Capital gains tax calculator
Enter your province, your other taxable income and the sale details. You get the capital gain, the taxable part and the extra income tax it causes.
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Working with a different rate? Edit the rates this calculator uses
These are the figures we verified on 2026-10-23. Change them to work with a historic period, or with a new rate that has been announced but which we have not published yet.
How is capital gains tax calculated in Canada?
Only half of a capital gain is taxable. Subtract the cost and selling costs from the proceeds, include 50% of the result in your income, and pay tax on it at your marginal rates. A $23,500 gain on top of $80,000 of other income in Ontario adds $3,484 of tax, an effective rate of 14.8% on the whole gain.
Why we built this calculator
There is no separate capital gains tax rate in Canada. The taxable half of a gain is added to your income and taxed at your marginal rate, which means the same gain costs a different amount depending on your other income and your province. A flat 'about 25%' answer is often wrong in either direction.
This calculator adds the taxable gain to your other income and measures the extra tax, using the same brackets as the income tax calculator, including Ontario's surtax. To see the rate on your next dollar, use the marginal tax rate calculator.
It runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere, and there is no sign-up.
When to use it
- Estimating the tax before you sell shares, a rental property or a cottage
- Comparing a sale this year with one next year, when your other income may differ
- Seeing how capital losses reduce the bill
- Planning cash to set aside for the tax
Mistakes it helps you avoid
- Taxing the full gain instead of the 50% that is included.
- Forgetting to subtract the adjusted cost base and the selling costs.
- Ignoring your other income, which decides which brackets the gain lands in.
- Paying tax on a principal residence that qualifies for the exemption.
How the tax on a gain is worked out
Work out the gain, include half of it, and tax it as extra income on top of your other income.
capital gain = proceeds of disposition − adjusted cost base − selling costsnet gain = capital gain − capital losses applied − any exempt amounttaxable gain = net gain × inclusion rate (one-half)tax on the gain = tax(other income + taxable gain) − tax(other income)federal + provincial, with the Ontario surtax
The CRA's own example uses one-half: a $2,440 gain gives $1,220 taxable. Tax is worked out twice, with and without the gain, so the result reflects exactly which brackets the gain falls into. The exempt amount field is for something you can exempt yourself, such as the lifetime capital gains exemption on qualifying shares or farm property. Its limit has been raised in recent budgets and the sources we read give different figures, so we do not state one: enter the amount you are entitled to claim.
Worked example: Ontario, $80,000 other income, $23,500 gain
You live in Ontario with $80,000 of other taxable income. You sell shares for $60,000 that cost $35,000, with $1,500 of selling costs.
- Capital gain: $60,000 − $35,000 − $1,500$23,500
- Taxable capital gain at 50%$11,750
- Tax on $80,000 alone$14,747.25
- Tax on $91,750$18,231.12
- Extra tax caused by the gain$3,483.88
- As a share of the whole gain14.82%
The sale adds about $3,483.88 of tax and leaves $20,016.12 of the $23,500 gain.
All of the taxable gain lands in a single bracket here, taxed at 29.65% combined, so the tax is $11,750 × 29.65% and the rate on the whole gain is half of that. A larger gain would reach higher brackets and the share would rise.
Is the inclusion rate still one-half?
Yes. A proposed increase to two-thirds for gains above $250,000 was deferred and then cancelled. Finance Canada's 2026 tax expenditures report says the government confirmed in Budget 2025 that it would not proceed with the changes for personal income tax, and the CRA's examples use 50%. The calculator lets you change the rate in the field below the result if the rule changes.
Your principal residence
A home you or your family lived in can be a principal residence. You designate it when you sell, you can designate only one home for a family for each year, and you report the sale on Schedule 3 with Form T2091(IND) to claim the exemption. If the property meets the definition of a flipped property, tax can still be payable. If the exemption applies in full, there is no gain to enter here.
Terms on this page
- Adjusted cost base
- What you paid for the property, plus certain costs, used to work out the gain.
- Inclusion rate
- The share of a capital gain that is added to income and taxed.
- Principal residence
- A home you or your family lived in, which can be designated to be exempt from tax on its gain.
What has changed, and when
Rates on this page have not always been what they are today. If you are working on an earlier period, use the figure that applied at the time rather than the current one.
- 2026 The inclusion rate is one-half; the proposed increase to two-thirds was cancelled.
Common questions
What is the capital gains inclusion rate in Canada?
One-half. Only 50% of a capital gain is added to your income. The proposed increase to two-thirds was cancelled, as the Finance Canada 2026 tax expenditures report says.
How do I calculate my capital gain?
Subtract the adjusted cost base and any outlays and expenses incurred to sell the property from the proceeds of disposition.
Can capital losses reduce my gains?
Yes. A capital loss can reduce capital gains in the year, and a net capital loss can be applied to taxable capital gains of the three preceding years and to any future years.
Do I pay tax when I sell my home?
Usually not, if the home qualifies as your principal residence and you designate it. You report the sale and claim the exemption on your return. A flipped property can be taxable.
Why does my province change the answer?
The gain is taxed at federal and provincial marginal rates, and the provincial brackets differ. Ontario also adds a surtax on its own tax, which raises the effective rate at higher incomes.
Where these numbers come from
- Canada Revenue Agency — Calculating and reporting your capital gains and losses How to work out a gain, the 50% example, and how losses apply.
- Canada Revenue Agency — Principal residence The conditions, designation and the Schedule 3 and T2091(IND) reporting.
- Finance Canada — Report on Federal Tax Expenditures 2026, part 2 Confirms the government will not proceed with the inclusion rate increase.
- Canada Revenue Agency — Canadian income tax rates for individuals, current year The 2026 federal and provincial brackets.
Last verified 2026-10-23 Rates on this page are checked against the sources above at least once a year, and whenever the governing authority announces a change. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
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