I am working one some of the finer points of the retirement plan and have (what I hope is a simple) question.
Does the standard deduction apply to capital gains?
Or more specifically - if DH and I pull our only income from a taxable investment, placing it in the long terms capital gains territory, does the $24000 standard deduction apply (married filing jointly)?
For example if we pull out $77,500 from a taxable account (normally in the 15% capital gains tax bracket), do we minus out $24,000, leaving us with $53,500, all of which would be taxed a 0%. Is this correct?
Thank you for the help, taxes aren't my strong suit!
LV