Kamala Harris Calls for Highest-Ever Capital Gains Tax Rate of 44.6%
And don’t forget to add the state capital gains tax: the Kamala Harris combined federal-state rate would exceed 50% in many states
Kamala Harris has proposed the highest capital gains tax rate since its inception 102 years ago: 44.6 percent. The proposed Harris top capital gains tax rate is more than twice as high as China’s 20% capital gains tax rate.
Here is a direct quote from the 2025 budget proposal: “Together, the proposals would increase the top marginal rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends to 44.6 percent.”
Vice President Harris supported the tax increases upon their release and her campaign reconfirmed her support this week as noted by the Wall Street Journal here and the New York Times here.
Under the Harris proposal, the combined federal-state capital gains tax rate will exceed 50% in many states. California will face a combined federal-state rate of 57.9%, New Jersey 55.3%, Oregon 54.5%, Minnesota 54.4%, and New York 53.4%.
Capital gains are not indexed to inflation, so Americans are stuck paying tax on some “gains” that are nothing more than inflation — something created by Washington and then taxed by Washington. The Biden-Harris high inflation makes this especially painful.
Many hard working couples who started a small business at age 25 who now wish to sell the business at age 65 will face the Harris 44.6% top rate, plus state capital gains taxes. And much of that “gain” in value over the decades is simply due to inflation.
Capital gains taxes are often a form of double taxation. When capital gains come from stocks, stock mutual funds, or stock ETFs, the capital gains tax is a cascaded second layer of tax on top of the current federal corporate income tax of 21%. (Harris has also proposed a corporate income tax hike to 28%).
The capital gains tax was created in 1922, set at a rate of 12.5%.
The Harris capital gains tax hike will also hit many families when parents pass away. Harris also supports adding a second Death Tax (separate from and in addition to the existing Death Tax) by taking away stepped-up basis when parents die. This would result in a mandatory capital gains tax at death — a forced realization event……
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Continue reading this article at Americans For Tax Reform
