Society & Politics

Should boomer seniors get ANOTHER break to help WHOLE economy? What is a good number for avoiding capital gains? Why won't USA BUILD affordable homes?

Under existing law, sellers owe capital gains taxes on home sale profits exceeding $250,000 for single filers and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly. But they didn’t peg those limits to inflation or changes in home prices. So as prices shot up, the number of homeowners facing a federal tax bill upon selling increased as well. Today, a third of homeowners would owe federal taxes if they sold their home.

Time has caught up with the decades-old caps on capital gains. Though they were once broad enough to eliminate taxes on home sales for all but the wealthiest, they now expose millions of seniors and longtime homeowners to high tax liability. Everyone in the housing market — and the economy — is suffering the results. tax break for seniors and other longtime homeowners would cost taxpayers no more than $6 billion annually, a cost largely offset by gains in other sources of tax revenue. State and local governments would collect more transfer and property taxes as homes turned over and were reassessed. Realtors, movers and contractors would earn taxable income from the increased demand. And greater labor mobility would boost productivity and wages, increasing tax revenue gradually.

Lawmakers need to look instead to the tax code, updating capital gains exclusions for older adults to account for inflation. Raising the exclusion to around $500,000 for single homeowners and roughly $1 million for married homeowners would be sufficient to remove the tax barrier for all but the wealthiest seniors. tax break for seniors and other longtime homeowners would cost taxpayers no more than $6 billion annually, a cost largely offset by gains in other sources of tax revenue. State and local governments would collect more transfer and property taxes as homes turned over and were reassessed. Realtors, movers and contractors would earn taxable income from the increased demand. And greater labor mobility would boost productivity and wages, increasing tax revenue gradually

Should boomer seniors get ANOTHER break to help WHOLE economy? What is a good number for avoiding capital gains? Why won't USA BUILD affordable homes?
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