Capital Gains Tax Brackets 2027

"Capital gains brackets 2027" typically means the long-term capital gains rates that apply to the return filed in spring 2027 — the tax-year-2026 brackets, already confirmed by the IRS. If instead you're asking about the literal tax-year-2027 thresholds (gains realized during calendar 2027, filed in 2028), those haven't been published; the IRS releases each year's inflation-adjusted capital gains brackets in the fall of the prior year, so official tax-year-2027 figures arrive around October 2026, landing close to the confirmed 2026 numbers below with a modest upward adjustment. This calculator uses the confirmed 2026 long-term capital gains schedule (IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32) and will update the moment separate tax-year-2027 numbers are released.

Short-Term Gains Don't Get These Rates

The 0/15/20% schedule applies only to assets held longer than one year. Sell an asset you've held for eleven months and the entire gain is taxed as ordinary income at your regular marginal rate — up to 37% — instead of the preferential long-term rates. The difference is substantial: a single filer in the 24% ordinary bracket who sells a short-term holding for a $20,000 gain owes roughly $4,800 in tax on that gain at their marginal rate, versus potentially $3,000 or less if they had waited a few weeks to cross the one-year holding threshold and qualify for the 15% long-term rate instead. Checking your holding period before selling is one of the simplest, highest-leverage tax moves available to investors.

How Filing Status Changes Your Bracket

Married filing jointly roughly doubles the single-filer thresholds through the 15% bracket — the 0% ceiling moves from $49,450 (single) to $98,900 (married filing jointly), and the 15% ceiling moves from $545,500 to $613,700. Head of household filers get a middle ground, with a 0% bracket extending to $66,200 — wider than single filers but narrower than married filing jointly. Married filing separately gets the narrowest 15% bracket of all filing statuses, capping at just $306,850, roughly half the married-filing-jointly ceiling and even below the single-filer ceiling of $545,500 — another reason spouses with significant investment gains rarely benefit from filing separately.

Related Calculators

• Capital Gains Tax Calculator
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• Married Filing Jointly Tax Brackets 2027

The 2026 Long-Term Capital Gains Brackets (Return Filed in 2027)

Long-term capital gains — profit from assets held more than one year — are taxed at their own three-tier schedule, separate from the seven-tier ordinary income brackets.

Worked Example: Gain That Crosses a Bracket

A single filer has $40,000 of ordinary taxable income and sells stock for a $20,000 long-term gain. The gain fills the income range from $40,000 to $60,000. The 0% bracket for single filers runs up to $49,450, so the first $9,450 of the gain (from $40,000 to $49,450) is taxed at 0%. The remaining $10,550 of the gain (from $49,450 to $60,000) falls into the 15% bracket, taxed at $1,582.50. Total capital gains tax owed: $1,582.50 on a $20,000 gain — an effective rate of about 7.9% on the gain itself, well below the 15% headline rate, because part of it landed in the 0% bracket.

Worked Example: High-Income Sale Crossing Into 20%

A married couple filing jointly has $580,000 of ordinary taxable income and sells an investment property for a $100,000 long-term gain. The gain fills the range from $580,000 to $680,000. The 15% bracket for married filing jointly runs up to $613,700, so $33,700 of the gain (from $580,000 to $613,700) is taxed at 15%, for $5,055. The remaining $66,300 of the gain (from $613,700 to $680,000) falls above the $613,700 threshold and is taxed at 20%, for $13,260. Total capital gains tax: $5,055 + $13,260 = $18,315 — an effective rate of roughly 18.3% on the $100,000 gain, reflecting that most of it landed in the top bracket.

How Capital Gains Brackets Differ From Ordinary Income Brackets

Ordinary income — wages, freelance income, interest — runs through the seven-tier schedule of 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. Long-term capital gains use a separate, simpler three-tier schedule: 0%, 15%, and 20%. But the two systems interact directly. Your capital gains rate is determined by your total taxable income, including the gain itself, layered on top of your ordinary income. Practically, this means your long-term gain occupies the income range starting where your ordinary income ends and extending upward by the size of the gain — and that range can span more than one capital gains bracket at once.

The 0% Bracket Is Real and Often Missed

Many taxpayers assume all capital gains are taxed, but the 0% bracket genuinely means zero federal tax on gains that fall within it. A retired single filer with $35,000 of ordinary taxable income who sells long-held stock for a $14,000 gain pays $0 in federal capital gains tax on that sale — their combined taxable income of $49,000 stays entirely under the $49,450 single-filer threshold. This makes the 0% bracket a meaningful planning tool for retirees and anyone with a lower-income year: realizing gains while temporarily in a low-income period, sometimes called "gain harvesting," can permanently eliminate tax on that appreciation that would otherwise be taxed later at a higher rate.

The Net Investment Income Tax Adds 3.8% on Top

High earners face an additional layer beyond the 0/15/20% schedule: the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT), a flat 3.8% surtax on investment income once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for married filing jointly. This tax applies on top of whatever capital gains rate already applies — it isn't a replacement bracket. A single filer with $250,000 of modified AGI including a $60,000 long-term gain taxed at 15% also owes the 3.8% NIIT on the portion of that gain above the $200,000 threshold, adding meaningfully to the total tax bill on the sale. High-income sellers should always factor in NIIT alongside the headline capital gains rate when estimating what a sale will actually cost.

Planning Around the Brackets

Because the capital gains brackets stack on top of ordinary income, reducing your ordinary taxable income before a big sale can shift more of the gain into a lower bracket. Contributing to a 401(k) or traditional IRA in the same year you plan to realize a large gain lowers the ordinary income baseline the gain stacks on top of, potentially keeping more of the gain in the 0% or 15% tier. Timing also matters across tax years: a taxpayer near a bracket threshold can split a large sale across two calendar years, or time it for a year with unusually low ordinary income — such as a sabbatical or early retirement year — to capture more of the gain at 0% or 15% rather than 20%.