Capital Gains Tax Calculator

When you sell something for more than you paid for it, the difference is a capital gain, and most tax systems tax it. The rate usually depends on how long you held the asset: a quick sale is treated like ordinary income or at a higher rate, while a long holding gets a lower rate. The detailed rules vary by country and by type of asset, so this calculator does not hide them; it asks for the rates, thresholds and allowances and does the arithmetic.

The gain

Gain = selling price − buying price − costs. The costs are those of buying and selling, such as brokerage, fees and taxes paid on the transaction. For property, they might include registration and legal costs and, in some systems, the cost of improvements. A negative result is a loss, which is not taxed. The page shows the gain first so that you know what the tax rates apply to.

Short-term or long-term

The holding period is the number of months from the purchase to the sale. If it is greater than the threshold, the gain is long-term. The threshold is an input because it depends on the asset: for listed shares and equity funds in India it is 12 months, for property and unlisted shares 24 months, and in the United States a gain on an asset held more than one year is long-term. The page labels the result and uses the matching rate.

A worked example

The first sample sells shares bought for 5,00,000 for 9,00,000, with 2,000 of costs, after 18 months. The gain is 3,98,000, which is long-term. With the allowance of 1,25,000 and a rate of 12.5%, the taxed part is 2,73,000 and the tax is 34,125, which is 35,490 with 4% cess, or 8.92% of the gain. If the same sale had happened after 8 months, the gain would be short-term and taxed at 20%: 82,784 with cess. The page shows the pair, so you can see that waiting saves 47,294. These are the Indian rates for listed equity at the time of writing.

Property and other countries

The property sample has a purchase of 45,00,000, a sale at 70,00,000, 1,20,000 of costs and 30 months of holding with a 24-month threshold. The gain is 23,80,000, taxed at 12.5% with no allowance, 2,97,500 plus cess is 3,09,400, which is 13.00% of the gain. For a US stock bought for 10,000 and sold for 16,000 after 14 months, with a 15% long-term rate and no cess, the gain is 5,980 and the tax 897. Selling before the year would have meant a rate of 24% in the example, 1,435.

Allowance and cess

Some systems exempt part of the long-term gain each year, as India does for listed equity, so the first 1,25,000 of gains is not taxed. The page subtracts the allowance you enter, and applies it only to long-term gains. Cess or a surcharge is a percentage added to the tax; use the figure for your system, or zero. Whether the allowance applies per year or per sale depends on the rules, so enter what is left of it.

Edge cases

A sale price of zero gives a loss equal to the buying price plus the costs. A holding of exactly the threshold counts as short-term, since the rule requires more than the threshold. Rates must be between 0 and 100. The “if you had waited” line looks at the other category using the same figures.

Limits

Indexation, special treatment of some assets, exemptions for reinvesting in property or bonds, the set-off of losses and the effect of your slab rate are not modelled. For short-term gains taxed at your ordinary rate, enter that rate. This is not tax advice; check the rules for your country and year.

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