(Kamala Harris is already signaling that if elected, she will be more “business friendly” than Biden. There has been much focus by her campaign on small business, as referenced in the article pasted below, and, less openly, indications of a much less aggressive policy on anti-trust – such as saying goodbye to Lina Kha at the FTC. Now we see she intends a significant departure from Biden’s proposed changes to Capital Gains taxation. SR)
Kamala Harris to Pare Back Biden’s Capital-Gains Tax Proposal Advisers believe a more-modest increase would balance taxing wealthy households and encouraging investment By Andrew Restuccia, Tarini Parti and Richard Rubin/The Wall Street Journal/Sept. 4, 2024 WASHINGTON—Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris <https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/kamala-harris> is planning to propose a less drastic increase in the top capital-gains tax rate, breaking with a plan President Biden outlined in his budget blueprint earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter. Harris’s advisers have been discussing the move behind the scenes in recent days, the people said. The vice president is set to speak Wednesday afternoon in New Hampshire about promoting small businesses <https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/kamala-harris-to-propose-expansion-of-small-business-startup-tax-deduction-50fcb696?mod=article_inline> , but it couldn’t be determined whether she will discuss the capital-gains proposal in those remarks. The top rate under discussion is 28% but could change, the people said. Biden wanted a near doubling of the all-in top capital-gains rate to reach 44.6%—the same 39.6% top rate he wants for ordinary income plus a 5% investment-income tax. It wasn’t immediately known whether Harris’s 28% would include that additional levy. A Harris campaign spokesman declined to comment. Harris’s advisers believe that the Biden proposal puts the rate too high and that a more-modest rate increase could better encourage investment in entrepreneurship and access to capital for small businesses, the people said. Harris’s allies argue the latest proposal still aligns with the vice president’s plan for the wealthy and corporations to pay more in taxes, with her advisers viewing it as a more appropriate balance, the people said. Earlier in the campaign, Harris aides had signaled that she was in favor of the full $5 trillion of tax increases outlined in Biden’s most recent budget. Dialing back the capital-gains tax rate increase would mean less money available to pay for her agenda. Under current law, the top long-term capital-gains rate is 23.8%—20% plus a 3.8% tax on investment income. It is owed only when taxpayers sell assets, or realize gains, and unrealized gains escape the income tax if passed to heirs. The Biden budget would make several changes to those rules. It would tax unrealized gains at death above a $5 million per person exclusion and tax unrealized gains during life for people with a net worth of more than $100 million. The Biden budget would tax capital gains at ordinary income rates—which Democrats want to raise to 39.6% from 37%—for households with taxable income over $1 million. They also want to increase that 3.8% investment-income tax to 5%, making the all-in rate 44.6%. The updated Harris proposal would still keep that $1 million threshold but set a lower top tax rate, the people said. The U.S. has usually set capital-gains tax rates below ordinary-income rates for several reasons: to encourage investment and to adjust for the fact that some taxed gains are due to inflation. And, because taxpayers can escape the income tax by holding assets until death, higher capital-gains rates can just discourage people from selling—for the rest of their lifetimes or until a new Congress comes along and cuts the rate. Without structural changes, just raising the capital-gains rate by more than a few points could actually reduce federal revenue. But in recent years, Democrats have pushed to raise the capital-gains tax and to change the basic rules, as part of their effort to impose higher taxes on the wealthiest households. The idea of taxing wealth the same as work carries significant weight in Democratic circles and led to Biden’s proposals, which officials have refined. The Biden changes are designed to work together. By changing the tax treatment of capital gains at death, the rate can go higher and still raise revenue. In her speech, Harris will propose a 10-fold expansion of a tax deduction for new small businesses and announce a goal of 25 million new small-business applications in her first term if elected president, according to campaign officials. As part of her new proposal, Harris would expand the startup-expense deduction for small businesses to $50,000. Currently, business owners can deduct up to $5,000 in startup expenses, or costs they incur for items such as market surveys, advertisements and salaries for workers in training even before the business officially begins operating. https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/kamala-harris-to-pare-back-bidens-capital-gains-tax-proposal-14c537b1?mod=hp_lead_pos1 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#32022): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/32022 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/108278343/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
