2025.
For single filers, the 0% long-term bracket generally runs through $49,450 of taxable income and the 15% bracket through $545,500, with 20% above that. Married filing jointly thresholds are roughly double the single amounts. Short-term gains continue to use ordinary income rates, which also received inflation adjustments.
What did not change
The 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax still uses MAGI thresholds of $200,000 (single and head of household), $250,000 (married filing jointly), and $125,000 (married filing separately). Those NIIT thresholds are not indexed the same way as the LTCG brackets.
Collectibles can still face a 28% long-term federal ceiling, and unrecaptured Section 1250 gain on real estate can still be taxed at up to 25%. Use the calculator with tax year 2026 selected to stack federal, NIIT, and state layers together.