I was just about to write up something along these lines so I’m glad to see someone beat me to it. Just as a general rule, I don’t believe you should be getting taxed on the same thing more than once, no matter what it is. If you buy a house and pay the sales tax, then that should be all the tax you pay on it. It simply makes no sense for them to tax the hell out of you after putting the work into your property to sell it for profit.
I agree. The government shouldn’t be allowed a second bite of the apple. If they are going to tax your income to begin with, they can choose to invest that. If you invest your money while the government spends what they took from you, they shouldn’t be allowed to come back and take more.
This only impacts upper middle class and high earners. You aren’t paying capital gains on your primary house which is generally the only asset people will hold.
Unless you’re holding stock in a brokerage account etc it’s not going to impact most Americans.
I agree I am a widow on social security but now if I sell my home I only get $250,000 in deduction if my husband hadn’t died it would be $500,000 this is so unfair. I lost him lost his social security and now will loose more when I sell my home.
That is so true. The current disparity in the capital gain tax treatment between single and married individuals is not just a financial burden; it’s also deeply unfair. It’s much harder for a single person to hold on to their house with no income or $1200 social security income + expenses. When the time comes to sell, move, or downsize, the single individual loses a significant portion of their investment, which is an apparent injustice. We are already paying taxes for the entirety of the life of the loan, along with all other local taxes, so to turn around and lose money just because someone is single is a stark example of the unfairness in our current tax policy.