@ cat420 wrote: "Why is my capital gains being taxed at 20% when my income is between $80,001 to $496,600? Shouldn't it be taxed at 15%?"
This is a user community forum, so no one can know anything specific about your return (and this is a public Internet forum, so don't post anything sensitive here.) But we can talk about it in general.
The range you quoted above is for Married Filing Jointly filers. So I'll assume you are filing a MFJ return.
First of all, the rates on capital gains depend on the holding period--whether your capital gain is long-term (held longer than a year) or short-term (a year or less). Short-term gains are taxed the same as the ordinary income tax rate with no preferential treatment. So short-term capital gains are taxed at whatever your ordinary tax bracket it. Long-term capital gains have the preferential rate.
NOTE: Capital gains on real estate and collectibles (art, antiques, jewelry, precious metals, etc.) might have special circumstances handled differently.
That calculation is performed on the Qualified Dividends and Capital Tax Gain Worksheet. You can view it if you've already filed; we can tell you how to get a PDF with all the worksheets. If you haven't yet filed, you can still view it, but you'd have to pay for your return in advance to be able to view/print forms in your return. We can tell you how to pay in advance, if you wish to view it prior to filing. It's a good idea to review all forms in your return anyway prior to filing.
