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Capital gains tax depends on what you sold — a main home, a rental, a second home, a business, or stock each follow different rules and rates. Pick the sale below and the matching page covers your exact situation. Or send us the details and a CPA routes it for you.
Capital gains tax planning starts with one question: what did you sell? The rules for a main home, a rental, a second home, a business, and inherited property differ enough that a single generic answer is usually a wrong one. Pick the page that matches your sale, or send us the details and a CPA routes it for you.
Most of the capital gains work we see starts the same way: a bill that arrived bigger than expected. That is almost always fixable by the numbers being read correctly the first time — the improvements you never tracked, the exclusion that was missed, the recapture that was double-counted, the rate band each slice actually falls in.
Six sale types, six pages. Each answers your exact situation.
The $250,000 / $500,000 exclusion, and what happens past it. See capital gains tax on real estate sale.
Depreciation recapture at up to 25%, plus the gain, plus the 3.8% NIIT surtax. See capital gains tax on investment property.
Why the home-sale exclusion usually does not apply. See capital gains tax on second home.
Asset versus stock, price allocation, and QSBS §1202. See capital gains tax on business sale.
The stepped-up basis, and why the tax is often smaller than feared. See capital gains tax on inherited property.
Stock and options via IPO tax strategy. Crypto sales via cryptocurrency tax services. Foreign seller? See FIRPTA withholding.
Sale price, adjusted basis, and the improvements and costs most owners undercount. Basis reconstruction alone often shrinks the taxable gain more than any other single move.
The home-sale exclusion ($250k/$500k), depreciation recapture (up to 25%), and the 3.8% net investment income tax for higher earners. A calculator misses these; a CPA doesn't.
Holding period, loss harvesting in the same year, which rate band each slice of gain falls in for 2026. For business sales, structure the deal before signing — see capital gains tax on business sale. To defer the tax entirely, deferral options have their own hub.
Most of the capital gains work we see starts the same way: a bill that arrived bigger than expected. Almost always the number comes down once the year is read properly — the exclusion applied, the basis rebuilt, the recapture calculated once instead of twice.
The fee is based on the sale. A single clean sale with good records prices low. Multiple properties, a business deal, rebuilt basis, or more than one state add work — and the fee reflects that and nothing else.
To get a quote, send what you sold and what records you have. The fee comes back in writing before any work begins.
Four moving parts that decide the bill on almost every sale. Get them all right, and the number is usually smaller than the first draft suggested:
Sources: IRS Topic 409 (capital gains rates); Publication 523 (home-sale exclusion); Publication 544 (sales and dispositions)
A good fit if:
New to the topic? Start with the sale type that matches your situation — the pages above. For a general primer, see comprehensive guide to capital gains tax or what is capital gains tax 2025. Deferral options have their own hub.
Send the sale, the rough numbers, and how the asset was used, and a CPA either answers it directly or routes you to the specialist page that does. The aim is the smallest defensible number.
"About a quarter of the clients' returns that I look at are not fully utilizing the deductions that they have available. I think that number is even more."
— George Dimov, CPA, Founder of Dimov Tax
Confidential CPA review, not a call center. Every sale type routed to the specialist page.
