Understanding the difference between long- and short-term capital gains ensures that the benefits of your investment portfolio outweigh the tax costs.

A capital gains tax is a levy on the profit that an investor makes from the sale of an investment such as stock shares. Here's how to calculate it.

If you sell stocks or real estate for a profit, you might owe tax on that capital gain. Learn how capital gains taxes work and strategies to minimize them.

Capital gains taxes on real estate and property can be reduced when you sell your home, up to certain tax limits, if you meet the requirements.

Unrealized gains and losses are gains or losses that have occurred on paper to a stock or other investment. They become realized when the asset is actually sold.

Both capital gains and dividend payments are incomes that must be declared. Selling something for a profit leads to capital gains. A payment made by a corporation to stockholders is a dividend.

The U.S. tax code gives similar treatment to ordinary dividends and short-term capital gains, and qualified dividends and long-term capital gains.

A capital gain refers to the increase in a capital asset's value and is considered to be realized when the asset is sold.

Form 6781: Gains and Losses From Section 1256 Contracts and Straddles is a tax form distributed by the IRS that is used to report gains and losses from straddles or financial contracts that are labeled as Section 1256 contracts.

A capital gains distribution is a payment by a mutual fund or an exchange-traded fund of a portion of the proceeds from the fund's sales of stocks and other assets.