capitalgainstaxcalc

Pennsylvania · Tax year 2026

Pennsylvania Capital Gains Tax Calculator

Flat 3.07%, no holding-period distinction, and unusual loss rules.

Showing an example. Change any figure.

Your sale
Not sure? Work it out from the dates

What counts as cost basis?

What you paid, plus commissions and fees. Your gain is the sale proceeds less this. For an inherited asset it is usually the market value at the date of death, not what the person who left it to you paid.

About you
Why are some states unavailable?

States we can't yet compute for 2026 stay in the list, disabled, so a missing state is never mistaken for one with no tax. How states are checked.

Itemizing your deductions?
Standard or itemized?

The standard deduction is a fixed amount everyone can subtract — $16,100 single for 2026. Itemizing means totting up specific costs instead: mortgage interest, state taxes, charitable gifts. Take whichever is larger; most people take the standard.

How Pennsylvania taxes a capital gain

Statutory authority: 72 P.S. § 7302; Pa. Dept. of Revenue, Tax Rates

A flat 3.07%, and no holding-period distinction at all

Pennsylvania levies a flat 3.07% personal income tax, among the lowest state rates in the country. Capital gains are taxed at that rate with no preferential treatment.

Pennsylvania also draws no distinction whatever between short-term and long-term gains. Selling an asset after eleven months and after eleven years produces the same state bill. This is genuinely different from the federal treatment, where the one-year line can more than double the rate, and it means the holding-period planning that dominates federal decisions is irrelevant at Pennsylvania level.

Eight classes of income, and gains are one of them

Pennsylvania does not compute a single figure of total income the way the federal system does. It taxes eight separate classes — compensation, interest, dividends, net profits from a business, net gains from the sale of property, rents and royalties, gambling winnings, and income from estates or trusts — each computed on its own terms.

Net gains from the sale, exchange or disposition of property is one of those classes. The structure matters because of what it prevents: income and losses generally do not move between classes.

The loss rules are the trap, and they are not the federal ones

Pennsylvania does not follow the federal capital loss regime, and the differences all run against the taxpayer. There is no equivalent of the federal $3,000 annual deduction against ordinary income. There is generally no indefinite carryforward of unused losses to future years. And a net loss in the gains class generally cannot be used to reduce your other classes of income.

The practical effect is that a bad year is simply a bad year: a Pennsylvania resident with a large realized loss may get federal relief spread across many future returns while getting nothing at state level. This calculator applies the flat rate to positive gains, which is correct for a gain year — but do not rely on it for a loss year without checking the current Pennsylvania rules, because the engine models the federal loss treatment rather than Pennsylvania's.

Local taxes generally do not reach investment gains

Pennsylvania municipalities and school districts levy their own earned income taxes, commonly around 1%. These are generally taxes on earned income — wages and net profits — and generally do not reach capital gains.

That is a helpful contrast with New York or Maryland, where the local layer does reach investment income and can add several percentage points. In Pennsylvania the state figure is usually the whole state-and-local story for a securities sale, but the rules are set locally and are worth confirming for your own jurisdiction.

A worked Pennsylvania example

Computed by the calculator's own engine when this page was built, so it updates with the tax data.

A short-term flip, taxed the same as a long hold

A single Pennsylvania resident earning $120,000 sells shares held for eight months at a $200,000 gain. Federally this is punished; at state level it makes no difference.

Taxable income after deduction
$303,900
Taxable gain
$200,000
Tax owed without the sale
$17,570
Tax the sale added
$62,124.25
of which net investment income tax
$4,560
Total federal tax
$79,694.25
Pennsylvania state tax
$6,140
Effective rate on the gain
31.06%

Pennsylvania charges 3.07% here, exactly as it would on a ten-year hold. The federal treatment is where the holding period bites — compare this with the same gain held long-term and the federal figure changes dramatically.

Caveats on this example (2)
  • Net investment income was derived from capital gains and qualified dividends only. Interest, non-qualified dividends, rents, royalties and passive business income included in your other income are also net investment income under IRC 1411(c) and are not counted here.
  • Pennsylvania: local income taxes are not modeled and apply on top of the state figure. Pennsylvania localities levy separate earned income taxes, which generally do not reach capital gains.
Show the working — 15 steps, each with its citation
  1. Net short-term capital gain or loss for the year$200,000Short-term / long-term nettingIRC 1222; IRS Pub. 550

    Assets held one year or less. Taxed at ordinary rates if a net gain.

  2. Net long-term capital gain or loss for the year$0Short-term / long-term nettingIRC 1222; IRS Pub. 550

    Assets held more than one year. Eligible for the 0/15/20% rates.

  3. Short-term gain added to ordinary income$200,000STCG at ordinary ratesIRC 1222(5); IRS Pub. 550

    Short-term capital gain has no preferential rate.

  4. Standard deduction-$16,100Deduction from adjusted gross incomeRev. Proc. 2025-32 4.14(1) (IRC 63(c)(2))

    Adjusted gross income of $320,000 less $16,100.

  5. Taxable income$303,900Taxable incomeIRC 63(a)

    The figure the rate tables and the capital gain ceilings are both measured against.

  6. Ordinary income taxed at 10%$1,240Ordinary income tax bracketsRev. Proc. 2025-32 4.01 (IRC 1(j)(2))

    $12,400 of taxable income between $0 and $12,400.

  7. Ordinary income taxed at 12%$4,560Ordinary income tax bracketsRev. Proc. 2025-32 4.01 (IRC 1(j)(2))

    $38,000 of taxable income between $12,400 and $50,400.

  8. Ordinary income taxed at 22%$12,166Ordinary income tax bracketsRev. Proc. 2025-32 4.01 (IRC 1(j)(2))

    $55,300 of taxable income between $50,400 and $105,700.

  9. Ordinary income taxed at 24%$23,058Ordinary income tax bracketsRev. Proc. 2025-32 4.01 (IRC 1(j)(2))

    $96,075 of taxable income between $105,700 and $201,775.

  10. Ordinary income taxed at 32%$17,424Ordinary income tax bracketsRev. Proc. 2025-32 4.01 (IRC 1(j)(2))

    $54,450 of taxable income between $201,775 and $256,225.

  11. Ordinary income taxed at 35%$16,686.25Ordinary income tax bracketsRev. Proc. 2025-32 4.01 (IRC 1(j)(2))

    $47,675 of taxable income between $256,225 and $303,900.

  12. Net investment income tax threshold$200,000IRC 1411 thresholdIRC 1411(a)-(b); 26 C.F.R. 1.1411-2

    Modified AGI of $320,000 against the $200,000 threshold for a single filer. This threshold is statutory and is not adjusted for inflation.

  13. Net investment income tax at 3.8%$4,560Net investment income taxIRC 1411(a)-(b); 26 C.F.R. 1.1411-2

    3.8% of $120,000, the lesser of net investment income ($200,000) and the amount by which modified AGI exceeds the threshold ($120,000). Here the binding figure is the excess of modified AGI over the threshold.

  14. Pennsylvania income tax at 3.07%$6,140State flat income tax on capital gainsPa. Dept. of Revenue, Tax Rates (72 P.S. 7302)

    Flat 3.07% personal income tax. Pennsylvania taxes net gains from the sale of property as one of its eight separate classes of income, at the same 3.07% rate, with NO distinction between short-term and long-term. CAUTION, not modeled: Pennsylvania does not follow the federal capital loss rules - a net loss in this class generally cannot offset other classes and there is no federal-style $3,000 deduction or indefinite carryforward. Confirm before computing a loss year.

  15. Total tax$85,834.25Sum of all tax stepsRev. Proc. 2025-32 (I.R.B. 2025-45)

    $85,834.25 on $320,000 of total income, an effective rate of 26.82%.

What this calculator does not cover for Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania figure stacks your gain on your federal ordinary taxable income. Pennsylvania computes its own taxable income with its own additions and subtractions, which are not modeled here — so treat the state number as a close approximation for a straightforward wage-and-sale situation, and as a rough one if your return carries significant state adjustments.

Full-year residency is assumed throughout. Part-year residents, non-residents, and gains sourced to property in another state all turn on rules this calculator does not model. The complete list of what is in and out of scope is on the methodology page.

Other states

The 2026 capital gains tax calculator covers the federal rules that apply wherever you live, and the state comparison sets every covered state side by side.