Crypto & Stock Tax, Profit & Capital Gains Calculator

The profit equation, both legs included

Most traders size up a position with one line of arithmetic: (sell price − buy price) × quantity. That number is gross, and it flatters almost every trade you make. Exchanges charge on the way in and the way out, and each fee is levied on the full notional value of the leg - not on your profit. A calculator that ignores either leg will always overstate what you keep. The honest equation nets both fees before the tax man takes his share:

Gross profit is simply what you sold for minus what you paid. Net profit is what actually lands in the account after both fees clear. Tax is then charged on the taxable gain - here, the net profit floored at zero - so a losing trade owes nothing. Keeping the three figures separate matters: a trade can look brilliant in gross terms and still be marginal once fees and tax are subtracted, which is why this tool reports every layer side by side.

Fees compound against you

Before entering any position, ask a different question: how high must the price go just to stand still? That is the break-even sell price, and it is purely a function of your round-trip costs:

The hurdle looks small until you trade often. A 0.5% round trip repeated ten times a week consumes a fifth of a 2.5%-per-trade edge; the same trip at 2% - wide spread, slippage, taker fees on an illiquid alt - can swallow the entire strategy. High-frequency traders bleed precisely because they pay the toll on every crossing. Illiquid markets and leveraged positions push the break-even line further from your entry, which is why the cheapest reliable edge is trading less, better.

Short-term vs long-term rates

The rate you pay depends mostly on how long you held the asset. In the United States:

• Assets held more than one year qualify for long-term capital gains rates - 0%, 15% or 20% depending on taxable income, plus a possible 3.8% net investment income tax at high incomes.
• Positions sold within a year are short-term gains taxed as ordinary income, which reaches 37% at the top federal bracket - often more than double the long-term rate.
• The IRS treats crypto as property, not currency: every sale, swap or spend is a taxable event computed the same way as stock gains, coin-to-coin trades included.
• The one-year mark is a cliff, not a gradient - exiting a week early can nearly double the tax bill on a large gain.
• Rates and rules differ by country and change often - check your local tax authority before filing.

Run the numbers in five steps

1. Enter the buy price and quantity to fix your cost basis, with the buy-leg fee folded in.
2. Enter the expected sell price to get gross proceeds minus the sell-leg fee.
3. Set both exchange fees - taker or maker - and add any slippage you expect on execution.
4. Choose the capital gains rate that matches your holding period and income bracket.
5. Read the verdict: after-tax profit, ROI and the break-even sell price. If a trade loses money the tax line drops to zero - losses incur no tax, and realized losses can even be harvested to offset gains elsewhere in your portfolio.

Pricing the exit is one pillar of a larger plan. Once a trade's after-tax profit is on the table, roll it into the FIRE calculator to watch the proceeds compound toward independence, or into the loan payoff calculator to weigh deploying the cash against debt instead of the market.