5 Things You Should Know About Capital Gains Tax

Capital gains aren’t just for rich people. Anyone who sells a capital asset should know that capital gains tax may apply. And as the Internal Revenue Service points out, just about everything you own qualifies as a capital asset. That’s the case whether you bought it as an investment, such as stocks or property, or something for personal use, such as a car or a big-screen TV.

If you sell something for more than your “cost basis” of the item, then the difference is a capital gain, and you’ll need to report that gain on your taxes. Your cost basis is usually what you paid for the item. It includes not only the price of the item, but any other costs you had to pay to acquire it, including:

Sales taxes, excise taxes and other taxes and fees
Shipping and handling costs
Installation and setup charges

In addition, money spent on improvements that increase the value of the asset—such as a new addition to a building—can be added to your cost basis. Depreciation of an asset can reduce your cost basis….Continue reading..

By: TurboTax Expert

Source: 5 Things You Should Know about Capital Gains Tax – TurboTax Tax Tips & Videos

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A capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax on profits realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, real estate, and property. Not all countries impose a capital gains tax and most have different rates of taxation for individuals compared to corporations. Countries that do not impose a capital gains tax include Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and others.

In some countries, such as New Zealand and Singapore, professional traders and those who trade frequently are taxed on such profits as a business income. In Sweden, the Investment Savings Account (ISK – Investeringssparkonto) was introduced in 2012 in response to a decision by Parliament to stimulate saving in funds and equities. There is no tax on capital gains in ISKs; instead, the saver pays an annual standard low rate of tax. Fund savers nowadays mainly choose to save in funds via investment savings accounts.

Capital gains taxes are payable on most valuable items or assets sold at a profit. Antiques, shares, precious metals and second homes could be all subject to the tax if the profit is large enough. This lower boundary of profit is set by the government. If the profit is lower than this limit it is tax-free. The profit is in most cases the difference between the amount (or value) an asset is sold for and the amount it was bought for.

The tax rate on capital gains may depend on the sellers income. For example, in the UK the CGT is currently (tax year 2021–22) 10% for incomes under £50,000 and 20% for higher incomes. There is an additional tax that adds 8% to the existing tax rate if the profit comes from residential property. If any property is sold at a loss, it is possible to offset it against annual gains.

The CGT allowance for one tax year in the UK is currently £12,300 for an individual and double (£24,600) for a married couple or in a civil partnership. For equities, national and state legislation often has a large array of fiscal obligations that must be respected regarding capital gains. Taxes are charged by the state over the transactions, dividends and capital gains on the stock market. However, these fiscal obligations may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

The CGT can be considered a cost of selling which can be greater than, for example, transaction costs or provisions. The literature provides information that barriers for trading negatively affects the investors’ willingness to trade, which in turn can change assets prices. Companies with tax-sensitive customers are particularly reactive to capital gains tax and its change. CGT and changes to it affect trading and the stock market. Investors must be ready to react sensibly to these changes, taking into account the cumulative capital gains of their customers.

They are sales must be delayed due to an unfavorable market conditions caused by capital gains tax. A study by Li Jin (2006) showed that great capital gains discourage selling. On the contrary to this fact, small capital gains stimulate the trade and investors are more likely to sell. “It is easy to show that to be willing to sell now the investor must believe that the stock price will go down permanently. Thus, a capital gains tax can create a potentially large barrier to selling.

Of course, the foregoing calculation ignores the possibility that there might be another taxtiming option: Given capital gains tax rates fluctuate over time, it might be worthwhile to time the realization of capital gains and wait until a subsequent regime lowers the capital gains tax rate.” A capital tax influences an open economy in many ways. The international capital market that has hugely developed in the past few decades (in the 2nd half of the 20th century) is helping countries to deal with some gaps between investments and savings.

Funds for borrowing money from abroad are helping to decrease the difference between domestic savings and domestic investments. Borrowing money from foreigners is rising when the capital that flows to another country is taxed. This tax, however, does not influence domestic investment. In the long run, the country that has borrowed some money and has a debt, usually has to pay this debt for example by exporting some products abroad. It affects the standard of living in this country.

That is also why “the foreign capital is not a perfect substitute for domestic savings.” In 1982, the United States was the world’s greatest creditor; however it went from this stage to being the greatest debtor in the world in four years. In 1982, the U.S. owned $147 billion of assets that were excess over and above the value of U.S. assets owned by foreigners. In 1986, this value inverted to negative $250 billion.

Because capital gains are taxed only upon realization, an individual who owns a security that has increased in value may be reluctant to sell it. The seller knows that when sold, tax is levied on the positive difference of the price at which the security was bought and the price at which the security was sold. If the seller chooses not to sell, the tax is postponed to later date. The present discounted value of the tax liabilities is reduced by the postponement of the tax.

Therefore, the seller has an incentive to hold the securities longer. And this distortion caused by the capital gains tax has been called the locked-in effect or lock-in effect. Martin Feldstein, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan has claimed that the effect is so large that reducing the capital gains tax would lead individuals to sell securities that they previously had refused to sell, to such an extent that government revenues would actually increase. More recent estimates suggest that a permanent reduction in the capital gains tax rate would have little effect.

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