Joe Biden's Tax Plan Would Affect More Than Just the Rich
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your money briefing for Monday, November 16th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. President-elect Joe Biden's proposal to raise taxes on those making more than $400,000 in annual income has gotten a lot of attention. But there are still questions about whether that or any of his other proposals will come to pass.
There might be no changes at all. If Congress is very divided, you know, they may turn their attention to other things. And so we just don't know. But particularly, I would say if you're vulnerable on some large point, you might want to act before year end.
We'll talk with our tax reporter, Laura Saunders, about what points to address in your personal finances before January, even if you're below the 400K mark.
What immediate questions surround Biden’s $400,000 tax threshold and who does it target?
That's after the break.
President-elect Joe Biden's tax plan calls for hikes that would increase federal taxes by more than $2 trillion over a decade. Corporations and the wealthy would pay the brunt of that. But tax reporter Laura Saunders has gone through the Biden plan, and she found proposals that would affect the middle class, too. And she's here to discuss. Laura, thanks for taking the time.
Well, thank you for having me.
So Joe Biden ran on tax increases for the rich, namely those making more than $400,000 a year. But how would his plan, you know, affect the rest of us?
Well, it's an important dividing line. You know, it's higher than the Obama administration's dividing line of $250,000. And when you look at gifts and estate taxes, we do have some details on the proposals.
How would changes to the estate tax exemption affect middle‑class heirs?
Now, that's only a starting point. But the current estate tax exemption is $11.58 million per person, which covers the vast majority of American people. They mostly don't have more than $11 million of assets to leave, and that's per person. The proposal would pull it back to the 2009 estate tax, which had an exemption of $3.5 million. Now that's a 70% decrease. So it wouldn't catch a lot of people. A lot of us don't have 3.5 million people, but it would catch a whole lot more than 11.5 million.
Now, Biden also wants to make changes to capital gains taxes. How would that affect people who own stocks?
One change wouldn't affect anybody below the $400,000 line because he wants to raise capital gains taxes significantly on people making more than a million dollars a year. However, there's another proposal that would be really quite radical. that would tax your capital gains at death. And currently, under current law, if you die holding a stock or a piece of property or something like that, and it's appreciated a great deal, let's say you bought the stock for $10 and it's now worth $200, all of that appreciation, if you die holding the stock, is tax-free. And so the Biden administration would start to tax those gains at death
What capital‑gains-at-death proposal could make non‑wealthy heirs pay taxes?
above a certain amount. We're not sure what the certain amount of gains would be, but if they use a $400,000 boundary or dividing line, then a lot of people that have some assets that have gains, but really have typically have income less than $400,000, like maybe $125,000 or $150,000 a year, those people could wind up paying taxes that they don't owe now.
So that tax would be levied at death? Who's responsible for paying that?
Well, it comes out of the person's estate, and so the executor is responsible for paying it. And there are some kinds of exemptions and things that let you pay over time if you had businesses and stuff. All of these details are not said, but usually there's some phase-ins and things for people.
Okay, and how could Biden's plan change things like itemized deductions on our tax returns?
Well, that's an interesting one as well. The proposal would be that nobody could realize more than 28 cents on the dollar for a deduction. Now, let me explain how that works. The current tax law is symmetrical. So if you're in the 37% tax bracket, a dollar of deductions is worth 37 cents on the dollar. But this proposal would say that even if you're in the 37% bracket,
Who would be responsible for paying taxes on gains at death and what exemptions exist?
and you're making over $400,000 a year, then your deductions could only save you 28 cents on the dollar.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–0:48
2
What immediate questions surround Biden’s $400,000 tax threshold and who does it target?
0:48–1:40
3
How would changes to the estate tax exemption affect middle‑class heirs?
1:40–3:10
4
What capital‑gains-at-death proposal could make non‑wealthy heirs pay taxes?
3:10–4:27
5
Who would be responsible for paying taxes on gains at death and what exemptions exist?
4:27–5:10
6
How could Biden’s cap on the value of itemized deductions change tax savings?
5:10–6:11
7
What year‑end moves should taxpayers consider if tax rates or rules change?
6:11–6:33
8
What practical questions should you ask your financial planner about Biden’s proposals?
6:33–6:34
Speakers
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