Friday, February 24, 2012

Disproving Another Stupid Email Chain: The 3.8% Real Estate Tax /Health Care

 There's a new LIE going around on E-Mail. My mother-in-law got it and sent it to me to investigate.
Here's the LIE:
The National Health Care Law that goes into effect in 2013 " Imposes a 3.8 percent tax on home sales and other real estate transactions. Middle-income people must pay the full tax even if they are "rich" for only one day — the day they sell their house and buy a new one.   "

WRONG!!! - The truth is, is that the TAX is not for home buyers OR on Real-Estate, it's a "3.8% transaction tax on profits over the capital gains threshold" .
 
  Whomever wrote that email didn't read and understand the law. IDIOTS.
  - Basically, it's a higher tax on RICH PEOPLE.
So, no one making under $250k will likely pay it, unless they make megabucks on investments and breach the Capital Gains Income threshold allowed by tax law. 

  If people would  take a couple of minutes to EDUCATE themselves instead of blindly following others, then they would learn the truth and not be fooled into voting for someone.  

HERE'S THE EXPLANATION:
This is a complicated section of a complicated piece of legislation, and the 3.8% Medicare tax has been frequently misreported as amounting to a 3.8% "sales tax" on all real estate transactions. This is incorrect: the Medicare tax is not a sales tax, nor does it apply to all real estate transactions; it is a tax on investment income (income which may or not derive from the sale of property) for persons who earn more than the amounts specified in the bill: As Sara Orrange, Government affairs director of the Spokane Association of Realtors noted in response to a repetition of the "sales tax" rumor in the Spokane Spokesman-Review:
In his recent guest column regarding the impact of the health care bill, Paul Guppy of the Washington Policy Center claimed that a 3.8 percent tax on all home sales was a part of the recently passed legislation. This is inaccurate and needs to be corrected. The truth about the bill is that if you sell your home for a profit above the capital gains threshold of $250,000 per individual or $500,000 per couple then you would be required to pay the additional 3.8 percent tax on any gain realized over this threshold.


FULL EXPLANATION: http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp

TRUTH: MIXTURE OF TRUE AND FALSE INFORMATION:

FALSE: Health care legislation imposes a 3.8% tax on all home sales.

TRUE: Health care legislation imposes a 3.8% transaction tax on profits over the capital gains threshold.

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I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life, especially our dogs. I volunteer for dog rescues, enjoy exercising, blogging, politics, helping friends and neighbors, participating in ghost investigations, coffee, weather, superheroes, comic books, mystery novels, traveling, 70s and 80s music, classic country music,writing books on ghosts and spirits, cooking simply and keeping in shape. You'll find tidbits of all of these things on this blog and more. EMAIL me at Rgutro@gmail.com - Rob

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