All in one year
A cash sale: the whole gain taxed in the year of sale.
Capital Gains Tax on $1 Million
How much tax on a $1 million gain? Or $2 million, $5 million, $10 million? Pick an amount or enter your own sale, choose your state, and see the 2026 tax all in one year: federal, the 3.8% net investment income tax and state. Then the same sale spread over the years you are paid, and how much more you keep. Everything runs in your browser.
Your numbers
Spread over the payment years
Seller financing: gain taxed as principal arrives (IRC 453).
This is an estimate. Getting it right down to the tee takes your actual tax forms (returns, K-1s, depreciation schedules), a consult and a paid analysis. The first 15-minute scope call is free.
Get the REAL numbers
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Talk to capital gains expert Hans Goldstein, EA.
These are estimates. Have a qualified tax professional run your real numbers in a 15-minute scope call.
Why now: how the sale is paid (all at closing or over time, and how big the note is) is set in the contract, and it cannot be changed after you sign.
Book my 15-minute callThis is an estimate. Getting it right down to the tee takes your actual tax forms (returns, K-1s, depreciation schedules), a consult and a paid analysis. The first 15-minute scope call is free.
Tax on $100,000 to $10 million of gain, your state
Year by year: payments, gain and tax
Capital gains tax on $1 million, $2 million, $5 million and $10 million
The table below is computed by this page's engine for a married couple filing jointly with $150,000 of other income, selling investment real estate held more than a year with no depreciation, in 2026. The gain is the amount shown: no basis, no selling costs. Texas stands in for every state with no income tax.
| Gain | No state tax (TX, FL, NV...) | California | No state tax, spread over 10 years | Kept by spreading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $15,000 (15%) | $24,211 (24.2%) | $15,000 | $0 |
| $250,000 | $43,200 (17.3%) | $66,361 (26.5%) | $37,500 | $5,700 |
| $500,000 | $90,405 (18.1%) | $136,816 (27.4%) | $75,000 | $15,405 |
| $1 million | $216,113 (21.6%) | $316,836 (31.7%) | $152,748 | $63,365 |
| $2 million | $471,065 (23.6%) | $701,315 (35.1%) | $338,000 | $133,065 |
| $5 million | $1,185,065 (23.7%) | $1,814,315 (36.3%) | $921,106 | $263,959 |
| $10 million | $2,375,065 (23.8%) | $3,669,315 (36.7%) | $2,540,023 | -$164,958 |
Spread = a seller-financed note for the whole gain, 10 level yearly payments at 6%, 2026 tables carried forward; the $10 million row includes $348,460 of Section 453A interest on the note above $5,000,000. Interest on the note is taxed separately and is not in these totals.
Why the share of tax rises with the size of the gain
A long-term gain stacks on top of your other income and fills the federal brackets in order: 0% up to $98,900 of taxable income for married couples in 2026, 15% up to $613,700, and 20% above that (Rev. Proc. 2025-32; IRC 1(h)). The 3.8% net investment income tax adds to every dollar of investment gain once modified adjusted gross income passes $250,000 married or $200,000 single (IRC 1411, not indexed). So the first $100,000 of gain is taxed lightly and almost all of a $10,000,000 gain is taxed at 23.8% federal, plus the state.
The layers on a sale this size
- Unrecaptured Section 1250 gain: depreciation taken on a building is taxed at your ordinary rate capped at 25% (IRC 1(h)(1)(E)).
- Long-term gain: 0%, 15% or 20% (2026 thresholds above).
- Collectibles: art, coins, gold and other collectibles are taxed at your ordinary rate capped at 28% (IRC 1(h)(4)). This page does not model them.
- 3.8% net investment income tax: on investment property; not on a business you materially participate in (IRC 1411(c)(4)).
- State: most states tax the gain as ordinary income. Choose yours in the calculator; the note under the dropdown shows any special rule applied.
A worked example (2026, computed by the calculator's engine)
A married couple in California sells a rental building for $2,000,000 with 5% selling costs ($100,000). Their adjusted basis is $600,000 after $300,000 of depreciation, so the gain is $1,300,000. Other income is $150,000.
- All in one year: $288,152 federal income tax, $45,600 net investment income tax and $137,623 California tax: $471,376, 36.3% of the gain.
- Spread over 10 years: they carry a $1,900,000 note at 6% (payments of $258,149 a year). Tax is $53,115 in year one and $348,850 in total on the gain.
- They keep $122,526 more by spreading, before the interest they earn on the note (taxed separately as ordinary income).
Notes over $5,000,000: size the note at the line
Spreading a $10,000,000 gain on one note sounds like the biggest win, and the table shows it is not. Once the notes from a year's sales top $5,000,000 at year end, you owe interest every year on the tax still owed on the part above the line (IRC 453A), at the IRS underpayment rate (7% for October 1 to December 31, 2026, IRS). In the Texas example, taking $5,000,000 in cash at closing and carrying a $5,000,000 note puts the total at $2,128,938, against $2,375,065 all in one year: $246,127 kept. See the 453A interest charge calculator.
What this calculator leaves out
One asset held more than a year, one sale in 2026, level yearly payments, the 2026 tables carried forward for later years. It does not model collectibles, a Section 1031 exchange, Section 1245 recapture on equipment, suspended passive losses, the Section 121 home sale exclusion, local taxes (such as New York City), or the alternative minimum tax effect of interest income. Publicly traded stock is priced all in one year only (IRC 453(k)(2)).
Sources
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 brackets and capital gain thresholds (published October 2025).
- IRC 1(h): capital gain rates, the 25% and 28% groups; IRC 1411: 3.8% net investment income tax.
- IRC 453 and IRS Publication 537: the installment method; IRC 453A: notes over $5,000,000 (statutes as in force October 2026).
- IRS quarterly interest rates: 7% underpayment rate, fourth quarter of 2026.
Questions about tax on a million dollar gain
How much is capital gains tax on $1 million?
For a married couple with $150,000 of other income in a state with no income tax, a $1,000,000 long-term gain on investment real estate costs about $216,113 in 2026: federal capital gains tax at 0%, 15% and 20% plus the 3.8% net investment income tax, or 21.6% of the gain. In California the same gain costs $316,836 (31.7%). Spread over 10 years on a note, the Texas total falls to $152,748.
How much is capital gains tax on $10 million?
About $2,375,065 in a state with no income tax (23.8%) and $3,669,315 in California (36.7%), for a married couple in 2026 with $150,000 of other income. Most of a gain that size is taxed at the 20% top rate plus 3.8%. A seller-financed note for the full $10,000,000 owes the Section 453A interest charge on the part above $5,000,000, which can wipe out the bracket savings; a note sized at $5,000,000 avoids it.
What is the capital gains tax rate on a million dollar sale in 2026?
The federal long-term rates are 0%, 15% and 20%. For 2026, married couples filing jointly pay 20% on taxable income above $613,700 and single filers above $545,500 (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Add 3.8% net investment income tax above $250,000 of modified adjusted gross income for couples and $200,000 for single filers (IRC 1411, not indexed), up to 25% on real estate depreciation (IRC 1(h)(1)(E)), and your state's tax.
Can I avoid capital gains tax on a $1 million sale by spreading it out?
Spreading does not avoid the tax, but it can lower it. Under the installment method you report the gain as principal arrives (IRC 453), so each year's slice can stay in lower brackets and under the 3.8% threshold. It works for real estate, land and private businesses. Publicly traded stock cannot use it (IRC 453(k)(2)). Depreciation recapture on equipment is taxed in the year of sale either way (IRC 453(i)).
Are collectibles taxed differently on a $1 million sale?
Yes. Long-term gain on art, coins, gold and other collectibles is taxed at your ordinary rate capped at 28%, not at 15% or 20% (IRC 1(h)(4)), plus the 3.8% tax and state tax. This calculator models real estate, land, businesses and stock; use a collectibles calculator for those assets.
Keep going
- Installment sale calculator: cash sale vs seller financing vs a structured installment sale.
- 453A interest charge calculator: notes over $5,000,000.
- Commercial property capital gains tax calculator: recapture layer by layer.
- Land sale tax calculator: land and farmland.