Democrats Optimistic to Impose Taxes on Billionaire’s Unrealized Capital Gains

Source: WSJ

The United States is set to slap billionaires’ unrealized capital gains with new annual taxes, according to senior Democrats.

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the US would “probably” have a wealth tax, noting that the proposal is not technically a wealth tax but similar.
• The proposal would implement an annual tax on unrealized capital gains on billionaires’ liquid assets.
• Yellen said the measure is not necessarily a wealth tax but would assist in getting capital gains which are a significant part of the wealthiest’ incomes that escape taxation.
• The measure will impact individuals with $1 billion in assets or $100 million in income for three consecutive years, sources close to the matter said.
• The proposal is more progressive as it would likely tax less than 1,000 taxpayers, but questions have been raised regarding the untested idea.