Long-term capital gains are taxed at federal rates of 0%, 15%, or 20%, and the long-term capital gains tax brackets that determine which rate applies depend on your total taxable income and filing status. For the 2026 tax year, a single filer pays 0% on long-term gains up to $49,450 of taxable income, 15% up to $545,500, and 20% above that. Married couples filing jointly get the 0% rate up to $98,900. Higher earners may also owe an additional 3.8% surtax on investment income.
2026 Long-Term Capital Gains Brackets by Filing Status
The three rates each apply to a range of taxable income that shifts with your filing status, and the thresholds adjust for inflation each year. The figures below apply to the 2026 tax year, on returns filed in 2027.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
Single Filers
- 0%: taxable income up to $49,450
- 15%: $49,451 to $545,500
- 20%: above $545,500
Married Filing Jointly
- 0%: taxable income up to $98,900
- 15%: $98,901 to $613,700
- 20%: above $613,700
Head of Household
- 0%: taxable income up to $66,200
- 15%: $66,201 to $579,600
- 20%: above $579,600
Married Filing Separately
- 0%: taxable income up to $49,450
- 15%: $49,451 to $306,850
- 20%: above $306,850
Taxable income here means your total income, including both ordinary income and capital gains, after deductions. That definition matters because of how the two kinds of income interact.
What Counts as a Long-Term Gain
To qualify for these rates, you have to hold the asset for more than one year. The clock starts the day after you buy and runs through the day you sell. Sell on the one-year anniversary or sooner and the gain is short-term. Hold one day beyond a year and it’s long-term.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1222 – Other Terms Relating to Capital Gains and Losses
Short-term gains get no preferential rate. They’re added to your ordinary income and taxed at whatever bracket that pushes you into, up to a maximum of 37% for 2026. That gap between 37% and the top long-term rate of 20% is why the holding period is worth paying attention to.
Inherited assets are treated as long-term automatically, no matter how long the person who left them to you had owned them, and no matter how quickly you sell after inheriting.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1223 – Holding Period of Property
How Gains Stack on Top of Ordinary Income
Your ordinary income (wages, interest, pension payments, and other non-investment earnings) fills the brackets first. Long-term gains sit on top of it. The stacking is what determines how much of your gain falls into each rate.
Consider a single filer in 2026 with $40,000 in wages and a $20,000 long-term gain. The $40,000 of ordinary income occupies the lowest brackets first. Because the 0% long-term threshold sits at $49,450, the first $9,450 of the gain is taxed at 0%. The remaining $10,550 falls into the 15% bracket. Total federal tax on the gain: about $1,583.
This is why retirees with modest income sometimes owe nothing on investment gains, and why timing sales into lower-income years can save real money. If you can control when you sell, pushing a sale into a year with lower ordinary income lets more of the gain sit in the 0% band.
The 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax
Higher earners owe an additional 3.8% surtax on investment income, long-term capital gains included. The Net Investment Income Tax applies once your modified adjusted gross income crosses a fixed threshold:4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 559, Net Investment Income Tax
- Married filing jointly: $250,000
- Single or head of household: $200,000
- Married filing separately: $125,000
These thresholds are not adjusted for inflation. They’ve been the same since the tax took effect in 2013, so more filers cross them each year as wages rise. The 3.8% applies to the lesser of your net investment income or the amount by which your modified adjusted gross income exceeds the threshold. A taxpayer in the 20% long-term bracket who also owes NIIT faces an effective federal rate of 23.8% on those gains.
Assets That Don’t Get the 0/15/20% Rates
The standard brackets cover most investments, but two categories are treated differently even when held long-term.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1 – Tax Imposed
Collectibles are taxed at a maximum long-term rate of 28%. That covers artwork, antiques, coins, precious metals, stamps, and similar items.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 409, Capital Gains and Losses The cap only matters at higher incomes. If your income would otherwise put you in the 15% bracket, you still pay 15% on collectibles gains; the 28% ceiling replaces the 20% rate you’d otherwise face.
Depreciated real estate triggers a 25% maximum rate on the portion of the gain that represents depreciation you previously claimed, known as unrecaptured Section 1250 gain. If you bought a rental for $300,000, claimed $80,000 in depreciation over the years, and sold for $400,000, the $80,000 tied to depreciation is taxed at up to 25%. The remaining $100,000 of gain is taxed at the standard long-term rates.
State Taxes Sit on Top
Federal rates are only part of the bill. Most states tax capital gains as ordinary income, with top rates ranging from 0% in states with no income tax to over 13% in the highest-tax states. A handful of states offer preferential rates or partial exclusions for long-term gains, but most don’t distinguish long-term from short-term at all. Before a large sale, check how your state treats the gain, because the combined rate can be meaningfully higher than the federal number alone.