Tax policy may not be on the minds of most Americans during the final weeks of 2023, but billionaires with an eye on their own tax bills have been riveted by developments in D.C.
Capital Gains
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blog December 21, 2023 Everything You Need to Know About Proposals to Better Tax Billionaires
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report December 7, 2023 The Estate Tax is Irrelevant to More Than 99 Percent of Americans
The federal estate tax has reached historic lows. In 2019, only 8 of every 10,000 people who died left an estate large enough to trigger the tax. Legislative changes under presidents of both parties have increased the basic exemption from the estate tax over the past 20 years. This has cut the share of adults leaving behind taxable estates down from more than 2 percent to well under 1 percent.
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blog November 13, 2023 The Latest Convoluted Arguments in Favor of Rich People Not Paying Taxes
Two Senate hearings last week focused on how the richest Americans are avoiding and evading taxes in ways that ordinary Americans could hardly imagine. All the experts brought in to… -
blog October 31, 2023 Power to the People: How Workers Can Fight Tax Inequity
Workers of all races and ethnicities are confronting a tax code that puts them at a disadvantage relative to those with immense wealth, and people of color and women are among those most likely to be negatively impacted by this injustice.
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blog October 6, 2023 The Campaign by Democratic Former Officials to Stop Taxes on the Wealthy
One of the most attention-grabbing anti-tax campaigns at work today is called SAFE, which stands for Saving America’s Family Enterprises. But it might as well mean Saving Aristocrats From Everything… -
blog May 25, 2023 Congress Should Consider Attaching Work Requirements to the Biggest Tax Break for the Rich
Instead of focusing on low-income people who are already mostly employed or facing significant barriers to employment, lawmakers who want to encourage labor force participation should revisit existing tax breaks subsidizing wealthy individuals who live off their assets rather than work.
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blog May 10, 2023 Voters Could Approve Local Capital Gains Tax in Oregon
At nearly every turn, Oregon’s tax policies widen inequality; as a result, the top 1 percent pay less state and local taxes as a share of income than the poorest residents. Taxing capital gains at the local level is an important and exciting move in the other direction – to tax income from wealth and use it to address crucial needs.
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blog May 3, 2023 Minnesota Lawmakers Re-Envision State Tax System to Center Equity
Minnesota’s House, Senate and Governor’s office have each proposed their own vision as to how the state should maximize its $17.5 billion surplus and raise new revenue, and these tax plans make one thing clear: Minnesota lawmakers are serious about using tax policy to advance tax equity and improve the lives of Minnesotans.
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blog March 14, 2023 Worried About the Debt? Tax the Rich
As one of the most prosperous countries in human history, we have enough resources for our collective needs. By better taxing corporations and the wealthiest, we can generate revenue to improve family security, strengthen our communities, and reduce the debt too.
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blog March 9, 2023 Politifalse: A Fact-Checker Does Biden an Injustice on Taxes Paid by Billionaires
Most Americans pay more in Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes than they pay in federal personal income tax. So just looking at the personal income tax for comparison misses most of the taxes middle-income Americans pay. That is not true for billionaires because a much, much smaller proportion of their income is subject to the federal payroll taxes.
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report April 26, 2022 Revenue-Raising Proposals in President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Plan
President Biden’s latest budget plan includes proposals that would raise $2.5 trillion in new revenue. While many of these reforms appeared in his previous budget, some of them are brand new, such as his proposal to prevent basis-shifting in partnerships and his Billionaires Minimum Income Tax.
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blog April 21, 2022 Biden’s Proposals Would Fix a Tax Code that Coddles Billionaires
Billionaires can afford to pay a larger share of their income in taxes than teachers, nurses and firefighters. But our tax code often allows them to pay less, as demonstrated… -
blog April 6, 2022 President Biden’s Proposed Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax Would Ensure the Wealthiest Pay a Reasonable Amount of Income Tax
The Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax included in President Biden’s budget plan would limit an unfair tax break for capital gains income and complement proposals the president has offered previously to limit other tax breaks for capital gains.
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blog April 6, 2022 Frequently Asked Questions and Concerns About the President Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax
Find the answers to some frequently asked questions about President Biden’s Billionaires’ Minimum Income Tax, which would limit very wealthy individuals’ ability to put off paying income taxes on capital gains until they sell assets.
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blog October 14, 2021 Limiting Tax Breaks for Capital Gains Would Mitigate the Racial Wealth Gap
The racial wealth and income gaps are the results of centuries of government policies favoring the accumulation of wealth among white communities while marginalizing communities of color. Policy solutions that are race-forward, meaning they remedy past and ongoing racial inequities, can also address broader social inequities.
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blog September 28, 2021 The Billionaires’ Income Tax Is the Latest Proposal to Reform How We Tax Capital Gains
When people first hear about proposals to tax unrealized capital gains, they often ask, “Is this income, and if so, should we tax it?” The answers to those questions are “yes” and “yes, when we are talking about the very rich.”
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blog September 28, 2021 Reforming Federal Capital Gains Taxes Would Benefit States, Too
Congress’s action or inaction on federal tax changes under consideration in the Build Back Better plan could have important implications for states on many fronts. One critical area of note is at the foundation of income tax law: setting the definition of income that most states will use in administering their own income taxes.
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blog September 2, 2021 It’s Not About Farms: Don’t Let Lies Crush Biden’s Tax Plan
Several former Democratic members of Congress have joined a campaign to misrepresent President Biden’s proposal to close a huge tax loophole for wealthy people with capital gains. This proposed reform is the cornerstone of the president’s tax plan. If lawmakers fall for the lies, Biden’s plan will collapse. Instead, they should do what is both popular and fair: enact the plan intact so that millionaires and billionaires no longer escape the federal income tax.
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brief May 25, 2021 Income Tax Increases in the President’s American Families Plan
President Biden’s American Families Plan includes revenue-raising proposals that would affect only very high-income taxpayers.[1] The two most prominent of these proposals would restore the top personal income tax rate to 39.6 percent and eliminate tax breaks related to capital gains for millionaires. As this report explains, these proposals would affect less than 1 percent of taxpayers and would be confined almost exclusively to the richest 1 percent of Americans. The plan includes other tax increases that would also target the very well-off and would make our tax system fairer. It would raise additional revenue by more effectively enforcing tax laws already on the books.
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brief May 6, 2021 Effects of the President’s Capital Gains and Dividends Tax Proposals by State
President Biden’s proposal to eliminate the lower income tax rate on capital gains (profits from selling assets) and stock dividends for millionaires would affect less than half of one percent (0.4 percent) of U.S. taxpayers if it goes into effect in 2022. The share of taxpayers affected would be less than 1 percent in every state.
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blog September 25, 2020 It’s No Secret—To Save State Budgets End Preferential Treatment of Capital Gains
In an updated policy brief, ITEP explores the flaws in state capital gains tax breaks and highlights how ending special tax breaks provides one of the simplest ways to raise additional revenue and increase equity in the tax system.
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brief September 25, 2020 State Taxation of Capital Gains: The Folly of Tax Cuts & Case for Proactive Reforms
The federal tax system and every state treat income from capital gains more favorably than income from work. Preferential capital gains tax treatment includes exclusions and seldom-discussed provisions like deferral and stepped-up basis, as well as more direct tax subsidies for profits realized from local investments and, in some instances, from investments around the world. This policy brief explains state capital gains taxation, examines the flaws in state capital gains tax breaks, and proposes reform options that will help make state tax systems more progressive and more equitable.
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blog May 28, 2020 Trump Administration Stops Pretending to Care About the Economy with Its Capital Gains Tax Proposal
Proponents of capital gains tax breaks have always offered a weak argument that they encourage investment and thereby grow the economy. But the Trump administration is now floating a temporary capital gains tax break, which is supported by no argument at all. It would only reward investments made in the past while doing nothing to encourage new investment.
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blog April 7, 2020 Addressing the COVID-19 Economic Crisis: Advice for the Next Round
Americans need many things right now beyond tax cuts or cash payments. But for people whose incomes have declined or evaporated, money is the obvious, immediate need to prevent missed rent or mortgage payments, skipped hospital visits and other cascading catastrophes. So, what should Congress do next to get money to those who need it?
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blog February 19, 2020 How Democratic Presidential Candidates Would Raise Revenue
One of the biggest problems with the U.S. tax code in terms of fairness is that investment income, which mostly flows to the rich, is taxed less than the earned income that makes up all or almost all of the income that working people live on.