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Capital Gains Taxes

• Capital gains follies

  [Pittsburg Tribune-Review, November 6, 2008] Charles Millard, director of the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., understands better than most the consequences to pension plans and 401(k) accounts if there's a capital gains tax-rate increase, as President-elect Barack Obama proposed in his campaign.

• Election may hit stock portfolios

  [Concord Monitor, September 20, 2008] If Sen. Barack Obama is elected president in November, he has promised to usher in a series of tax reforms, including raising tax rates on capital gains - the profit realized from the sale of stocks, bonds or other assets - for the wealthiest Americans.

• Your Tax Bill: How McCain, Obama Differ

  [The Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2008]Get ready for higher capital-gains taxes. As the presidential campaign heats up, investment and tax advisers are issuing that warning to upper-income clients.

• Economic Effects of Increasing the Tax Rates on Capital Gains and Dividends

  [The Heritage Foundation, April 15, 2008]Higher taxes on capital will hinder the growth of investment and capital stock. The decrease in capital will reduce economic growth, which will lead to higher unemployment and reduced personal income. Tax rates should not be a determining factor in allocating investment dollars, and lower tax rates mitigate the lock-in effect.

• Dangerous Delusions

  [Cato Institute, May 1, 2008] Everyone who has ever taken basic economics should know a lower tax rate on an investment (i.e., the capital-gains tax) will lead a higher rate of return, and hence the investment will be worth more. Other things being equal, lower capital gains tax rates will lead to higher stock prices, and all who hold stocks will benefit, whether or not they pay a particular tax on that stock.

• Sovereign Wealth Funds

  [Townhall.com, February 3, 2008] Various U.S. states and municipalities, too, are scrambling for higher returns through investments in equities.

• Dynamic Scoring

  [Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2008] If anyone still wants to reduce a tax that really would pay for itself, the Congressional Budget Office has the latest data on the revenue boom in the wake of the 2003 capital gains tax cut.

• Bush's Capital Gains Tax Cuts Provided Stimulus; More Revenue

  [NCPA, January 23, 2008] It is critical that Congress extend the life of these cuts by making them permanent. And they need to do it sooner, rather than later to help boost the economy and reduce the growth-dampening effects of uncertainty.

• Inflation and the Tax Man

  [Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2008] Inflation-indexing of capital gains should be part of every candidate's "economic stimulus" package, regardless of party affiliation.

• A Capital Gains Primer

  [Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2007] All of the leading Democratic contenders for President have endorsed higher taxes on capital gains, ostensibly to restore "fairness" (increase the amount the rich pay) to the tax code.

• Romney's Tax Free Savings Plan A Boon For Middle Class

  [Townhall.com, October 8, 2007] Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax-free savings plan would change the tax rate on interest, dividends, and capital gains to zero percent.

• Don't Tinker With Success

  [USA Today, September 11th, 2007] For years, private equity investment partnerships -- large and small -- have helped drive the economy by strengthening the companies in which they invest. But now Congress is considering legislation that would single out private equity investment partnerships for a tax increase of 133 percent.

• Cap-Gains Logic

  [Wall Street Journal, August 10, 2007] Tax revenues can be increased by eliminating capital gains taxes because capital itself exerts a multiplier effect that raises all levels of economic activity.

• The Edwards Tax Plan

  [Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2007] According to John Edwards' tax plan, The capital gains tax rate would be raised to 28 percent from 15 percent.

• An All-Out Tax Assault On Capital Gains

  [National Review, July 2, 2007] It seems the recent Senate bill to raise taxes on publicly traded private-equity partnerships was only the precursor of legislation to hike taxes on all investment partnerships.

• The Taxation of Corporate Gains on Sales of Depreciable Property (Technical Version)

  [American Enterprise Institute, June 4, 2007] An economic analysis of AEI's original publication: The Taxation of Corporate Gains on Sales of Depreciable Property.

• Taxation of Corporate Gains on Sales of Depreciable Property

  [American Enterprise Institute, June 4, 2007] The statutory rate on corporate capital gains is currently equal to the statutory tax rate on ordinary corporate income. But they have received little attention.

• Capital-Gains Tax: A Dialogue Between Dr. John Goodman and Michael Kinsley

  [Slate Magazine, March 1997] A dialogue concerning capital gains taxes between NCPA President Dr. John Goodman and Michael Kinsley.

• Assault on the Investor Class

  [Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2007] The Congressional tax committees have set their sights on the private equity market as a source for new tax revenues.

• By Default, Mugging Taxpayers

  [Heritage Foundation/Washington Post, April 11, 2007] The new budget resolution moving through Congress could increase capital gains taxes.

• "Tax Gap" Levies Big Burden on Honest Americans

  [American Enterprise Institute, February 21, 2007] Underreporting of capital gains is one contributor to the tax gap, and likely cost the IRS about $12 billion in revenue in 2006.

• Soaking the Rich, Again

  [Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2007]Data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirm that the tax cuts of 2003 keep soaking the rich, especially on their capital gains.

• Federal Capital Gains Tax Collections, 1954-2003

  [Tax Foundation, December 12, 2006] Chart of federal capital gains tax collections from 1954 to 2003.

• Federal Capital Gains Tax Rates, 1990-2006

  [Tax Foundation, December 12, 2006] Chart of federal capital gains tax rates from 1990 to 2006.

• Issues in the Indexation of Capital Gains

  [Tax Foundation, November 22, 2006] Republicans and Democrats may be able to agree on a reform to capital gains taxation: indexation of capital gains for inflation.

• Computing Effective Tax Rates on Capital Income

  [Congressional Budget Office, December 2006] The Congressional Budget Office uses the framework of effective tax rates to determine how heavily and uniformly the federal government taxes capital income and how that taxation would be affected under several scenarios for reform.

• Tax As You Go

  [Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2007] The new Democratic version of a pay-as-you go (paygo) budget rules for Congress are supposed to look like prudent budgeting practice. But in reality, it is a budget trapdoor, designed not to control expenditures but to make it easier to raise taxes while blocking future tax cuts.

• The Fair Tax

  [Townhall, December 13, 2006] The Fair Tax bill, if enacted, will eliminate the federal individual income tax, alternative minimum tax, corporate and business taxes, capital gains tax, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and estate and gift taxes.

• Counting Capital Gains

  [Wall Street Journal, October 3, 2006] While income tax brackets have been adjusted for the cost of living, capital gains continue to suffer from an inflation tax.

• Rhode Island Enacts Pro-Taxpayer Reform Package

  [Heartland Institute, August 2006] Rhode Islanders now have an optional flat-rate income tax, tighter caps on property taxes, the eventual elimination of an automobile excise tax, lower capital gains taxes, and controls on growth in education spending.

• Improving Competitiveness of U.S. Corporate Taxes

  [Tax Foundation, August 15, 2006] In this podcast, economist Martin A. Sullivan discusses corporate tax competition around the world, ways to improve the U.S. corporate income tax, and the economic case against using state and local tax incentives to attract companies (12 minutes, 30 seconds).

• The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2007 to 2016

  [Congressional Budget Office, February 23, 2006] CBO attempts to put capital gains realizations into perspective by summarizing recent data.

• Seniors Benefit from Reduced Capital Gains Tax Rate

  [Tax Foundation, December 6, 2005] A sizeable percentage of taxpayers who claim dividends or capital gains are over age 55, and the majority of taxpayers over age 55 claim some form of capital gains or dividend income.

• The 2003 Tax Cut on Capital Gains Entirely Paid for Itself

  [National Review, January 27, 2006] CBO's Budget and Economic Outlook for 2005 shows that the 2003 tax cut on capital gains has entirely paid for itself. More than paid for itself; way more.

• Dying for Dollars

  [Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2006] The current death tax repeal bill contains a compromise that eliminates the "step-up-basis at death on capital gains;" this means that no capital gains is applied to the increase in its value over the original owner's lifetime.

• A Victory for Taxpayers and the Economy

  [Heritage Foundation, May 17, 2006] The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 assures that millions of taxpayers, workers and business owners will enjoy low tax rates on capital gains and dividends and a potentially stronger economy through 2010.

• Economy Will Benefit If 15 Percent Tax Rate on Capital Gains is Extended

  [Heritage Foundation, May 8, 2006] The 15 percent tax cut on capital gains and dividends must be extend, so as to avoid slowing down economic growth and undermining competitiveness in the global economy.

• Tax Trading Trickery

  [Cato Institute, April 27, 2006] Cato commentary arguing against raising taxes on capital gains and dividends to create an Alternative Minimun Tax (AMT) patch because of its damaging affect on the economy, the stock market and federal revenues.

• Make the Dividend and Capital Gains Tax Rates Permanent

  [Heritage Foundation, February 16, 2006] Extending low tax rates on capital gains and dividends will continue to help fuel economic growth.

• Analysis Shows How Captial Gains/ Dividends Tax Cut Would Help Economy

  [Heritage Foundation, May 6, 2003] Reducing the income tax on long-term capital gains and dividends to five percent for low-income filers and to 15 percent for those in higher tax brackets would create 252,000 new jobs in 2004 and an average of 367,600 jobs annually over the next five years.

• Lowering Dividends and Capital Gains to 15 Percent

  [Heritage Foundation, May 6, 2003] Reducing the taxes on capital gains and dividends causes economic growth by reducing the cost of investment.

• Preferential Capital Gains Tax Rates

  [Tax Policy Center, January 19, 2004] The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) cut the top tax rate on long-term capital gains from 20 percent to 15 percent, the lowest level since World War II. JGTRRA also cut the rate on dividends to 15 percent; previously dividends had been taxed as ordinary income.

• Individual and Corporate Capital Gains Are Highly Correlated

  [Tax Policy Center, October 28, 2002] A perpetual policy debate surrounds the proper taxation of capital gains. One concern is that the tax creates a "lock-in effect." That is, people will hold onto assets longer than they otherwise would in order to avoid the tax.