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Estimate 2026 US federal tax on a net futures gain under Section 1256: the 60% long-term and 40% short-term split, your blended rate and the tax, using IRS brackets you can edit.
Not tax advice. An estimate from published 2026 IRS figures; verify them for your tax year and ask a qualified tax professional.
Your net result on regulated futures for the year, after commissions. Enter a loss as a negative number.
After deductions, not counting the futures gain. Treated as ordinary income.
Only needed for the 3.8% net investment income tax. Leave blank to skip it.
Single, from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (October 9, 2025). Verify for your tax year: later laws or a different year change these numbers.
| Rate (%) | Taxable income up to ($) |
|---|---|
| and above |
estimated federal tax on the gain: 17.8% blended rate
The 60/40 split saves about $840 compared with ordinary-income treatment of the same gain, before state tax.
Payouts from evaluation-style prop firms are usually not section 1256 gains. Topstep says its traders are independent contractors and sends a Form 1099-NEC for payouts, to be reported as regular income (Topstep Help Center, updated May 29, 2026). Apex and FundedNext also issue 1099-NECs. Don't enter payouts here.
Source: IRS Form 6781 (2025) and its instructions, and About Form 6781, checked October 1, 2026.
The 40% short-term part is added on top of your other taxable income and taxed at your ordinary rates. The 60% long-term part sits on top of that and is taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% depending on where your total taxable income falls against the 2026 thresholds in IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32. If you enter modified AGI, the 3.8% net investment income tax is added on the part of the gain above your threshold ($200,000 single, $250,000 joint, $125,000 separate, per IRS Topic 559), assuming no other investment income.
Left out: state and local tax, the alternative minimum tax, credits, qualified dividends and other capital gains or losses, which change the stacking. Futures also carry real risk; the tax treatment only matters if there is a net gain.
The free Futures Trading course covers contract specs, margin, position sizing, prop firm rules and the 60/40 treatment, with clear risk warnings. Size trades with the ES futures calculator.
Free futures course (sign-in required)Regulated futures such as ES and MES are section 1256 contracts. Gains and losses count as 60% long-term and 40% short-term no matter how long you held the position, open positions are treated as sold at fair market value on the last business day of the year, and you report them on IRS Form 6781.
It depends on your income. For a single filer with $80,000 of other taxable income and a $20,000 net futures gain in 2026, the 40% short-term part is taxed at 22% ($1,760) and the 60% long-term part at 15% ($1,800): $3,560, or 17.8%, compared with $4,400 if the whole gain were ordinary income.
A net section 1256 loss is also split 60/40. It offsets other capital gains, up to $3,000 ($1,500 if married filing separately) of net capital loss can offset other income each year, and the rest carries forward. You can instead elect on Form 6781 to carry a net section 1256 loss back three years, but only against section 1256 gains in those years.
Usually not. Firms such as Topstep treat funded traders as independent contractors and report payouts on Form 1099-NEC as regular income, so they are generally self-employment income rather than 60/40 trading gains. Check your firm's tax documents with a tax professional.
No. It estimates federal income tax from published 2026 IRS figures that you can edit. It leaves out state tax, the alternative minimum tax, credits and other capital gains. Verify the figures for your tax year and ask a qualified tax professional.