Calculator · 2026 tax year · all 50 states and DC

Tax-Loss Harvesting Calculator

See how much tax you save by selling investments at a loss before December 31, 2026: what the loss cancels out, how much comes off your other income, what carries forward to 2027, and how to stay clear of the wash sale rule.

Assumes the standard deduction and that your other income is wages or similar ordinary income. No city or county income tax.

Filing status State Other income this year, before deductions

Wages, pensions and other ordinary income for 2026, not counting capital gains or losses. The calculator takes the 2026 standard deduction off for you, and treats this income as wages (not investment income) for the 3.8% tax.

Gains and losses you have already taken in 2026

Short-term gains (held one year or less) Short-term losses Long-term gains (held more than a year) Long-term losses

Include fund capital gain distributions with long-term gains. Your brokerage’s realized gain and loss report shows these figures.

Losses carried over from earlier years

Short-term carryover Long-term carryover

From last year’s Capital Loss Carryover Worksheet (Schedule D instructions). Leave at 0 if you have none.

Losses you could harvest before December 31

Short-term losses to harvest Long-term losses to harvest

Enter each loss as a positive amount: cost basis minus current market value (paid $20,000, now worth $14,000: enter 6,000). Your brokerage’s unrealized gain and loss view shows it.

Try an example:

01Your Harvest, Line by Line

Item	Without harvesting	With harvesting

Where the harvested loss goes

02How Much to Harvest

The tax you save this year for every amount of loss you could harvest, with your other inputs unchanged. The line rises while the loss cancels gains, changes slope for the up-to-$3,000 that comes off other income (worth your ordinary rate), then goes flat: losses beyond that only carry forward.

03Wash Sale Check

Buying the same or a substantially identical investment within 30 days before or after a loss sale disallows the loss for now. Enter the date you would sell and any dates you bought, or plan to buy, the same investment, in any account you or your spouse control, including IRAs and automatic dividend reinvestment.

Date of the loss sale Purchase date Purchase date Purchase date

04Deferral, Not Forgiveness

It pays most when the loss cancels short-term gains or comes off ordinary income, taxed at up to 37%, and the replacement is later sold as a long-term gain at 15% or 20%.
It can become permanent if you hold the replacement until death, when your heirs get a cost basis stepped up to market value, or if you give it to charity.
It does little when your gains are already in the 0% long-term bracket. In that case some people do the opposite and harvest gains instead, selling winners to reset their cost basis tax-free.

05The Rules for 2026

Netting. Short-term losses offset short-term gains first and long-term losses offset long-term gains first; then the two totals offset each other. A net long-term gain is taxed at 0%, 15% or 20%; a net short-term gain at ordinary rates.
The $3,000 limit. A net capital loss can come off ordinary income up to $3,000 a year ($1,500 married filing separately). The rest carries forward for as long as you live and keeps its short-term or long-term character; short-term loss is used first.
The wash sale rule. A loss is disallowed if you buy substantially identical stock or securities within 30 days before or after the sale, including through your spouse or an IRA. A washed loss is added to the cost basis of the new shares, and their holding period includes the old one; a loss washed by an IRA purchase is lost permanently.
Substantially identical. The same stock or fund is. Two index funds that track the same index may be; the IRS has never published a bright line. A fund that tracks a different index, or a different company in the same industry, generally is not.
Crypto. Under current law the wash sale rule covers stock and securities, so it does not apply to cryptocurrency that is not a security; brokers must report wash sales on Form 1099-DA only for tokenized securities. Shares of a crypto ETF are securities, so the rule does apply to them. That could change: the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357), approved 38-5 by the House Ways and Means Committee on September 16, 2026, would extend the rule to traded digital assets and could reach sales already made in 2026. When this page was last checked (November 3, 2026) it had not passed the full House or the Senate.
The deadline. The trade has to be made by December 31, 2026. A loss counts on the trade date, even if it settles in 2027 (a loss on closing a short sale is the exception: it counts on the settlement date).
The 3.8% net investment income tax counts net gains only, so a net loss brings your gains to zero. The up-to-$3,000 loss deduction can also reduce other investment income such as interest and dividends for this tax (Treas. Reg. 1.1411-4(f)(4)); the calculator assumes your other income is not investment income.
Low income. If your income is below the standard deduction, the $3,000 deduction has nothing to come off, and the unused part carries forward instead of being lost.

06How Each State Treats Capital Losses, 2026

Most states start from federal adjusted gross income, so the federal netting, the $3,000 deduction and the carryover all flow through. These states do something different, or tax gains in a way that changes what a loss is worth: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

Find a state

State	Capital losses
Alabama	Own rules: Alabama never adopted the federal carryover, so an unused loss does not carry forward Alabama recognizes the entire gain or loss in the year it happens and has no capital loss carryover. Some practitioners read that as allowing a net loss in full rather than capped at $3,000; the calculator uses the $3,000 figure, so it may understate an Alabama saving on a large net loss.
Alaska	No individual income tax
Arizona	25% of a net long-term gain on assets bought after 2011 is subtracted, so cancelling long-term gains saves a little less state tax; losses follow the federal rules
Arkansas	Only half of a net long-term gain is taxed (and gain over $10 million is exempt), so a loss that cancels long-term gains saves less state tax; the $3,000 limit and carryover still apply
California	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Colorado	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Connecticut	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Delaware	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
District of Columbia	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Florida	No individual income tax
Georgia	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Hawaii	Long-term gains are taxed at no more than 7.25%; losses follow the federal rules
Idaho	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Illinois	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Indiana	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Iowa	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Kansas	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Kentucky	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Louisiana	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Maine	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Maryland	Losses follow the federal rules; an extra 2% applies to net capital gain when federal AGI is over $350,000, so harvesting can also cut that
Massachusetts	Losses cancel gains and carry forward, but cannot come off wages; up to $2,000 of net loss can offset interest and dividends Massachusetts splits income into classes. The calculator assumes your other income is wages, so a net loss saves no Massachusetts tax this year; if you have interest or dividends, up to $2,000 of it can be offset, and unused loss carries forward. Short-term gains are taxed at 8.5% and long-term at 5%.
Michigan	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Minnesota	Losses follow the federal rules; a 1% tax on net investment income over $1 million can also be cut by harvesting
Mississippi	Own capital gains form, but the same $3,000 limit; Mississippi says it generally follows the federal capital loss rules
Missouri	Capital gains are fully subtracted from Missouri income since 2025, so a loss that cancels gains saves no Missouri tax; the up-to-$3,000 deduction still flows through federal AGI Missouri lets individuals subtract all capital gains reported on the federal return. Harvesting still lowers your federal tax; in Missouri it only matters through the up-to-$3,000 net loss deduction.
Montana	Long-term gains have their own lower rates (3% and 4.1%); losses follow the federal rules
Nebraska	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Nevada	No individual income tax
New Hampshire	No tax on capital gains or wages (the interest and dividends tax was repealed from 2025)
New Jersey	Losses only cancel gains in the same year: a net loss deducts nothing from other income and does not carry forward New Jersey nets gains and losses in its own category (Schedule NJ-DOP); if the result is a loss you enter zero, and no carryback or carryover is allowed. Harvesting saves New Jersey tax only up to your gains for the year.
New Mexico	Up to $2,500 of net gain is deducted; losses follow the federal rules
New York	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
North Carolina	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
North Dakota	40% of a net long-term gain is excluded, so cancelling long-term gains saves less state tax; losses follow the federal rules
Ohio	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Oklahoma	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Oregon	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Pennsylvania	Losses only cancel gains in the same year: no deduction against other income, no carryforward, and spouses cannot offset each other Pennsylvania keeps eight classes of income and does not let a loss in one class offset another, or one spouse's loss offset the other's gain; it has no carryover and does not apply the federal wash sale rule.
Rhode Island	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
South Carolina	44% of a net long-term gain is deducted, so cancelling long-term gains saves less state tax; losses follow the federal rules
South Dakota	No individual income tax
Tennessee	No individual income tax (the Hall tax on investment income ended in 2021)
Texas	No individual income tax
Utah	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Vermont	Up to $5,000 of net gain is excluded (no exclusion when there is a net loss); losses follow the federal rules
Virginia	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Washington	No income tax; the capital gains tax applies only to net long-term gains (after any federal long-term carryover), so short-term losses do not lower it, and a net Washington loss does not carry over Washington taxes long-term capital gains over its standard deduction ($278,000 for 2025; the 2026 figure was not yet published) at 7%, plus 2.9% on gains over $1 million. Short-term gains, wages and the $3,000 deduction play no part.
West Virginia	Follows the federal rules: losses cancel gains, up to $3,000 comes off other income, the rest carries forward
Wisconsin	30% of a net long-term gain is excluded, so cancelling long-term gains saves less state tax; up to $3,000 of net loss comes off other income and the rest carries forward
Wyoming	No individual income tax

07How We Calculate

Federal tax is worked out twice, without and with the losses you enter to harvest. Gains and losses net as on Schedule D; a net loss comes off other income up to the $3,000 limit; the carryover follows the IRS Capital Loss Carryover Worksheet. Long-term gains are taxed with the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet, using the 2026 brackets and standard deduction.
The net investment income tax is 3.8% of the smaller of your net capital gains (short-term and long-term together) and the amount your modified adjusted gross income is over $200,000 (single, head of household), $250,000 (married filing jointly) or $125,000 (married filing separately). The calculator assumes your other income is not investment income.
State tax uses each state’s 2026 brackets from the Paycheck Calculator, each state’s capital gains rules from the Capital Gains Tax Calculator, and the capital loss rules in the table above. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Alabama allow no carryover, so the calculator leaves earlier years’ losses out of their state tax. Some other states (California, Oregon and Michigan among them) can have a different carryover from the federal one when state and federal gains differ; the calculator uses the federal carryover for them.
Married filing separately uses the federal separate brackets, the $1,500 loss limit and the separate NIIT line; for state tax it uses each state’s single-filer schedule, which is how most states treat a separate return.

Not included: itemized deductions, the alternative minimum tax, collectibles and other 28% gains, depreciation recapture, qualified dividends, wash sales you have already triggered, city and county income taxes, and future tax on the replacement investment (see Deferral, Not Forgiveness).

08Frequently Asked Questions

What is tax-loss harvesting?

Selling an investment that is worth less than you paid for it, so the loss can offset capital gains you have already taken this year, plus up to $3,000 of other income ($1,500 if married filing separately). Losses you cannot use this year carry forward to later years with no time limit. Most people reinvest the money in something similar, but not substantially identical, so they stay invested.

How much can I deduct in capital losses?

Capital losses first cancel out capital gains, with no limit. If losses are left over, up to $3,000 a year ($1,500 married filing separately) can be deducted from wages and other ordinary income. Anything beyond that carries forward to the next year, keeping its short-term or long-term character.

What is the wash sale rule?

If you buy the same or a substantially identical investment within 30 days before or after selling it at a loss, the loss is disallowed for now. It is added to the cost basis of the shares you bought, so you get it back when you sell those. Purchases by your spouse, and purchases in your IRA, count too; a loss washed by an IRA purchase is lost for good.

Does the wash sale rule apply to crypto?

Not under current law: the wash sale rule applies to stock and securities, and cryptocurrency that is not a security is outside it (shares of a crypto ETF are securities, so the rule applies to them). A bill approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on September 16, 2026 (the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, H.R. 10357) would extend the rule to traded digital assets, possibly for sales already made in 2026; when this page was last checked, November 3, 2026, it had not become law. If you sell crypto at a loss and buy it back quickly, check the bill's status first.

What is the deadline for tax-loss harvesting in 2026?

The sale has to be made (the trade date) by December 31, 2026, to count for 2026. Losses count on the trade date, even if the trade settles in the new year.

Is tax-loss harvesting worth it?

It is worth most when the loss offsets short-term gains or ordinary income, which are taxed at your full rate, and when you would otherwise have paid tax on gains this year. Because the replacement investment has a lower cost basis, part of the saving can come back as tax when you sell it later. That deferred tax goes away if you hold the replacement until death, when heirs get a stepped-up basis, or give it to charity.

Do states allow the $3,000 capital loss deduction?

Most states start from federal adjusted gross income, so the federal netting, the $3,000 deduction and the carryover flow through. The exceptions are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin; the state table on this page has the details.

09Sources

Federal figures: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32. State brackets: the Paycheck Calculator’s October 21, 2026 tables. State capital loss rules last checked November 3, 2026. This calculator gives estimates for information only; it is not tax advice. Related: Capital Gains Tax Calculator.

Corrections and Updates

Date	What changed
November 3, 2026	Fixed an error that stopped the chart and its explanation updating when the losses to harvest were set to zero.
November 3, 2026	The deferral explanation now says plainly when harvesting saves nothing this year, and when the illustrated future tax would be more than today's saving.
November 3, 2026	State approximations now also flag states whose tax tables still use prior-year or provisional figures.
November 3, 2026	The instruction for entering losses now says to enter each loss as a positive amount, cost basis minus current market value.
November 3, 2026	The How Much to Harvest caption now follows the calculated savings, including gains already taxed at 0%, which a loss cancels without saving tax.
November 3, 2026	The wash sale check now separates purchases made before the sale from planned purchases after it, explains IRA purchases, and notes that it does not change the savings estimate.
November 3, 2026	State approximations (married filing separately, Alabama, Washington, state carryovers) are now flagged beside the results and in the image and CSV downloads; short-term and long-term carryforwards are shown separately; the deferral example now works out the tax on the full amount.

Every correction to a published figure on this site is logged on Sources and Methods.

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This page is free to cite and link. Its figures come from IRS (Schedule D, Topic 409, Publication 550) and state revenue departments and are kept current, so please include the date you accessed it.

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Source data: IRS (Schedule D, Topic 409, Publication 550) and state revenue departments. Updates: Yearly. Page last updated November 4, 2026. How we build our data pages.