美国副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯提出的一项旨在打击富豪阶层的税收议案，在以政策讨论为主的社交平台上意外引起了广泛关注。然而，社交媒体上许多讨论忽略了该计划仅针对净资产超过10亿美元（占纳税人总数不到百分之一）群体的事实，并错误地暗示所有房主都将面临巨额新税单的压力。例如，一位TikTok用户声称人们将失去自己的住宅，“而美国国税局将会让他们破产”。
所讨论的提议被称为“对亿万富豪征收最低税”。它每年都将资产价值增加（包括房地产、股票和私营企业）视为应课税收入，即使这些资产尚未售出。这被称作未实现资本利得。
卡玛拉·哈里斯在竞选活动中曾表示支持这一政策，并提到了具体细节，美国总统乔·拜登和他的副手也有类似诉求：希望最富有的美国人缴纳他们的“公正份额”，并用新增的税收收入资助社会支出项目，比如帮助家庭支付托儿费或首套房屋贷款。
目前，中高收入人士受到现有资本利得税政策影响，这一税费适用于资产（如股票、房产）卖出时所得利润。哈里斯提议将对百万富翁征收的长期资本利得税率从20%提高到28%，这意味着那些拥有超过100万美元年收入的人将成为新政策的目标。
要理解这些税收变化的影响，请记住以下几个关键点：
**大部分纳税人不会受影响**
根据最新美国国税局数据，仅20,209人（大约占所有纳税人的百分之一）的净资产超过了5亿美元。近年来数据显示，高净值人士数量有所增加，但10亿美元收入或资产以上的美国人占比依旧很小。
**对特定群体的影响**
哈里斯计划提高针对超百万美元年收入者的资本利得税率至28%。在2021年的数据中，约有875,500人（占总纳税人的0.54%）报告其收入超过100万美元。
**对未实现的资本收益征税的作用机制**
让我们以房屋所有人为例解释对未实现资本收益的税收政策。当前，房产所有人只在卖出时需支付因房价上涨产生的利润税。然而，新政策将要求所有者每年就房产增值额缴纳一部分税费，即使房产尚未出售。
举例来说：若房子购买价为50万美元，第二年价值增至52万美元，所有者应对其2万美元增值部分缴纳相应的税收。
此措施同样适用于股票和其他资产（如私营企业），但需注意这一政策只影响那些净资产超过10亿美元的人群。
**对国税局的影响**
实行未实现的资本收益征税将给美国国税局带来巨大的行政压力，这可能会影响其正常运行任务，比如处理申报以及提供客户服务。具体税收征收方式可能会通过减少需监控和管理的资产种类或优化计算方法来减轻这些压力。
**立法前景不确定**
即便民主党在哈里斯总统任期内控制了众议院和参议院，也难以获得足够的票数通过亿万富豪最低税或其他资本利得税率提高的提案。2021年时，西弗吉尼亚州的乔·曼钦和亚利桑那州的克里丝汀·辛纳梅两位原本为民主党的参议员阻止了类似税改措施。
如果此政策最终实行，“首次对未实现收入征税”的亿万富豪最低税可能会面临大量的法律挑战。反对党质疑民主党提出的财富税收提案，认为最终会扩及中产阶级家庭。
历史记录显示政府在实施新的税费之后往往会根据情况调整这些税费的征收范围或对象。联邦所得税就是一个典型的例子，随着时间推移，其覆盖的人群已有所扩大；而遗产税的适用范围则有收缩的趋势。
哈里斯没有公开表示计划对年收入少于40万美元的家庭提高税率。然而，在继承资产方面，拜登预算中的另一项提案可能会产生影响。现行法规下，当接受房产、股票或增值的企业时无需缴纳资本利得税（这是所谓的“成本基础递增”条款）。然而，根据此提案，一些财富人士在死亡后转让这些增值资产时将需缴纳此税款。
辩论认为，“成本基础递增”主要惠及富人，尤其是房地产和股票等资产的持有者。这一条款允许部分财富在家族成员之间继承而不被征税。
此提案只适用于个人价值超过500万美元、夫妇共同拥有的1000万美元以上的继承资产。捐赠给慈善机构的资产将从征税名单中排除。
综上所述，哈里斯及其团队提出的一系列税收提议和政策方向旨在对富人阶层征税，增加社会福利资金，并通过调整遗产税规则，使财富传递过程中的某些方面受到税务影响。同时，针对未来立法的预测与挑战充满不确定性。
新闻来源：www.cnn.com
原文地址：Ignore social media. Here’s what Harris’ unrealized capital gains tax proposal means for you
新闻日期：2024-10-06
原文摘要：
A tax proposal embraced by Vice President Kamala Harris that’s meant to target the wealthy is getting attention in an unlikely place for wonky policy debate: social media. But many posts ignore the fact that the plan would only impact those whose net worth is more than $100 million, or less than 1% of taxpayers, and falsely suggest that all homeowners should fear a new massive tax bill. One TikTok user, for example, claimed that people will “lose their homes” and that “the IRS will bankrupt them.” At issue is a proposal often referred to as a billionaire minimum tax. It would treat the increase in the value of assets – like real estate, stocks and private businesses – as taxable income each year, even if they are not sold. This is known as an unrealized capital gain. One way to think of it is as a tax on a gain, or profit, that exists only on paper. “It’s quite a transformational proposal,” said Mark Friedlich, vice president of government affairs at Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. On the campaign trail, Harris has said she supports a billionaire minimum tax. She hasn’t outlined the specifics, but the Biden-Harris administration’s most recent budget proposal lays out details. A billionaire minimum tax is one of several proposals pushed by Democrats in recent years to tax the rich. Both President Joe Biden and Harris have consistently said that they want to make the “wealthiest Americans pay their fair share” and that the additional tax revenue raised could be used to pay for social spending programs, like helping families pay for child care or down-payment help for first-time homebuyers. Currently, some middle- and high-income people are subject to a tax on realized capital gains, which results when an asset – like a stock or home – is sold for more than what the owner originally paid for it. Essentially, it’s a tax on the profit. Harris has specifically called for raising the top tax rate on millionaires with long-term realized capital gains from 20% to 28%. Here are key things to know about how these tax changes could work: Most taxpayers would not be impacted A billionaire minimum tax on unrealized capital gains would apply to taxpayers whose net worth is above $100 million, as proposed by the most recent Biden-Harris administration’s budget proposal. To help put that in context, just 20,209 taxpayers – or about 0.01% – had net worth valued at $50 million or more in 2019, according to the latest IRS data available. More recent data from Altrata, a private firm, suggests the number of high-net worth individuals has grown over the past five years. But the share of all US taxpayers earning more than $100 million is still likely to be small. Harris’ proposal to increase the tax rate on realized capital gains to 28% would apply to taxpayers with income over $1 million. About 875,500 taxpayers – or 0.54% – reported having that much income in 2021, according to the IRS. Those who would be impacted are “the smallest slice of the very wealthy,” said Erica York, a senior economist and research director at the right-leaning Tax Foundation. How a tax on unrealized capital gains would work Let’s discuss how a billionaire minimum tax – which is, on a basic level, a tax on unrealized capital gains – would impact a homeowner. Currently, a homeowner pays a tax on the growth in the value of the home when it is sold, or realized. But a tax on unrealized capital gains would require a homeowner to pay a tax on the appreciated value of the home each year – even if the house hasn’t been sold. For example, if a home was purchased for $500,000 and it appreciates in value to $520,000 the next year, the owner would owe some tax on the $20,000 increase. The tax would also apply to other kinds of assets like stocks and private businesses. But again, the Biden-Harris administration’s proposal would only impact those whose net worth is more than $100 million. Another misconception is about how much wealthy taxpayers would owe. It would not be a new, separate tax bill. Under the Biden-Harris administration’s proposal, impacted taxpayers would be required to pay a minimum effective tax rate of 25% on all of their income – including unrealized capital gains. If their effective tax rate on this recalculated income amount fell below 25%, they would owe additional taxes. A tax on unrealized gains would cause a headache for the IRS To implement a tax on unrealized gains, the IRS would likely have to create a way to measure the change in value of a private business and real estate on an annual basis. The agency does not currently track these values. “This creates an enormous administrative burden on the IRS, as if it’s not already challenged enough,” Friedlich said. The new challenge could take away the agency’s core responsibilities of processing returns in a timely fashion and providing customer service help. There could be ways to alleviate the burden on the IRS, depending on the details of the proposal. For example, a 2021 proposal from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, would not have taxed non-tradable assets like real estate or businesses annually. The new tax is a long shot in Congress Even if Democrats control both the House and Senate during a potential Harris presidency, it may be hard to get the votes to pass the billionaire minimum tax or the increase to the long-term capital gains tax rate through Congress. In 2021, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona – both former Democrats who have since turned independent – blocked similar tax measures from moving forward. If passed, a billionaire minimum tax – an unprecedented tax on income not yet received – would likely face many legal challenges. Some critics of Democrats’ wealth tax proposals have suggested that people can’t trust that they would not eventually be expanded to middle-class households. If history is any indication, there are examples to show that the government has both expanded and narrowed taxes after first implementing them. The federal income tax, for example, has expanded to more people over time. The impact of the estate tax, on the other hand, has narrowed. Consistent with Biden’s policies, Harris has said nothing to suggest that she intends to raise taxes for people who earn less than $400,000 a year. Another tax proposal could impact inheritances Harris hasn’t talked specifically about this, but there’s a provision in Biden’s budget that would change the way inherited assets are taxed. Currently, you don’t have to pay a capital gains tax when you inherit a home, stocks or a business that have increased in value, thanks to a provision called “step-up in basis.” But the Biden proposal would make some wealthy people pay that tax when an appreciated asset is passed on after death. The argument is that the step-up in basis primarily benefits the rich, whose wealth is more often tied up in real estate and stocks. It currently allows some wealth to avoid ever being taxed as it’s passed down from one family member to another. Biden’s proposed change would only apply to inheritances where the appreciated value is worth more than $5 million for individuals or more than $10 million for married couples. Assets donated to charity would also be excluded from the tax.
