Inherited Capital Gains: Worth Taxing?: Proposals Would Generate Fight, and Complex Rules
Now that Bill Clinton's vow to cut the federal budget deficit has moved from the campaign-promise arena to the real-money stage, itÛªs time to take a hard look at the areas in which he has suggested he might find revenue.</br></br>One of them is a revenue source that has long tantalized liberal economists and legislators: the capital gains that Americans accumulate during their lives and then pass on to their heirs, often untouched by the income tax.</br></br>These gains amount to hundreds of billions of dollars, and Clinton has expressed interest in taxing them.</br></br>But like a lot of the budget measures that seem obvious when viewed from outside the Beltway, this one is fraught with complications.</br></br>Û¢ you ownÛÓsuch as a stock, a bond, real estate, iart and the likeÛÓand what you paid for it ; (along with adjustments for improvements or depreciation).