People look for a capital gains rate the way they look for a sales tax rate, expecting one figure. There is no such figure. What the IRS publishes is a set of thresholds, and which side of them you land on is decided by two things that have nothing to do with the size of the gain: how long you held the asset, and what your taxable income is for the year.
First the holding period decides which system applies
There are two systems, not two rates. The IRS states that generally, if you hold the asset for more than one year before you dispose of it, your capital gain or loss is long-term, and if you hold it one year or less it is short-term. A short-term gain does not have a capital gains rate at all: it is taxed as part of your ordinary income. Only a long-term gain reaches the published scale. This is why a rate question cannot be answered without a date, and why two sales of the same asset a week apart can be taxed completely differently.
Then filing status and income pick the band
Within the long-term system the IRS publishes three bands as taxable income thresholds. A 0% rate applies where taxable income is at or below $48,350 for single filers and married filing separately, $96,700 for married filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouse, and $64,750 for head of household. Above that a 15% rate applies, and the IRS's own summary is that the tax rate on most net capital gain is no higher than 15% for most individuals. Above the 15% band a 20% rate applies. The gain stacks on top of your other income rather than being taxed in isolation, so a large gain can straddle two bands.
The charge that is not in the rate table
Above certain incomes a further 3.8 percent applies, and it is a separate tax rather than a higher band. The IRS describes the Net Investment Income Tax as charged on the lesser of net investment income, which expressly includes capital gains, or the amount by which modified adjusted gross income exceeds the statutory threshold: $250,000 married filing jointly, $125,000 married filing separately, $200,000 single or head of household. Anyone quoting a single effective rate on a large gain without it is out by 3.8 points.
Your state's rate is a separate question again
There is no federal answer to what your state charges. New Jersey publishes that if you are a New Jersey resident, all of your capital gains, except gains from the sale of exempt obligations, are subject to tax. California publishes that it does not have a lower rate for capital gains and that all capital gains are taxed as ordinary income. Texas's constitution says the legislature may not impose a tax on the realized or unrealized capital gains of an individual, family, estate or trust. This site's record holds each of those sentences with the page it is on and the day it was read.
Questions people ask about capital gains tax rate calculator
What is the capital gains tax rate?
There is no single rate. For a long-term gain the IRS publishes 0%, 15% and 20% bands set by taxable income thresholds and filing status; a short-term gain has no capital gains rate and is taxed with ordinary income.
Does the size of the gain set the rate?
Indirectly: the gain stacks on top of your other income, so a large one can cross a threshold. The bands themselves are thresholds of taxable income, not of the gain.
Is 20% the maximum I can pay federally?
On the capital gains scale, yes, but the 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax can apply on top where modified adjusted gross income exceeds the statutory threshold.
Where do I find the current thresholds?
On IRS Topic no. 409. The figures quoted here were read from that page on 11 September 2026, and every figure on this site is licensed and dated so it can be checked.