This morning, I got yet another hoax email in my inbox that’s been designed to disturb voters and persuade them to vote for Republican candidates in this fall’s election. The bogus email goes something like this:
This should help stimulate the Real Estate market!
UNDER THE NEW HEALTH CARE BILL – DID YOU KNOW THAT ALL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS ARE SUBJECT TO A 3.8% “SALES TAX” BEGINNING IN 2013?
YOU CAN THANK NANCY, HARRY & BARACK (AND YOUR LOCAL CONGRESSMAN) FOR THIS ONE.
IF YOU SELL YOUR $400,000 HOME, THIS WILL BE A $15,200 TAX.
Verified
Higher taxes on real estate investments. The 3.8% Medicare surtax would hit average, middle-class investors in real estate. A middle-class taxpayer who happens to sell real estate for a gain in a particular year would be liable for this new tax, regardless of how low her income might be in other, more typical years.
That “gain” they’re talking about in the above note would have to be a profit after expenses of $250,000 for an individual, or a profit after expenses of $500,000. Now just how likely is that if you’re one of the working folks of this nation. The 3.8% tax is primarily going to affect only the top 2% of earners in this nation. According to William Ahern, director of policy and communications for the nonprofit, pro-business Tax Foundation, “Some home sales would see a tax increase under this bill,” Ahern told us, “but it would have to be a second home or a principal residence generating [a gain of] more than $250,000 ($500,000 for a couple).”
Read more about this email hoax at FactCheck.org so you’ll be able to lend your voice to the choir explaining why it’s to any neighbors and friends who might receive a copy of this email and tell you about it.