Short Term Capital Gains Tax: Rates, Rules, and How to Minimize It
- Matt Brennan, CFP®
- 2 hours ago
- 18 min read
David (63) sold $150,000 of tech stock he'd held for nine months. He checked the bracket tables, estimated a 24% federal hit, and moved on. What David didn't know: that single sale would cost him $44,645 in combined federal and state taxes — and then trigger extra Medicare premiums that wouldn't show up until two years later.
The bracket table told him one number. The IRS, CMS, and the state of Virginia told him a very different one.
[Disclosure: The scenario regarding "David" is a hypothetical illustration used to demonstrate planning concepts. It does not represent the experience of actual clients. Hypothetical results have inherent limitations, including that they are prepared with the benefit of hindsight and do not reflect actual trading or the performance of any specific client portfolio.]
That's the problem with short-term capital gains tax. Everyone knows it exists. Few people understand how much it actually costs — especially when you layer in the taxes that don't appear on the bracket table.
You think you know the rate. But NIIT, IRMAA, and state taxes can push the real cost past 55%.
Key Takeaways
The real top rate isn't 37%. After NIIT (3.8%) and state taxes (up to 13.3%), HNW investors can pay 54–56% on short-term gains. A $200,000 gain in California could cost $108,200 — not the $74,000 most people expect.
Three months of patience is worth thousands of dollars. A couple earning $300,000 who waits 90 days to qualify for long-term treatment on a $100,000 gain saves approximately $13,500 in federal tax — plus avoids IRMAA surcharges.
Your Medicare bill is watching. Short-term gains increase your MAGI, which Medicare uses — with a two-year lookback — to set premium surcharges. Crossing the $218,000 threshold by just $1 triggers $2,297 per year in extra costs for a couple.
The NIIT threshold hasn't moved since 2013. The $250,000 trigger for the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax isn't indexed for inflation. Every year, more HNW households get caught. A $100,000 short-term gain above that line costs an extra $3,800.
New for 2026: The AMT trap just got wider. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act dropped the AMT phase-out threshold from $1,252,700 to $1,000,000 for married couples, creating surprise tax exposure for investors with large short-term gains.
Crypto reporting just changed everything. Starting January 1, 2026, brokers must report digital asset transactions to the IRS on Form 1099-DA. Crypto short-term gains are no longer easy to overlook.
Want the full breakdown? Keep reading.
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What Is Short-Term Capital Gains Tax?
Short-term capital gains tax is the federal tax on profits from selling an asset you held for one year or less. The IRS taxes these gains at your ordinary income tax rates — the same rates you pay on your salary, pension, or business income — which range from 10% to 37% for both 2025 and 2026.
That makes it fundamentally different from long-term capital gains tax. Hold the same asset for more than a year, and you qualify for preferential rates of 0%, 15%, or 20%.
The gap between those two treatments is the single biggest planning opportunity many investors overlook.
Here's the holding-period rule that catches people: the clock starts the day after you acquire the asset and ends on the day you sell. If you buy stock on January 15, 2026 and sell on January 15, 2027, that's exactly one year — and is still taxed as short-term.
Sell one day later, on January 16, and it's long-term. One calendar day can change your tax rate by 17 percentage points.
What counts as a short-term capital gain? Profits from selling stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, cryptocurrency, real estate, or any other capital asset held for 365 days or fewer. Your broker reports these on Form 1099-B, and you report them on Schedule D of your tax return using details from Form 8949.
For most high net worth investors, the real question isn't what the rate is. It's what happens when short-term gains stack on top of your other income and trigger a cascade of additional taxes you didn't see coming.
2025 and 2026 Short-Term Capital Gains Tax Rates
Short-term capital gains are taxed at ordinary income rates. Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed July 4, 2025, these seven brackets are now permanent — no more guessing about whether they'll expire.
Here are the 2025 and 2026 rates for married filing jointly:
Tax Rate | 2025 Taxable Income (MFJ) | 2026 Taxable Income (MFJ) |
10% | Up to $23,850 | Up to $24,800 |
12% | $23,851 – $96,950 | $24,801 – $100,800 |
22% | $96,951 – $206,700 | $100,801 – $211,400 |
24% | $206,701 – $394,600 | $211,401 – $403,550 |
32% | $394,601 – $501,050 | $403,551 – $512,450 |
35% | $501,051 – $751,600 | $512,451 – $768,700 |
37% | Over $751,600 | Over $768,700 |
Sources: IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40, IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, and Tax Foundation 2026 bracket estimates based on ~2.7% inflation adjustments. For more information, see tax reduction strategies for high-income earners.
The High Net Worth trap: Every dollar of short-term capital gains stacks on top of your other income. A retiree couple with $250,000 in pension and Social Security income is already in the 24% bracket.
A $160,000 short-term gain doesn't get taxed at 24%. The first chunk fills the rest of the 24% bracket, and the overflow pushes into 32%, creating an extra tax liability of $516. That bracket-jump math is something the simple rate tables don't show you.
And those tables leave out two additional taxes that hit high net worth investors especially hard.
The Two Invisible Taxes: How NIIT and IRMAA Compound Your Short-Term Gains
This is the section most articles never write — and it's where the real money leaks out.
When you look at a bracket table, you see rates from 10% to 37%. What you don't see are the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) and IRMAA surcharges that ride on top of those rates.
Together, they can add 7% or more to your effective tax rate on short-term gains — and the IRMAA costs show up two years after the transaction.
The NIIT: A 3.8% Surcharge Frozen in 2013
The Net Investment Income Tax is a 3.8% additional tax that applies when your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) exceeds $250,000 for married couples or $200,000 for single filers. It hits the lesser of your net investment income or the amount your MAGI exceeds the threshold.
Here's the critical detail: that $250,000 threshold hasn't been adjusted for inflation since the tax was created in 2013. A threshold set when median household income was $52,250 (Census Bureau) hasn't moved while incomes have risen significantly.
Every year, more High net worth households cross this invisible line — and short-term capital gains are one of the most common triggers.
The math hits fast. A married couple with $280,000 in ordinary income who realizes a $100,000 short-term gain now has $380,000 in MAGI. They owe 3.8% on the lesser of their $100,000 net investment income or the $130,000 above the $250,000 threshold. That's $3,800 — on top of the ordinary income tax they already calculated.
At $300,000 in gains above the threshold? The NIIT alone costs $11,400. And most tax calculators don't combine this with the bracket rate automatically. So the taxpayer sees "24%" on the bracket table and doesn't realize their effective rate is actually 27.8% or higher.
IRMAA: The Medicare Surcharge Nobody Mentions
IRMAA stands for Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount. It's an income-based surcharge on your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums. And it has a feature that makes it uniquely dangerous: a two-year lookback.
Medicare uses your MAGI from two years ago to set your premiums today. Short-term gains you realize in 2026 determine your Medicare costs in 2028. And IRMAA isn't gradual — it's a cliff. Cross the threshold by a single dollar, and you pay the full surcharge for that tier.
For 2026, the Tier 1 IRMAA threshold is $218,000 in MAGI for a married couple. Exceed it by $1, and each spouse pays an extra $81.20 per month in Part B premiums plus $14.50 per month in Part D premiums. That's $2,296.80 per year for the couple — triggered by a short-term gain that happened two years earlier.
Consider a couple with $215,000 in retirement income who realizes just $5,000 in short-term gains. That pushes their MAGI to $220,000 — past the $218,000 cliff. The result: $2,297 in annual Medicare surcharges on a $5,000 gain. That's an effective tax rate of 45,936% on the incremental income.
Forward this section to your CPA and ask: "Does our projected MAGI for this year put us near an IRMAA threshold? And have we factored in any short-term gains before year-end?"
The State Multiplier: How Where You Live Changes the Math
The federal rate is only part of the story. Most states tax short-term capital gains as ordinary income too — and for HNW investors in high-tax states, the combined rate can exceed 55%.
Here's what $500,000 in short-term capital gains actually costs at the top bracket, by state:
State | State STCG Rate | Combined Fed + NIIT + State | Tax on $500K Short-Term Capital Gain | What You Keep |
New York City | 14.776% (state + city) | 55.6% | $278,000 | $222,000 |
California | 13.3% | 54.1% | $270,500 | $229,500 |
5.75% | 46.55% | $232,750 | $267,250 | |
Florida / Texas / Washington | 0% | 40.8% | $204,000 | $296,000 |
[Footnote: The above table assumes the taxpayer is already in the 37% tax bracket before selling the gain.]
The difference between the most and least expensive state? $74,000 on a single $500,000 gain.
And here's what makes it worse: the $40,000 SALT deduction cap (through 2029) means high-tax-state residents can't deduct most of that state tax burden on their federal return. The state tax becomes an unreduced, on-top cost.
A few state-specific details worth noting: California doesn't distinguish between short-term and long-term gains at the state level — all capital gains are taxed as ordinary income.
Washington State's capital gains tax (upheld by its Supreme Court in 2023) applies only to long-term gains on financial assets like stocks and bonds, with a $278,000 standard deduction and rates of 7% (up to $1M in gains) and 9.9% (above $1M).
Real estate and retirement accounts are exempt. For the short-term gains this article covers, Washington has no state-level tax. And for 2026, the SALT cap phases out for taxpayers with MAGI above $500,000, further limiting the deduction when you need it most.
This is one reason Covenant Wealth Advisors’ ability to serve clients nationally matters. For clients in multiple states — or those considering relocation in retirement — coordinating the timing and residency of gain realization can save tens of thousands in a single year.
What Your Advisor Isn't Telling You
The Numbers That Matter
The "real" maximum federal short-term capital gains rate is 40.8% (37% + 3.8% NIIT) — not 37%.
Add state taxes: and you have 54.1% in California. 55.6% in New York City.
Crossing the $218,000 IRMAA threshold by $1 costs a couple $2,297/year in Medicare surcharges.
The NIIT $250,000 threshold (MFJ) hasn't moved since 2013 — it catches more people every year.
A $200,000 short-term gain in California can cost roughly $108,200 in total taxes. Many investors estimate $74,000.
Waiting 90 days to hit the long-term holding period can save $13,500–$20,600 per $100,000 in gains.
Screenshot this. Then check your 1099-B for any positions approaching the one-year mark.
The Myth That Costs HNW Investors $34,200
The myth: "I'll just pay the 37% and be done with it."
It sounds reasonable. You check the top bracket, estimate your bill at 37%, and make your trade. Plenty of financial websites reinforce this by listing the bracket table and stopping there.
The reality: The bracket table is the starting point, not the finish line. For a California investor in the top bracket, the actual rate is 37% + 3.8% NIIT + 13.3% state = 54.1%. Even in Virginia, it's 37% + 3.8% + 5.75% = 46.55%.
On a $200,000 short-term gain, here's the difference:
What the myth says you'll owe: $74,000 (37% × $200,000)
What a California resident actually owes: approximately $108,200
The surprise: $34,200 in taxes you didn't plan for
And that's before the IRMAA surcharges that arrive in your mailbox two years later.
This myth is expensive because it leads to bad timing decisions.
If David from our opening example had known the real combined rate, he might have waited 93 days for long-term treatment — or at least timed his sale to avoid crossing an IRMAA threshold. The bracket table gave him a false sense of what the transaction would cost.
Five Strategies to Minimize Short-Term Capital Gains Tax
You can't always avoid short-term gains. Corporate events, liquidity needs, and concentrated positions sometimes force a sale before the one-year mark. Here's what to do when holding longer isn't an option.
1. Use Specific-Share Identification
When you sell part of a position, your broker needs to know which shares to sell. By default, most brokers use first-in, first-out (FIFO) — selling your oldest, cheapest shares first. That maximizes your taxable gain.
Instead, direct your broker to use specific-share identification. This lets you choose the shares with the highest cost basis — the ones you paid the most for — which shrinks the taxable gain.
You must make this election at the time of sale, not after. Ask your advisor or brokerage to confirm this is set up before you execute.
2. Harvest Losses to Offset Gains
Capital losses offset capital gains dollar-for-dollar with no annual limit. If you're sitting on positions that have declined, selling them in the same tax year as your short-term gain reduces the net amount you owe.
But there are guardrails. The wash sale rule (IRC §1091) says you can't buy the same or "substantially identical" security within 30 days before or after the sale — or the loss is disallowed.
This applies across all your accounts, including IRAs and your spouse's accounts. And be careful with automatic dividend reinvestment — a $50 reinvestment during the 30-day window can void a $20,000 loss.
If your losses exceed your gains, you can deduct up to $3,000 per year ($1,500 if married filing separately) against your other income. The rest carries forward to future years indefinitely.
3. Manage Your Tax Bracket Before You Sell
Before realizing any short-term gains, map your projected taxable income for the year. Know exactly where you stand relative to the bracket boundaries.
If you're a married couple with $380,000 in taxable income, and the 32% bracket starts at roughly $403,551 (2026), you have about $23,551 of "room" in the 24% bracket.
Gains up to that amount are taxed at 24%. Gains beyond it jump to 32%. Knowing your headroom lets you split a large sale across two tax years — realizing gains up to the bracket boundary this year and deferring the rest to next year.
[Disclosure: The trade-off: holding a position into a new tax year exposes you to price changes — the stock could drop (or rise) before you sell the second tranche.]
4. Budget for IRMAA Before Realizing Gains
Before selling, check where your MAGI stands relative to the IRMAA thresholds for the relevant lookback year. For 2026 income, the impact lands on your 2028 Medicare premiums.
The Tier 1 threshold is $218,000 MAGI for married couples. If your retirement income already puts you at $210,000, a $10,000 short-term gain pushes you over. The question isn't just "how much tax do I owe on the gain?" It's "does this gain cost me $2,297 per year in Medicare surcharges — potentially for the rest of my life?"
If you're already above Tier 1, the next cliff is $274,000. Each tier costs more. At the top tier, a couple pays up to $13,872 per year in IRMAA surcharges. Plan your gains to stay below the nearest cliff, or if you're going to cross it, make sure the sale justifies the cost.
5. Use Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)
If you hold other investments with long-term appreciated gains, you might think donating them to a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) will reduce your AGI to keep you under the thresholds. It won't—DAF contributions are itemized deductions that only reduce your taxable income, leaving you totally exposed to NIIT and IRMAA cliffs.
Instead, if you are over age 70½, use a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). You can direct funds from your IRA directly to charity. This satisfies your RMDs and removes that income from your AGI entirely—safely keeping you below the thresholds.
(Bonus: This bypasses the OBBBA’s new limitation which caps the benefit of itemized deductions at 35 cents per dollar).
The 2026 catch: QCDs can only come from traditional IRAs (and Inherited IRAs). In addition, the charity receiving the QCD must be a qualifying 501(c)(3) public charity. There is also a $111,000 limit per person in 2026.
The Three Paths: What Happens When You Don't Plan
Let's return to David (63) and Karen (63) — both recently retired, living in Virginia, with a $3.2 million portfolio, $80,000 in annual pensions, and $80,000 in annual Social Security (85% of which is taxable). Their base 2025 MAGI is $148,000. David holds $150,000 in unrealized gains on a tech stock he's held for 9 months.
[Disclosure: The scenario regarding "David and Karen" is a hypothetical illustration used to demonstrate planning concepts. It does not represent the experience of actual clients. Hypothetical results have inherent limitations, including that they are prepared with the benefit of hindsight and do not reflect actual trading or the performance of any specific client portfolio.]
Path 1: Inaction — "I'll Just Wait"
David holds the stock. In Q1 2027, a market correction drops it 20%. The $150,000 gain shrinks to $120,000. David sells in a panic at 14 months — long-term, at least.
Federal tax at 15%: $18,000. But he lost $30,000 in market value waiting. His net: $102,000 after tax on a $120,000 gain. Inaction felt "safe." It cost $30,000.
Path 2: Generic Advice — "Just Pay the Tax"
David reads an article that says "pay the short-term tax and move on." He sells the full $150,000 in December. His combined MAGI hits $298,000. With a standard deduction of $31,500, their taxable income before selling the position is $116,500.
He will pay the 22% and 24% marginal rates on the gain, costing $34,196 in federal taxes. NIIT on $48,000 above the $250,000 threshold: $1,824. Virginia taxes at 5.75%: $8,625. Total tax: $44,645.
Plus, his 2025 MAGI of $298,000 triggers an IRMAA shift when Karen enrolls in Medicare — adding thousands of dollars per year in surcharges nobody mentioned.
David nets $105,355 and doesn't discover the Medicare hit until 2027.
Path 3: The Coordinated Strategy
A CWA advisor examines the full picture and builds a phased plan:
December 2025: Sell $60,000 of the tech stock — combined with $25,000 in harvested losses from an underperforming international fund, the net taxable gain is $35,000.
March 2026: Sell the remaining $90,000 after the stock crosses the one-year holding period. It now qualifies as a long-term gain at 15%.
The result: $7,700 federal tax on the short-term portion. $2,012 Virginia tax. $13,500 on the long-term portion. $5,175 Virginia on long-term. Total: $28,387
No NIIT triggered. IRMAA is triggered at a much lower rate than Path 2. David and Karen save approximately $16,258 in taxes compared to the generic approach.
Past tax planning results are not a guarantee of future outcomes. Individual situations vary, and all tax strategies carry trade-offs — including the risk that the stock declines during the waiting period or that tax law changes before execution.
The question David never asked in Path 2 — and the one no generic article answered — was: "What happens to my Medicare premiums two years from now if I sell everything today?"
Check Your Exposure: A 5-Minute Self-Assessment
Before year-end, pull up your brokerage account and check these five things:
1. Check your unrealized short-term gains. Log into each brokerage account. Look for the "Tax Lots" or "Gains & Losses" view. Filter for positions held under one year with unrealized gains. That's your short-term capital gains exposure for the year.
2. Check your MAGI trajectory. Add up your expected income for the year: pension, Social Security, rental income, dividends, interest, and any gains you've already realized. Compare that total to $250,000 (NIIT threshold) and $212,000 (IRMAA Tier 1 threshold for 2025). How much room do you have?
3. Check your holding periods. For any position with a large unrealized gain, note the acquisition date. If it's within 30–90 days of crossing the one-year mark, that's a position worth waiting on. One day matters.
4. Check your harvestable losses. Look for positions currently showing losses. How much could you sell to offset expected gains? Remember the wash sale rule — you'll need to wait 31 days before repurchasing anything "substantially identical."
5. Check your state rate. If you live in California, New York, New Jersey, or another high-tax state, your combined rate on short-term gains could exceed 50%.
Factor the state rate into every sell decision. For more on aligning your investment withdrawal strategy with your state tax situation, coordinate with both your advisor and CPA.
If any of these checks surprised you, that's a sign your gain realization needs a coordinated plan — not a one-off decision.
[Disclosure: The information above is provided for educational purposes to help you evaluate your own situation. It is not personalized financial advice. Your specific circumstances may differ — consult a qualified financial professional before making changes to your plan.]
Take the Next Step
David and Karen's situation isn't unusual. The difference between the generic tax bill and the coordinated tax bill wasn't luck — it was a plan that connected short-term gains to NIIT thresholds, IRMAA cliffs, holding periods, and harvestable losses in a single coordinated strategy.
A short-term gain you didn't plan for can cost tens of thousands more than it should — before Medicare surcharges.
In your analysis, a CWA advisor will map your projected taxable income, identify your NIIT and IRMAA exposure, review your unrealized gains and loss-harvesting opportunities, and model the tax cost of selling now versus waiting — across federal, state, and Medicare impacts.
For reference, you may want to review these important tax numbers every high income earner should know.
It's the analysis David wished he had before clicking "sell."
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much tax do you pay for short-term capital gains?
Short-term capital gains are taxed at your ordinary income tax rate, which ranges from 10% to 37% depending on your total taxable income and filing status.
But that's just the base rate. If your Modified Adjusted Gross Income exceeds $250,000 (married filing jointly), you also owe a 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax. And state taxes can add another 5–13% depending on where you live.
For a high-income investor in California, the total effective rate on short-term gains can reach 54.1%.
What is the tax rate for short-term capital gains?
For 2025 and 2026, short-term capital gains are taxed at the same seven federal brackets as ordinary income: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%.
The rate you pay depends on your total taxable income — not just the gain itself. Short-term gains stack on top of your other income, which means a large gain can push you into a higher bracket than your regular income alone would.
For married couples filing jointly, the 37% rate kicks in at $751,601 in taxable income for 2025 and $768,701 for 2026.
How much capital gains will I pay on $200,000?
It depends on whether the gain is short-term or long-term, your total income, and your state.
For a married couple in the 32% federal bracket with $200,000 in short-term gains: federal tax of roughly $64,000, plus $7,600 in NIIT if MAGI exceeds $250,000, plus state tax ranging from $0 (Florida) to $26,600 (California).
Total range: $64,000 to $108,200. If the same $200,000 were a long-term gain, the federal rate drops to 15–20%, saving $14,000 to $34,000 or more.
The difference comes down to how long you held the asset before selling.
What is the 20% rule for capital gains?
The 20% rate applies to long-term capital gains — not short-term.
If you hold an asset for more than one year and your taxable income exceeds $533,400 (single) or $600,050 (MFJ) for 2025, your long-term gains are taxed at 20% instead of 15%. Short-term capital gains never qualify for this preferential rate — they're always taxed at ordinary income rates up to 37%.
The 20% long-term rate is still nearly half the top short-term rate, which is why holding period matters so much for HNW investors.
Do short-term capital gains affect Medicare premiums?
Yes — and this is the most commonly missed connection. Short-term capital gains increase your MAGI, which Medicare uses to calculate IRMAA surcharges with a two-year lookback.
A gain realized in 2026 affects your 2028 premiums. The IRMAA thresholds work as cliffs: exceeding $218,000 MAGI (married filing jointly) by even $1 triggers an extra $2,297 per year in combined Part B and Part D surcharges for a couple.
Higher tiers can cost up to $13,872 per year.
Can I offset short-term gains with investment losses?
Yes. Capital losses offset gains dollar-for-dollar with no annual limit. Short-term losses first offset short-term gains, and then remaining losses offset long-term gains.
If total losses exceed total gains for the year, you can deduct up to $3,000 ($1,500 if married filing separately) against your other income, and carry unused losses forward to future years indefinitely.
But you must actually sell the losing position to realize the loss, and the wash sale rule prevents you from repurchasing the same or substantially identical security within 30 days before or after the sale.
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About the author:
Senior Financial Advisor
Matt is a Senior Financial Advisor with Covenant Wealth Advisors and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry in the areas of financial planning for retirement, tax planning, and investment management.
Disclosures: Covenant Wealth Advisors is a registered investment advisor with offices in Richmond, Reston, and Williamsburg, VA. Registration of an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. The views and opinions expressed in this content are as of the date of the posting, are subject to change based on market and other conditions. This content contains certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Please note that nothing in this content should be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase an interest in any security or separate account. Nothing is intended to be, and you should not consider anything to be, investment, accounting, tax, or legal advice. If you would like accounting, tax, or legal advice, you should consult with your own accountants or attorneys regarding your individual circumstances and needs. This article was written and edited by a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with the assistance of AI. No advice may be rendered by Covenant Wealth Advisors unless a client service agreement is in place. Hypothetical examples are fictitious and are only used to illustrate a specific point of view. Diversification does not guarantee against risk of loss. While this guide attempts to be as comprehensive as possible, no article can cover all aspects of retirement planning. Be sure to consult an advisor for comprehensive advice.