Canadian Capital Gains Tax Calculator (2026)
Last updated
Marginal capital-gains tax for 2026 individual filers. 50% inclusion rate applied to (proceeds − ACB − outlays); the taxable portion is layered on top of other taxable income, and the additional federal + provincial tax owed is reported. The deferred 66.67% inclusion rate proposed in Budget 2024 is NOT in effect for 2026 individuals.
This calculator estimates the additional Canadian federal + provincial income tax owed on a capital gain realized in 2026 by an individual filer. The taxable portion of the gain (50% of the gain) is added to your other taxable income, and the calculator reports the difference between tax owed with the gain included and tax owed without it.
The marginal-difference approach is the only correct one for capital-gains tax: the rate that applies to a particular gain depends on which bracket the combined income (other income + taxable gain) ends up in. There is no single "capital gains rate" for Canada — your effective rate ranges from roughly 12% to 27% depending on income and province.
How this calculator works
Step 1 — Capital gain.
capital_gain = proceeds − adjusted_cost_base − outlays
Outlays are selling costs (real-estate commissions, legal, transfer
fees). If capital_gain < 0, there is no taxable
gain — the loss is computed and reported separately.
Step 2 — Taxable portion.
taxable_capital_gain = capital_gain × 0.50
Step 3 — Layered tax.
tax_with_gain = compute_tax(other_income + taxable_capital_gain, prov)
tax_without_gain = compute_tax(other_income, prov)
tax_on_gain = tax_with_gain − tax_without_gain
after_tax_gain = capital_gain − tax_on_gain
Sources:
T1 Schedule 3 (Capital Gains and Losses)
;
CRA T4037 Capital Gains
. Federal + provincial brackets in data/tax-brackets-2026.json.
Worked example
An Ontario investor sells a stock for $100,000. Their adjusted cost base is $50,000 and they paid $1,000 in brokerage commissions on the sale. Their other taxable income for 2026 is $90,000.
- Capital gain:
100,000 − 50,000 − 1,000 = $49,000 - Taxable portion (50%):
$24,500 - Other income: $90,000 → tax with no gain: ~$17,712
- Combined income: $90,000 + $24,500 = $114,500 → tax with gain: ~$25,000
- Additional tax attributable to the gain: ~
$7,300 - Effective rate on the gain: ~
14.9%(= $7,300 / $49,000) - After-tax gain: ~
$41,700
Run the calculator above for the precise numbers — the bracket-walk arithmetic is sensitive to exact bracket boundaries and the BPA mechanism. Note how the 14.9% effective rate is much lower than the marginal income-tax rate of ~31% the same investor would pay on $24,500 of additional employment income — this is the 50% inclusion rate at work.
Frequently asked questions
What's the inclusion rate for 2026?
50% for individual filers. Half of every dollar of capital gain is added to your taxable income; the other half is tax-free. This calculator applies the 50% rate uniformly. Budget 2024 proposed raising the inclusion rate to 66.67% for individual annual gains above $250,000, but the Department of Finance deferred implementation multiple times (the most recent communication moved the effective date to a later year). As of this calculator's verification date, the 66.67% rate is NOT in effect for 2026 individual filers — the calculator uses 50% on every dollar of gain. If Royal Assent eventually moves the higher rate into force, this page and the underlying math will be updated and the verification date will reflect the change.
What's adjusted cost base (ACB)?
The total cost of acquiring the asset, plus any capitalized improvements over the holding period, plus transaction costs paid at acquisition. For shares, ACB is the purchase price plus brokerage commissions. For real estate, ACB is the purchase price plus legal fees and land transfer tax paid at acquisition plus the cost of capital improvements (renovations that extend the useful life of the asset, NOT routine maintenance). For inherited property, ACB is the fair market value at the date of death of the deceased. For property received as a gift, ACB is the fair market value at the date of the gift. Track your ACB carefully — getting it wrong is the most common capital-gains tax error on Canadian returns.
Why does the calculator ask for 'other taxable income'?
Capital gains tax is marginal, not flat. The taxable portion of the gain (50% of it) is added to your other taxable income for the year, and the result is taxed at whatever marginal bracket the combined total falls into. A $50,000 gain layered on top of $40,000 of other income produces less tax than the same $50,000 gain layered on top of $200,000 of other income — because the higher-income filer is already in a higher bracket, so the gain pushes them further into that bracket (or the next one up). The calculator computes tax with and without the gain and reports the difference, which is the actual additional tax the gain caused.
What if the gain is a loss?
An allowable capital loss is 50% of the loss (mirror of the 50% inclusion rate for gains). The loss is deductible against other taxable capital gains in the same year. If you have no other capital gains in the year of the loss, the loss can be carried back to deduct against capital gains in any of the prior 3 tax years (a refile request to the CRA), or carried forward indefinitely against capital gains in any future year. Capital losses CANNOT be deducted against ordinary income (employment, business, interest, etc.) — that's a common misconception. Multi-year carry-forward tracking is out of scope for this calculator; if you have substantial unused losses, work with a tax professional or use full-featured tax software.
What about the principal residence exemption?
The principal residence exemption fully exempts the capital gain on a property that has been your principal residence for every year you owned it. There is no fixed dollar cap — even a $1M+ gain on your principal residence is fully exempt. The mechanics: declare the property as your principal residence on Form T2091 (or the principal-residence-exemption section of Schedule 3) for the years it qualified, and the exempt portion of the gain is removed from the capital-gains math. This calculator does NOT model the principal residence exemption; if your asset qualifies, do not run it through this calculator — there is no tax to compute on the exempt portion.
Does this work for shares, real estate, crypto, or all of them?
The math is identical for any capital-property disposition: shares, ETF / mutual-fund units, investment real estate, crypto-asset dispositions classified as capital (not business), collectibles, and so on. Just plug in proceeds, ACB, and outlays. What differs by asset class is what counts as a 'disposition' — for crypto, every trade between two crypto-assets is a deemed disposition under CRA's published guidance, not just CAD off-ramps; for real estate, a change of use (renting out a former principal residence) can trigger a deemed disposition. The calculator can't tell you which dispositions occurred — that's a record-keeping task — but once you know the gain on a disposition, the tax math is the same.
Sources
Every figure on this page traces back to a primary Canadian authority. See the complete sources index for the master list.
- CRA — Canadian income tax rates for individuals Canada Revenue Agency · last verified
Verified against T1 Schedule 3 example calculations and the CRA T4037 capital gains guide on .
Important
This calculator is for informational purposes only. It is not financial, tax, mortgage, or legal advice. Tax rates, mortgage rules, and contribution limits change. Always verify current rules with the relevant Canadian authority and consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.