I was surprised this afternoon to find that for single filers for 2019 the first $39,375 of long term capital gains is taxed at zero.
So much was made of
putting a $10,000 maximum Federal deduction for State and Local Taxes ( SALT)
that the good news
of being able to pay zero tax on say,
buying old cars or parts,
holding them more than one year,
and hopefully selling them for a capital gains profit with zero tax due
got lost in the “media noise.”
Before this afternoon,
when I thought of avoiding Federal taxes
I thought of municipal bonds.
It makes more sense now
to putting in any free hours and energy into
figuring out how to make up to a $40,000 one year or more Capital Gain.
Wrong Fake News that's if your total income total is under $39,375. over it's 15% up to $434,550 and 20% over that amount.
No.
Go back and do the
Qualified Dividends and Capital Gains worksheet
for line 12b of form 1040.
It is a bit complicated. To understand it you must do the steps including looking up values in the Tax Tables.
It is 15% from $39,375 up to $434,550, then goes to 20%, and then for some can go to 28%
The worksheet is on page 33 of this form 1040 guide
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf
