capital gain

Definition

The amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital gain is an investment that hasn't been sold yet but would result in a profit if sold. Capital gain is often used to mean realized capital gain. For most investments sold at a profit, including mutual funds, bonds, options, collectibles, homes, and businesses, the IRS is owed money called capital gains tax. opposite of capital loss.

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Related Terms

basis, cost basis, dividend, ordinary income

'capital gain ' appears in the definitions of these terms on BusinessDictionary.com
 



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