More Stupid E-Mail Tricks

The following is an e-mail I received from a client who asked; “is this true?”

Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it? That's $3,800 on a $100,000 home etc.

When did this happen? It's in the healthcare bill. Just thought you should know.

SALES TAX TO GO INTO EFFECT 2013 (Part of HC Bill) - REAL ESTATE SALES TAX

So, this is "change you can believe in"?

Under the new health care bill - did you know that all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax? The bulk of these new taxes don't kick in until 2013 (presumably after Obama's re-election). You can thank Nancy, Harry and Barack and your local Democrat Congressman for this one. If you sell your $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax. This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes. Is this Hope & Change great or what? Does this stuff makes your November and 2012 votes more important?

Oh, you weren't aware this was in the Obamacare bill? Guess what, you aren't alone. There are more than a few members of Congress that aren't aware of it either (result of clandestine midnight voting for huge bills they've never read).

MY ANSWER – This e-mail is mostly deceptive and false - it refers to the "Medicare" tax and it applies to all capital gains transactions (not just homes) starting in 2013, but it would only apply (1) IF the transaction was taxable (above the $250K/$500K sale of home exclusion) and then (2) only if the individual was in the income range to have this Medicaid tax applied. So it will probably affect very few people, in my practice I have never seen a sale of home taxed since the $250/$500K exclusion law was passed by President Bill Clinton.  

It makes you wonder what ignorant shithead wrote this piece, or decided to pass it along. It is clearly deceptive using the $400K and $100K examples - there are WAY too many variables in this calculation to use a simple generalization like that. If a couple sold a home for less then $500K the transaction would not even be reported on thier tax return, let alone taxed! 

This is a prime example of the crap hurling around the Internet these days, I am reminded again and again of something my brother Mark Riley said many years ago; “the Internet is the greatest source of mis-information in the history of mankind.” I would only add that, that goes double for e-mails, so be careful what you pass along. I have yet to get 1 of these kinds of e-mails that is true.