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Does Wisconsin Tax Capital Gains? Yes, After a 30% Exclusion

Updated October 4, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, with a break. Wisconsin taxes net capital gains as income, but the Department of Revenue says a filer “may exclude 30% of the net capital gain from assets” held more than one year, and 60% for farm assets. The rest is taxed at the regular rates, 3.50% to 7.65%.

Selling your home? How the state taxes the profit, from its own tax documents: Does Wisconsin tax the profit from selling your home?.

The same question for dividends and interest: does Wisconsin tax dividends and interest.

How Wisconsin treats capital gains

ItemWhat the documents say
TreatmentTaxed as income after an exclusion for assets held more than one year
Exclusion30% of net capital gain from assets held more than one year; 60% for farm assets
Rates, single filer, tax years after 20243.50% on taxable income from $0 to $14,680; 4.40% to $50,480; 5.30% to $323,290; 7.65% above $323,290
Where it is writtenSchedule WD instructions, Publication 103 and Wis. Stat. 71.06(1r)

A $50,000 long-term gain

On a $50,000 long-term gain held more than a year, 30% is excluded: $50,000 x 30% = $15,000, leaving $35,000 taxable.

Computed at the lowest rate, 3.50%: $35,000 x 3.50% = $1,225. Computed at the top rate, 7.65%: $35,000 x 7.65% = $2,677.50. Your bracket decides.

What changes in 2026

Wis. Stat. 71.06(2e)(bm) says that for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, each bracket dollar amount is raised by a CPI percentage. No 2026 bracket amounts are printed in the documents read.

Federal rules

The state’s treatment sits on top of the federal one. The IRS explains the federal tax on gains in Topic no. 409, Capital Gains and Losses and Publication 550, Investment Income and Expenses.

Related: whether Wisconsin taxes pensions, how Wisconsin taxes retirement income, the capital gains tax by state table, and the federal capital gains tax calculator.

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Sources

Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 4, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.

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