Your capital gain in any investment is the difference between the amount you sell it for and your “basis” in that investment. Typically, your basis in an investment is equal to its purchase price or fair market value at the time you acquired it.
Suppose you buy a property for $100,000, and then, many years later, you sell that property for $600,000. Since you’ve sold your property for more than you paid for it, you have made a capital gain. In this case, your basis is $100,000. Subtracting your basis from the property’s selling price, your capital gain therefore is $500,000 ($600,000 - $100,000 = $500,000).
Since you held onto this property for longer than a year, this capital gain counts as long-term capital gain. The federal tax rate on a long-term capital gain of $500,000 is 20%, or $100,000.1 After accounting for state and Medicare taxes, this rate can get up to 30-35% of your gain, or in this case, upwards of $175,000!
Since you held onto this property for longer than a year, this capital gain counts as long-term capital gain. The federal tax rate on a long-term capital gain of $500,000 is 20%, or $100,000.1 After accounting for state and Medicare taxes, this rate can get up to 30-35% of your gain, or in this case, upwards of $175,000!
