Which states do not tax capital gains
There is no single list, because "does not tax capital gains" arrives by more than one route. Some states levy no individual income tax at all, so there is nothing for a gain to be taxed under. One state has no income tax but charges a separate excise on large long-term gains. A few states do levy an income tax but subtract or exclude part of a capital gain, so their effective rate on it is lower than their ordinary rate. And then there is the large majority, which simply tax capital gains through the ordinary income tax, at whatever the ordinary rate happens to be.
So the honest answer is a classification, not a number. Below, every state this page names carries the official page its classification comes from — open it and check. Every state this page does not name falls into the plainest group: capital gains are taxed through the ordinary income tax. That is the default, and no rate is printed for it here either.
No broad individual income tax — a gain has nothing to be taxed under
Eight states levy no broad individual income tax, which means no state tax on a capital gain for a resident whose gain is ordinary income to them. Each name links to the state's own revenue authority.
No income tax, but a separate excise on large gains
One state sits apart, and it is the trap in every "no capital gains tax state" list: Washington levies no broad income tax, but it charges a separate excise on long-term capital gains above an inflation-indexed threshold (RCW 82.87). A wage earner with no large sales pays nothing; someone cashing out a large portfolio does. The rate is not printed here — type the effective rate into the box above and the page applies it exactly as it applies any other state's.
Taxes income, but subtracts or excludes part of a gain
These states do levy an income tax, but their treatment of a capital gain is not simply "the ordinary rate", so a single rate taken off a chart would be wrong for them:
Everything else — taxed through the ordinary income tax
Every state not named above taxes capital gains through its ordinary income tax. That is the majority, and it is also where a "rate" depends entirely on your income and filing status rather than on one published number. So the page does not print those rates either: when you pick one of those states above, the page tells you it is taxed as ordinary income and asks you to type the rate you want applied.
How the federal 0% band stacks on the state layer
This is the part a list of state names leaves out, and the reason two people in the same state can pay different amounts of federal tax on the same gain.
The federal long-term capital gains rate is not one number. It is a ladder of three bands — 0%, 15% and 20% — and where your gain lands on that ladder depends on your total taxable income, not on the gain alone. The gain is stacked on top of everything else you earned. Your other income fills the bands from the bottom first; whatever room is left in the lowest band is the room your gain gets at 0%.
That has a consequence worth stating plainly: a large gain is not taxed at one rate. Part of it can sit at 0%, part at 15%, part at 20%, all in the same sale, because a single gain can straddle the band edges. The page prints each slice separately under the results for exactly that reason.
And it is why the state layer is a separate question from the federal one. The federal ladder runs on your income; the state layer runs on your state's rules. A state with no income tax removes the state layer entirely but changes nothing about the federal one — the federal bands apply wherever you live. A state with an income tax adds a second layer on top. This page keeps the two apart and shows them apart, so you can see which layer is doing the work.
The 2026 federal bands used on this page
These are the amounts this page stacks your gain against. They are printed here in full so you can check the arithmetic yourself, and they are attributed because the figures change with the law.
| Filing status | 0% band ends at | 15% band ends at | 20% above |
|---|
| Single | 49,450 | 545,500 | over 545,500 |
| Married filing jointly | 98,900 | 613,700 | over 613,700 |
| Married filing separately | 49,450 | 306,850 | over 306,850 |
| Head of household | 66,200 | 579,600 | over 579,600 |
Source: IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (the 2026 inflation adjustments, filed in 2027), irs.gov. The bands are thresholds on total taxable income, which is why the other-income figure above is asked for.
Worked example: the same gain, two states
Take one sale and move it, so only the state changes. 500 shares bought at 40.00 and sold at 80.00 is a taxable gain of 20,000.00. Single filer, other taxable income 40,000.00.
The federal bands first, and they do not know about the state: the 0% band for a single filer ends at 49,450.00, and the other income of 40,000.00 already fills it up to that point, so 9,450.00 of the gain sits at 0% and the remaining 10,550.00 at 15%. The federal tax is 10,550.00 × 0.15 = 1,582.50. That figure is the same whether the filer lives in a state with no income tax or a state with a high one.
Now the state layer. In a state with no income tax there is nothing to add, so the total is the federal 1,582.50 alone, and the after-tax net is 40,000.00 − 1,582.50 = 38,417.50. In a state whose effective rate is, say, 9.30%, the state layer is 20,000.00 × 0.093 = 1,860.00, the total becomes 1,582.50 + 1,860.00 = 3,442.50, and the after-tax net falls to 36,557.50 — the same federal tax, a different answer, and the difference is entirely the layer this page refuses to guess.
Same sale, same filing status, same other income. Only the state layer moves, and it moves the total by the full 1,860.00 of state tax.
What this page does not do
The limit here is deliberate and it is the point of the page, so it is worth being exact about it.
- No state rate table. This page prints no state's tax rate, for any state. The classification above tells you how a state treats a gain; the rate itself is a figure that depends on your income, your filing status and rules that change, and the page asks you for it rather than publishing one it would have to keep current. Type it and the page applies it; leave it empty and the state layer stays zero rather than being filled in with a guess.
- No federal rate on the state's behalf, and no state's rate on the federal band's behalf. The two layers are computed separately and shown separately, so a change in one does not silently move the other.
- No local or city tax. Some cities and counties levy their own income tax that reaches capital gains. There is no field for it, and the state rate you type is used for the state layer only.
- No 3.8% net investment income tax. Above certain income levels an additional federal surtax can apply on top of the bands. This page does not model it and does not include it in the federal figure.
- No short-term route. This page works the long-term bands, which are the ones a state's "capital gains" treatment usually means. A gain on shares held a year or less is taxed as ordinary income federally, and that is a different ladder — see the long-term capital gains page, which walks both holding periods on one page.
- No deductions, credits or exemptions. The bands are applied to the other income you type, with no standard deduction, no itemised deduction and no credit taken off first. If your taxable income after deductions differs from the figure you type, type the figure after deductions.
- No residency rules, no part-year split. Whether a move actually changes your state tax depends on domicile and day counts, which this page does not model. It applies one state's rate to the whole gain.
- No account, nothing saved, no filing. There is no sign-in here and nothing you type leaves the browser.
Rounding
Every figure on this page is rounded down, never up — the same rule as the rest of the site. Share counts and per-share prices are shown to four decimals, amounts and percentages to two, so the number you read is never larger than the one computed. The federal tax is floored to the cent after the slices are added, and the after-tax net is floored again after it.
Frequently asked questions
What states have no capital gains tax?
Eight states levy no broad individual income tax, so a capital gain is not taxed at the state level: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. One more, Washington, has no income tax but charges a separate excise on large long-term gains, so it belongs in the conversation and is not in the clean list. A few states with an income tax subtract or exclude part of a gain, so their effective rate on it is lower than their ordinary rate — those are named with their sources above. The page classifies every state that way and carries an official link for each, rather than printing a rate that would go stale.
Do I still pay federal tax if my state has no capital gains tax?
Yes. The state layer and the federal layer are separate, and a state with no income tax removes only the state one. The federal bands — 0%, 15%, 20% — apply wherever you live, and they run on your total taxable income. So a resident of a no-income-tax state with a large gain can still owe federal tax on it, and the 0% band can still shelter part of the gain if their total income is low enough. How much falls at 0% is exactly what the calculator above works out.
How much of my gain is taxed at 0%?
Only the part that fits in the room left in the lowest band once your other income has filled it. For a single filer the 0% band ends at 49,450.00; if you earned 40,000.00 before the gain, 9,450.00 of the band is left, so the first 9,450.00 of the gain is at 0% and everything above it is at 15% or 20%. Earn more than the band and none of the gain is at 0%. That is why the same gain can be free of federal tax for one filer and taxed in full for another — the band follows your income, not the gain.
Is the state layer added to the federal one?
They are two separate layers on the same gain, and both can apply. The federal tax comes out of the bands the page prints; the state tax is the gain times the rate you type. They are shown apart above so you can see which is which, and the total is the two added together. A state with no income tax contributes zero to that total, which is the only thing that changes.