What is the Capital Gains Tax Rate?

Capital Gains Tax is a tax charged on all capital gains (profits on sales of assets by businesses or individuals).

There are two types of capital gains or capital losses:

• Long-term capital gains/losses, which are gains or losses on assets which are held over one year before being sold
  
• Short-term capital gains or capital losses, which are gains or losses on assets which are held less than one year before being sold

Short-term Capital Gains (STCG)
The capital gains tax rate for short-term gains (those held one year or less before sale) is currently the same as the ordinary income tax rate, up to 15%.

Long-term Capital Gains (LTCG)
The capital gains tax rate for long-term gains is currently 5% for taxpayers in the 10% and 15% tax brackets (zero percent starting in 2008).

The capital gains tax rate for corporations is the same as the income tax rate; all income for a corporation is taxed at the federal corporate tax.

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