- Federal capital gains taxes be cut by 2026?7¢7%
Republican control of the White House and Congress has produced no enacted legislation cutting federal long-term capital gains rates, which remain at 0/15/20 percent brackets for 2026. The July 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act made prior individual rate provisions permanent without altering capital gains taxation. Targeted proposals to double the primary residence exclusion, index gains for inflation, or create new exemptions have advanced only to the discussion or committee stage, facing reconciliation constraints, competing midterm priorities, and a compressed legislative calendar before year-end. Trader consensus at 95.5 percent for no change by December 31, 2026, reflects these procedural and timing barriers. A narrow lame-duck package expanding the home-sale exclusion or introducing indexing could still shift the outcome if Congress prioritizes housing supply measures after the November elections.
Rules
This market will resolve to "Yes" if legislation that reduces the federal taxes individuals owe on long-term capital gains by changing how those gains are taxed or calculated is enacted into law by December 31, 2026, 11:59 PM ET. Otherwise, this market will resolve to "No". A qualifying change does not need to apply to all taxpayers or all long-term capital gains. Legislation will be sufficient to resolve this market to "Yes" if it directly reduces or eliminates federal tax owed on long-term capital gains for individuals generally or for a defined class of taxpayers or gains, including through a tax rate reduction, exemption or exclusion, change in applicable thresholds, change in how basis or gains are calculated, or another statutory mechanism. The qualifying change can take effect outside of this market's timeframe. Temporary reductions or breaks will count. Changes that only defer when tax is paid, or that reduce a taxpayer's overall federal tax liability without specifically changing the taxation or calculation of long-term capital gains, will not count. The primary resolution source for this market will be official information from the US government, however a consensus of credible reporting will also be used.