Economics & Inequality Retirement Security Education Health Care Homeland Security Election Reform Media & Politics International Affairs TCF Project Sites: Donate to TCF Join our Listserv  Taking Note Home About TCF News Room Join our Listserv No Special Treatment Needed: Capital Gains Taxation In The Short And Long Run     Email    Printer-Friendly Bernard Wasow, The Century Foundation, 6/9/2008 Download the brief here. Capital gains and losses are changes in the value of assets—stocks, bonds, real estate—that an individual owns. In our tax code, income from capital gains is only taxed when it is realized—that is, when the asset is sold at a price different from the purchase price. Unlike other income such as wages and dividends, capital gains come from changes in valuation based on expectations of future income (future bond coupons, business income, and rent). Debate over the proper taxation of capital gains has not let up since 1913, when it was first introduced along with the income tax. In this brief, Bernard Wasow will look at the most persistent of the arguments to lower the tax rate on capital gains: taxation has such a strong effect on sales of assets that a higher tax rate actually will lower revenues. Download the report here. Edition: online    Copyright 2008 The Century Foundation. Privacy Policy NY Office: 41 East 70th Street—New York, New York—10021—Phone:212-535-4441—212-879-9197 DC Office: 1333 H Street, NW—10th Floor— Washington, D.C. 20005— Phone: 202-387-0400— Fax: 202-483-9430