From 24/7 Wall St. · Jake FitzGerald · · 2m
Retired Couple Pays $0 Tax on $52,000 Stock Gain
Retired couple with $1.4 million portfolio avoids federal tax on $52,000 stock gain by selling before Dec 31.
In brief
Retired couple with $1.4 million portfolio avoids federal tax on $52,000 stock gain by selling before Dec 31. Retired couple can pay zero federal tax on $52,000 stock gains by selling before December 31 if they stay under the 2026 capital gains tax bracket. Originally reported by 24/7 Wall St..
Retired couple with $1.4 million portfolio
A retired couple sitting on $52,000 in stock gains assumes they owe the IRS a cut.
CPA says zero tax due
Their CPA mentions they might owe nothing if they sell before year-end.
Hard expiration date
The legal mechanism behind that claim has a hard expiration date most retirees never see coming.
Retired couple's income
He retired at 66, she at 64. Between them they collect roughly $54,000 a year in Social Security, pull $18,000 from a traditional IRA, and hold a $1.4 million portfolio.
Unrealized stock gains
Buried in that brokerage account sits about $52,000 in unrealized long-term gains on an S&P 500 index fund they bought a decade ago.
2026 tax brackets
For 2026, the standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly is $32,200. The 0% long-term capital gains bracket runs up to roughly $96,700 in taxable income.
Taxable income calculation
Roughly $46,000 of their Social Security is taxable once other income is layered in. Add the $18,000 IRA withdrawal and you land near $64,000 of ordinary income before the standard deduction.
0% tax bracket
Any portion of the gain that falls below the 0% ceiling is taxed at 0%. Any dollar above it gets taxed at 15%. Miss by $5,000 and only that $5,000 is taxed, not the whole gain.
December 31 deadline
Capital gains brackets reset every January 1. Unused room does not carry forward. A couple who realizes $0 in gains this year cannot double up next year at the 0% rate.
Why deadline matters
The 2027 Social Security COLA is tracking toward 3.3%, which raises taxable ordinary income and shrinks the room available for gains. Once RMDs kick in at age 73, forced IRA withdrawals often push retirees out of the 0% bracket permanently.
The big picture
Retired couple can pay zero federal tax on $52,000 stock gains by selling before December 31 if they stay under the 2026 capital gains tax bracket.
