Tax-Free Capital Gains: A Tax Break for the Middle Class

Taxpayers in the two lowest brackets owe no tax at all on long-term gains and qualified dividends.

For most people, long-term capital gains are taxed at 15%. Same goes for qualified dividends. The wealthiest investors are taxed at 20%.

But investors in the two lowest income tax brackets pay no tax at all on capital gains and dividends. That can be a nice break for retirees, who are not taxed on some or all of their Social Security benefits. The unemployed, who may have had to tap their investments to make ends meet, can also benefit.

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David Muhlbaum
Former Senior Online Editor

In his former role as Senior Online Editor, David edited and wrote a wide range of content for Kiplinger.com. With more than 20 years of experience with Kiplinger, David worked on numerous Kiplinger publications, including The Kiplinger Letter and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. He co-hosted  Your Money's Worth, Kiplinger's podcast and helped develop the Economic Forecasts feature.