2023 Capital Gains Tax Rate
For 2023, the Capital Gains Tax Rate figures are $89,250 (Top of the 0% bracket, joint filers), $553,850 (Top of the 15% bracket, joint filers), $44,625 (Top of the 0% bracket, married filing separately) and 9 more figures below.
| Item | Rate | Joint filers | Married filing separately | Heads of household | Single filers | Estates and trusts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top of the 0% bracket | - | $89,250 | $44,625 | $59,750 | $44,625 | $3,000 |
| Top of the 15% bracket | 15% | $553,850 | $276,900 | $523,050 | $492,300 | $14,650 |
| Rate above the 15% bracket | 20% | - | - | - | - | - |
A dash is a figure this site has not published for that row, not an amount of zero.
Effective 2023-01-01Source: Rev. Proc. 2022-38 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-03
Rate above the 15% bracketSource: Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)Verified 2026-09-03
Compared with 2022
| Item | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top of the 0% bracket, joint filers | $83,350 | $89,250 | +$5,900 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 15% bracket, joint filers | $517,200 | $553,850 | +$36,650 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 0% bracket, married filing separately | $41,675 | $44,625 | +$2,950 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 15% bracket, married filing separately | $258,600 | $276,900 | +$18,300 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 0% bracket, heads of household | $55,800 | $59,750 | +$3,950 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 15% bracket, heads of household | $488,500 | $523,050 | +$34,550 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 0% bracket, single filers | $41,675 | $44,625 | +$2,950 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 15% bracket, single filers | $459,750 | $492,300 | +$32,550 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 0% bracket, estates and trusts | $2,800 | $3,000 | +$200 (+7.1%) |
| Top of the 15% bracket, estates and trusts | $13,700 | $14,650 | +$950 (+6.9%) |
| Rate above the 0% bracket | 15% | 15% | +0% (+0.0%) |
| Rate above the 15% bracket | 20% | 20% | +0% (+0.0%) |
Top of the 0% bracket
Top of the 15% bracket
$3,000$553,850
One dot per column of the table, on a scale running from the smallest of these amounts to the largest. The scale is logarithmic - each faint line is ten times the one before it, so that the amounts crowded at the low end stay far enough apart to read. The table states which dot is which.
Who it applies to
Taxpayers who realize long-term capital gains or qualified dividends in tax year 2023, including individuals, married couples filing jointly or separately, heads of household, single filers, estates, and trusts.
What changed this year, and why
For taxable years beginning in 2023, the IRS adjusted the income thresholds for the long-term capital gains tax brackets upward compared to 2022. The tax rates themselves stayed the same.
Common questions
- What are the long-term capital gains tax rates for 2023?
- Long-term capital gains are taxed at a zero rate, at 15%, or at 20%, depending on the taxpayer's income and filing status. Gains within the zero-rate bracket are not taxed. Gains above the zero-rate bracket but at or below the 15% bracket ceiling are taxed at 15%. Gains above the 15% bracket ceiling are taxed at 20%.
- What is the top of the zero-rate capital gains bracket for each filing status in 2023?
- For joint filers the zero-rate bracket applies to gains up to $89,250. For married individuals filing separately and for single filers it applies up to $44,625. For heads of household it is $59,750. For estates and trusts it is $3,000.
- What is the top of the 15% capital gains bracket for each filing status in 2023?
- For joint filers the 15% rate applies to gains up to $553,850. For married individuals filing separately it is $276,900. For heads of household it is $523,050. For single filers it is $492,300. For estates and trusts it is $14,650. Gains above these thresholds are taxed at 20%.
- How did the 2023 thresholds change from 2022?
- The income thresholds for both the zero-rate and 15% brackets increased for every filing status in 2023 compared to 2022. For example, the top of the zero-rate bracket for joint filers rose from $83,350 in 2022 to $89,250 in 2023, and the top of the 15% bracket for joint filers rose from $517,200 to $553,850. The tax rates themselves stayed the same.
What the lower rates actually apply to
The IRS calls these the "maximum capital gain rates," and they apply to "net capital gain" - the amount by which your net long-term capital gain for the year exceeds your net short-term capital loss. For 2023, the main rates on ordinary investment gains are 0%, 15%, and 20%. The rate that applies to your gain depends on your taxable income and filing status. Single filers pay the 0% rate on taxable income up to $44,625, the 15% rate from there up to $492,300, and the 20% rate above $492,300. Joint filers get wider brackets: 0% up to $89,250, 15% up to $553,850, and 20% above that. Heads of household thresholds are $59,750 for the 0% bracket and $523,050 for the 15% bracket. Married filing separately uses $44,625 and $276,900. Estates and trusts have much tighter brackets: $3,000 for the 0% rate and $14,650 for the 15% rate. If the regular tax computation produces a lower tax than the capital gain rates, the regular rates apply instead. Higher rates of 25% and 28% apply to special categories like unrecaptured section 1250 gain and collectibles.
For 2023, the maximum capital gain rates are 0%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 28%. See Table 4-4 for details.
Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)
How long you must hold to get the long-term rate
If you sold or traded investment property, you must determine your holding period. Your holding period decides whether your capital gain or loss is short term or long term. You hold investment property more than 1 year to get long-term treatment; if you hold it 1 year or less, the result is short term. You begin counting the day after the date you acquired the property, and the day you disposed of it counts toward the period. For securities traded on an established market, the holding period starts the day after the trade date you bought the securities and ends on the trade date you sold them - do not confuse the trade date with the settlement date. The distinction matters because net capital gain (long-term gain in excess of short-term loss) is eligible for the lower maximum capital gain rates, while short-term gain is taxed at ordinary income rates. For example, if you bought stock on January 31, 2022, and sold it on January 28, 2023, the holding period is not more than 1 year and the gain or loss is short term; if you sold it on February 6, 2023, the holding period is more than 1 year and the gain or loss is long term.
Long-term or short-term. If you hold investment prop- erty more than 1 year, any capital gain or loss is a long-term capital gain or loss. If you hold the property 1 year or less, any capital gain or loss is a short-term capital gain or loss.
Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)
How much of a loss you can deduct in one year
When your capital losses exceed your capital gains for the year, you can deduct the net loss against other income, but the deduction is capped. Your allowable capital loss deduction is the lesser of $3,000 ($1,500 if you are married and file a separate return) or your total net loss as shown on line 16 of Schedule D (Form 1040). You can use your total net loss to reduce your income dollar for dollar, up to the $3,000 limit. If your total net loss exceeds the yearly limit, the unused portion carries over to the next year and is treated as if you had incurred it in that year. You can continue carrying over remaining losses to later years until the entire loss is used up. When you carry a loss forward, it keeps its original character: a long-term capital loss you carry over reduces the next year's long-term capital gains before it reduces that year's short-term capital gains. You must account for the current year's allowable deduction when computing the carryover, whether or not you actually claimed it or filed a return for that year.
Limit on deduction. Your allowable capital loss deduc- tion, figured on Schedule D (Form 1040), is the lesser of: • $3,000 ($1,500 if you are married and file a separate return), or • Your total net loss as shown on line 16 of Schedule D (Form 1040).
Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)
The loss you cannot deduct if you buy back in
A wash sale occurs when you sell or trade stock or securities at a loss and within 30 days before or after the sale you buy substantially identical stock or securities, acquire substantially identical stock or securities in a fully taxable trade, acquire a contract or option to buy substantially identical stock or securities, or acquire substantially identical stock for your individual retirement arrangement (IRA) or Roth IRA. If your spouse or a corporation you control buys substantially identical stock after your sale, that also counts as a wash sale. When the wash sale rule disallows your loss, you add the disallowed amount to the cost of the replacement stock or securities (except for stock acquired in an IRA). The result becomes your basis in the new shares, and your holding period for the new shares includes the holding period of the shares you sold. This adjustment defers the loss deduction until you later dispose of the replacement property. The wash sale window runs both before and after the sale, so any purchase of substantially identical stock in that window triggers the rule. The wash sale rules also apply to losses from sales or trades of contracts and options to acquire or sell stock or securities.
You cannot deduct losses from sales or trades of stock or securities in a wash sale unless the loss was incurred in the ordinary course of your business as a dealer in stock or securities. A wash sale occurs when you sell or trade stock or se- curities at a loss and within 30 days before or after the sale you:
Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)
The extra tax on top of the capital gain rate
Beyond the regular capital gains rates, the IRS may apply a Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT). The NIIT is a 3.8% surtax on the lesser of your net investment income or the portion of your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) that exceeds a threshold amount determined by your filing status. The threshold varies depending on whether you file as married filing jointly, single, head of household, married filing separately, or qualifying surviving spouse. If your MAGI falls below the applicable threshold for your filing status, you owe no NIIT even if you have net investment income. For taxpayers whose income exceeds the threshold, the 3.8% rate applies to the smaller of the MAGI excess or the net investment income. This tax is reported on Form 8960 and is separate from, and in addition to, the regular capital gains tax computed on Schedule D.
The NIIT is a 3.8% tax on the lesser of your net investment income or the amount of your modified adjus- ted gross income (MAGI) that is over a threshold amount based on your filing status.
Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)
Certain hedges force you to recognize the gain before you actually sell
For federal capital gains tax purposes, a taxpayer who holds an appreciated financial position in stock, a partnership interest, or certain debt instruments can be treated as having made a constructive sale when entering into certain offsetting transactions. When this occurs, the taxpayer must recognize gain as if the position were disposed of at its fair market value on the date of the constructive sale. This rule effectively forces the gain into income before any actual sale takes place, and it also resets the holding period for the position starting from the date of the constructive sale. Common triggering transactions include entering into a short sale of the same or substantially identical property, or entering into an offsetting notional principal contract. The purpose is to prevent taxpayers from locking in economic gain while deferring the tax by keeping the original position open.
You are treated as having made a constructive sale when you enter into certain transactions involving an appreci- ated financial position (defined later) in stock, a partner- ship interest, or certain debt instruments. You must recog- nize gain as if the position were disposed of at its fair market value on the date of the constructive sale.
Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)
There is no flat-rate line - a worksheet blends the rates against your income
For federal capital gains tax purposes, there is no single flat-rate line on the return where net capital gain is simply multiplied by one percentage. Instead, the IRS requires taxpayers to use a worksheet - either the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet or the Schedule D Tax Worksheet - to blend the applicable rates against the taxpayer's total taxable income. The worksheets work through the income brackets step by step, applying the 15% rate, and then the 20% rate, to successive layers of gain as income rises. Below the 15% bracket, the rate is lower; once income exceeds the top of the 15% bracket, the 20% rate applies to remaining gain. For joint filers the 15% bracket extends up to $553,850 and for single filers up to $492,300; above those thresholds the 20% rate takes over. Heads of household reach the top of the 15% bracket at $523,050, and married individuals filing separately at $276,900. Because the rate applied depends on how the gain stacks up against other income, the worksheet - not a flat line - is the mechanism that determines the final tax on capital gains.
Tax computation using maximum capital gain rates. Use the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Work- sheet or the Schedule D Tax Worksheet (whichever ap- plies) to figure your tax if you have qualified dividends or net capital gain.
Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Rev. Proc. 2022-38 (IRS)
- Top of the 0% bracket, joint filers
Married Individuals Filing Joint Returns and Surviving Spouse $89,250
- Top of the 15% bracket, joint filers
Married Individuals Filing Joint Returns and Surviving Spouse $89,250 $553,850
- Top of the 0% bracket, married filing separately
Married Individuals Filing Separate Returns $44,625
- Top of the 15% bracket, married filing separately
Married Individuals Filing Separate Returns $44,625 $276,900
- Top of the 0% bracket, heads of household
Heads of Household $59,750
- Top of the 15% bracket, heads of household
Heads of Household $59,750 $523,050
- Top of the 0% bracket, single filers
All Other Individuals $44,625 $492,300
- Top of the 15% bracket, single filers
All Other Individuals $44,625 $492,300
- Top of the 0% bracket, estates and trusts
Estates and Trusts $3,000
- Top of the 15% bracket, estates and trusts
Estates and Trusts $3,000 $14,650
- Rate above the 0% bracket
maximum 15 percent rate amounts under
Publication 550 (2023), Investment Income and Expenses (IRS)
- Rate above the 15% bracket
other gain1 and the regular tax rate that would apply is 37% your taxable income is... $553,851 or more if married filing jointly or surviving spouse; $523,051 or more if head of household; $276,901 or more if married filing separately; $492,301 or more if single; or $14,651 or more if estate or trust… 20%