You are taxed on the gains, not on the total sale volume.
So if I buy something today for $5, and sell it tomorrow for $6, I pay the 37% on the $1 of gain.
So my takeaway is $5.63, not the $3.78 it would be I was taxed on the full sale.
It’s also worth noting that capital losses can offset gains. So if I made $1000 on one trade, but lost $1000 on another, my effective tax is $0, because I didn’t make any money.
This can get squishy though, as there are a lot of accounting loopholes you can do to count things as “losses” that are more losses on paper than actual losses.
You are taxed on the gains, not on the total sale volume.
So if I buy something today for $5, and sell it tomorrow for $6, I pay the 37% on the $1 of gain.
So my takeaway is $5.63, not the $3.78 it would be I was taxed on the full sale.
It’s also worth noting that capital losses can offset gains. So if I made $1000 on one trade, but lost $1000 on another, my effective tax is $0, because I didn’t make any money.
This can get squishy though, as there are a lot of accounting loopholes you can do to count things as “losses” that are more losses on paper than actual losses.