Historical changes in the capital gains tax rate

Select changes in the top statutory tax rate on long-term capital gains in recent decades:

1942-67: 25 percent

1976: 39.9 percent

1979: 28 percent

1982: 20 percent

1987: 28 percent

1997: 20 percent

2003: 15 percent

2013 (x): 20 percent (plus a new 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income for high-income earners)

x - unless Congress alters a pending increase

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Sources: Citizens for Tax Justice, Tax Policy Center