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Capital Gains Bracket Planner - Tool

Alexander Harmsen

Alexander Harmsen is the Co-founder and CEO of PortfolioPilot. With a track record of building AI-driven products that have scaled globally, he brings deep expertise in finance, technology, and strategy to create content that is both data-driven and actionable.

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Capital Gains Bracket Planner (2025)

Educational demo only — not tax advice. US federal long-term/short-term capital-gains planner using 2025 IRS bracket thresholds by filing status (0% / 15% / 20% for LTCG; STCG taxed as ordinary income). Numbers exclude NIIT (3.8%), state taxes, collectibles (28%), and depreciation recapture.

Filing status & income

Filing status

Taxable ordinary income (annual)

Projected annual ordinary taxable income (wages, interest, deductions applied).

Realized LT gains YTD

Realized ST gains YTD (taxed at ordinary)

Sale amount

Sale type

Source: 2025 IRS capital-gains bracket thresholds by filing status (0%/15%/20%). STCG row uses a 24% ordinary placeholder; your actual rate depends on your brackets.

Room left in 0% bracket

—

0% top @ $96,700

Room left in 15% bracket

—

15% top @ $600,050

Spillover into 20%?

—

After planned sale

Baseline (before planned sale)

How a long-term sale fills the brackets

0%: — 15%: — 20%: —

Stack shows the planned long-term sale allocated across brackets after your year-to-date amounts.

Detail

Bracket	2025 taxable-income band (by status)	Room before sale	Sale allocated	Room after sale
Total planned sale			—

Ordinary taxable income + LT gains determine placement within the LTCG brackets. If your income estimate changes, results will change.

Estimated capital-gains tax for the year (federal, 2025)

Component	Amount	Rate / Method	Est. tax
Total estimated CG tax (this year)			—

Includes YTD realized gains + planned sale. Excludes NIIT (3.8%), state taxes, collectibles, and special rules. Confirm with your tax advisor.

What the Capital Gains Bracket Planner Does

The interactive tool provides an educational, high-level illustration of how a planned sale could interact with the long-term capital gains tax brackets. The planner is an educational tool that maps planned sales against the IRS’s long-term capital gains brackets. A person enters filing status, projected income, and realized gains for the year. The calculator then shows how much room remains in each bracket and where the new sale would be taxed.

This approach helps counter a common myth: that a sale “pushes” all gains into a higher bracket. In fact, only the portion above a threshold is taxed at the higher rate. By making the brackets visible, the planner makes clear what portion of a sale may qualify for 0%, 15%, or 20%.

Key Takeaways

Capital gains brackets in 2025 are set at 0%, 15%, and 20%, depending on filing status and taxable income.
The planner shows how existing income and year-to-date gains interact with a planned sale.
Long-term and short-term gains are treated differently - short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income.
The tool highlights whether a planned sale “spills over” into a higher bracket.
Results are estimates only; actual tax liability depends on deductions, credits, and additional taxes such as NIIT.

Breaking Down the Inputs

Each field in the tool is designed to capture the moving parts of taxable income:

Filing Status – Because thresholds differ for single filers, married couples, and heads of household, this input sets the correct IRS bands.
Ordinary Income – Wages, interest, and other non-gain income, which combine with realized gains to create a taxable baseline.
Realized Long-Term and Short-Term Gains – Year-to-date gains already locked in. Short-term gains are taxed at ordinary rates, while long-term gains use the special 0/15/20% brackets.
Sale Amount & Type – The planned transaction is layered on top of existing income, showing how it fills the brackets.

Together, these inputs generate a baseline view of income before the sale and a projection of where the new sale will fall.

What the Results Show

The planner’s output includes:

Room left in each bracket – How much more can be realized before crossing thresholds.
Sale allocation – A visual breakdown of how much of the planned sale sits in each bracket.
Estimated tax impact – A projection of total capital gains tax for the year, combining year-to-date gains and the new sale.

These estimates are not predictions of final tax owed but can help investors anticipate whether a planned sale might push them into a higher bracket.

Why This Matters for Investors

Capital gains often arrive in lumpy amounts, unlike wages that are spread evenly through the year. That means timing and bracket awareness can significantly affect outcomes. Many investors mistakenly assume they should avoid realizing gains altogether. In reality, understanding where a sale fits within the brackets can clarify trade-offs.

So what? Planning sales with bracket visibility helps reduce surprises at tax time and may make it easier to weigh the benefits of realizing a gain against the cost of paying taxes sooner.

This interactive tool is for educational purposes only and provides a simplified illustration of how long-term capital gains brackets work. The results are hypothetical, based on user-entered assumptions, and do not constitute tax advice, investment advice, or a prediction of actual tax liability. Actual taxes depend on additional factors, including deductions, credits, state taxes, NIIT (3.8%), filing status, and other IRS rules. Users should consult a qualified tax professional regarding their specific circumstances.

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2. As of November 14, 2025
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