, Columnist
Raising the Capital Gains Tax Would Be Un-American
The details matter, but more important is how a country’s tax system embodies its values.
His plan for higher capital gains taxes is bad for America.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty North America
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President Joe Biden’s proposal to nearly double the tax rate on capital gains has led to a reexamination of a long-running economic debate. This discussion can get bogged down in technicalities and miss the main point: First and foremost, any system of taxation is about values. And a much higher rate of capital taxation would undermine some of America’s core values.
A society’s values and its tax regime have to be mutually compatible or they will undermine each other. So the first question about a taxation system is which values it promotes.