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A comment on Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mistake. Parent comment

Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by kwhitefoot on Monday March 06, 2023 @12:48PM (#35044529)
You mean that in the US you don't pay tax on the capital gain when you sell a property that is not your home? It's a great country to be rich in!
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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by redmorphium on Monday March 06, 2023 @12:59PM (#35044762)
You do pay tax on that.

However, you don't have to if you die and pass the property down to your spouse and/or children. This is the step-up in basis and is key to building generational wealth in the US.

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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by mywittyname on Monday March 06, 2023 @01:47PM (#35045686)
> This is the step-up in basis and is key to building generational wealth in the US.

Yes, but for most people, that's not really a benefit. It's possible to exclude the first few hundred thousand of capital gains taxes on a primary residence anyway. So even without the step-up basis, the tax burden on these properties would be tiny.

Property taxes are a much more significant form of taxation than capital gains. And would be even without any preferential treatment.

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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by pksebben on Monday March 06, 2023 @04:41PM (#35048052)
capital gains ought to be taxed like regular income. it's insane that we cut breaks for wealth generation that requires no effort, and is scalable
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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by dirck on Monday March 06, 2023 @12:56PM (#35044714)
There is definitely capital gains tax on non-primary residence homes. Only primary homes are exempt up to certain dollar.
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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by amluto on Monday March 06, 2023 @02:56PM (#35046716)
You can do a “1031 exchange” to trade a non-residence property for a different one.
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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by mym1990 on Tuesday March 07, 2023 @12:01PM (#35057762)
This is just a tax deferral, you will still pay tax eventually.
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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by amluto on Tuesday March 07, 2023 @02:59PM (#35060364)
Not necessarily. You can hold on to it until you or your spouse dies, which will reset the tax basis.
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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by mym1990 on Wednesday March 08, 2023 @01:28PM (#35072798)
Cannot find where spouse dying resets the tax liability. If the outright owner passes away, that makes sense.
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Re:Maybe Treating Housing as an Investment Was a Colossal Mi... by mym1990 on Tuesday March 07, 2023 @12:00PM (#35057745)
There are exceptions if you have lived in the property for 2 of the last 5 years.
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