Wealthy Americans Scramble as Biden Targets Protected Assets for Taxation 

As U.S. President Joe Biden looks for revenue sources to fund his proposed social spending programs, America’s richest people are facing the possibility that popular methods of passing enormous wealth from generation to generation while avoiding taxes could be disappearing.

The Biden administration has made no secret of its belief that capital gains — money earned from the sale of assets, like stocks, that have appreciated in value — don’t deserve to be taxed at a lower rate than earnings from labor as they are under current law. Capital gains are taxed at a maximum of 20%, compared with a maximum federal marginal tax rate of 37% for income acquired through labor. However, raising tax rates is a politically poisonous task in Washington.