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What should the capital gains tax be?

What should the capital gains tax rate be?

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    19
Luna Tick

Luna Tick

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The capital gains tax is a tax on investments. It's a flat tax. It used to be 20%. It's now 15%. Making money investing is very different from a regular job where you get an hourly wage or a regular salary. Investing is a calculated risk. Even the very best investors sometimes lose money. With that in mind, what rate do you think capital gains should be?
 
Tax it as regular income. Allow losses to be written off.
 
There should be no special capital gains tax. Just tax it as regular income.
 
I like some form of graduated tax based on income.

For capital gains only - something along this nature:

0-50,000 5%
50,001 - 100,000 10%
100,001 - 250,000 20%
250,001 - 500,000 25%
500,001 - 1 million 30%
over 1 million 35%


Something along those lines works fine with me.
 
The extent to which you tax is the extent to which you discourage the activity you are taxing. Some activities are more elastic than others; investment has proven itself to be much more responsive to tax policy than, for example, income.

So, I would suggest you tax capital gains precisely to the degree which you wish to discourage investment in American business and the creation of American jobs.
 
Capital gains are income, why would it be treated as anything other than income?
 
Redress said:
Capital gains are income, why would it be treated as anything other than income?
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It's funky.
First off, capital gains aren't guaranteed like a paycheck based income.
Secondly, you have to risk capital, to have the chance to earn a capital gain.
Third, it can be deferred for many, many years.

It's not the same type of income and there is much more risk involved, with less ability to write off losses.
 
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Redress said:
Capital gains are income, why would it be treated as anything other than income?
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Investment is risky, and if you lose money, you're not allowed to write it off. For example, you could make 10 million one year, but lose 5 million the next. In that losing year, you don't get reverse taxes. You don't get the -15% back in the form of a rebate.
 
Luna Tick said:
The capital gains tax is a tax on investments. It's a flat tax. It used to be 20%. It's now 15%. Making money investing is very different from a regular job where you get an hourly wage or a regular salary. Investing is a calculated risk. Even the very best investors sometimes lose money. With that in mind, what rate do you think capital gains should be?
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If the asset is owned less than a year, the gain is taxed as normal income. The advantages are gained when the asset is owned over a year... that's when the lower rate kicks in. Today that rate is 15%, which is the same marginal rate as a single person who earns between $8,500 and $34,500.

In 1988 President Reagan set both rates at 28%, then in the late 90's in a deal Clinton lowered the capital gains tax rate to 20% and of course President Bush lowered it to %15.

I think both rates should be the same and progressive.
 
Zero. People investing in the nation's companies is beneficial to the country. Why tax people for doing it?
 
pbrauer said:
If the asset is owned less than a year, the gain is taxed as normal income. The advantages are gained when the asset is owned over a year... that's when the lower rate kicks in. Today that rate is 15%, which is the same marginal rate as a single person who earns between $8,500 and $34,500.

In 1988 President Reagan set both rates at 28%, then in the late 90's in a deal Clinton lowered the capital gains tax rate to 20% and of course President Bush lowered it to %15.

I think both rates should be the same and progressive.
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The big down side to having it the same as income tax is investment, unlike working wages, is very, very up and down. You might make 10 mil one year and then lose 5 mil the next. For this reason, you have to budget accordingly. Seems like it's fair to tax investment income less than working income. Maybe go with less graduated? See the option in the poll that uses 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, depending on how much is made.
 
Luna Tick said:
The big down side to having it the same as income tax is investment, unlike working wages, is very, very up and down. You might make 10 mil one year and then lose 5 mil the next. For this reason, you have to budget accordingly. Seems like it's fair to tax investment income less than working income. Maybe go with less graduated? See the option in the poll that uses 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, depending on how much is made.
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You can deduct you're losses Luna.;)
 
I am for a progressive Cap Gains tax. The lower bracket will stimulate investment from middle class earners. I believe this will be good for the economy.
 
Luna Tick said:
The capital gains tax is a tax on investments. It's a flat tax. It used to be 20%. It's now 15%. Making money investing is very different from a regular job where you get an hourly wage or a regular salary. Investing is a calculated risk. Even the very best investors sometimes lose money. With that in mind, what rate do you think capital gains should be?
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Tax it as nominal income.
 
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