CNBC anchors Joe Kernan and Becky Quick pressed former Biden administration official Bharat Ramamurti on Vice President Kamala Harris’ support for taxing “unrealized” capital gains taxes Wednesday.
Harris endorsed a plan to tax unrealized capital gains for those with more than $100 million in assets, according to The Wall Street Journal. Quick raised an objection to that proposal after Ramamurti claimed it would only target about 60,000 Americans. (RELATED: CNBC Host Explains To Elizabeth Warren Why A Wealth Tax Sucks)
“My biggest problem is with unrealized gains. You can go back again and say it’s only for people make over $100,000. That clearly doesn’t impact me, it’s not going to be an issue for me,” Quick said. “When the first — American income tax was put in place in 1861, it was a flat 3% tax on all incomes over $800. We know how that has changed over time. Unrealized gains, taxing unrealized gains just doesn’t seem fair in any sense of the word, but in the very best sense, taxing unrealized gains all you’re doing is pulling forward taxes that would be paid later when someone actually sells the stock.”
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“I think that this reaction to unrealized gains is a little funny given that I bet that the majority of people watching right now are already paying a tax on unrealized gains. It’s called a property tax,” Ramamurti responded.
Quick and “Squawk Box” co-host Joe Kernen took umbrage to the comments.
“Property tax?” Kernen scoffed.
“A property tax is a use tax, it’s a use tax, you’re paying for schools,” Quick said as a back-and-forth soon emerged.
Ramamurti continued to argue Harris’ proposal was akin to a property tax as Quick pointed out how stocks fluctuate in value.
“It’s probably unconstitutional,” Kernen said. “And it’s never gonna happen, probably.”
“It’s not income,” Quick interjected.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts introduced legislation in 2021 that established a wealth tax on those with more than $50 million in assets.
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