Capital gains tax: Understand capital gains tax on assets

Understand capital gains tax on assets like property and stocks. Learn the difference between short-term and long-term gains , how to calculate them, and available tax exemptions. The capital gains tax is levied on any profit made from the sale of an asset in a given year, whether it's a home, a car, stocks and bonds or cryptocurrency. Not everyone pays capital gains tax ... A capital gain refers to the increase in a capital asset's value over its original purchase price and is considered to be realized when the asset is sold. Capital gains tax is the tax you pay on the profit made from selling a capital asset, and understanding it can make a huge difference in how much of your earnings you actually retain. These assets are generally classified as short-term or long-term based on the holding period and taxed differently.