President Biden’s budget proposal reportedly assumes that stiff new increases in capital-gains taxes took effect in April. That’s a surprise to many policy wonks, and some say the silence that has greeted the news is unsettling.
According to a Thursday report by the Wall Street Journal, taxes on capital gains for households making more than $1 million will skyrocket to 43.4 percent from the current 23.8 percent, effective retroactively to last month. He’s also planning to change the rules on unrealized capital gains held until death.
It’s the reported timing that was rocking the Beltway on Thursday. Optimists had reckoned that retroactive tax hikes are rare — as are hikes that take effect in the middle of a calendar year. (See the Clinton administration and World War I for precedents.)
But while tax lawyers and accountants are getting deluged with calls from stressed-out clients, markets have barely batted an eye. It may be that investors are clinging to the hope that it’s Congress that will ultimately decide, but the calm market response may be bad news for tax haters: A source close to the situation suggests the White House may be testing the waters by leaking the idea to the
