The Daily Dow
Thursday, July 31, 1997
by Robert Sheard
HILTON HEAD, SC. (July 31, 1997) -- I'm taking full credit for getting Congress to rewrite one provision of the new capital gains tax structure last night. In yesterday's column I whined that a stock gain held for one year at this time last year was taxed at a maximum rate of 28%, but an identical stock holding today would be taxed as ordinary income at a rate as high as 39.6%. That's hardly a tax cut.
But Congressional leaders must be reading The Motley Fool because they fixed the error in the bill that will probably come up for a vote today. What the fix doesn't do, of course, is make the new changes simple. All the talk of tax simplification in the last national election obviously has fallen on deaf ears for now.
Here's a summary of the latest provisions of the new investment tax structure:
Assets sold after May 7, 1997 and before July 29, 1997 will be taxed at a maximum capital-gains rate of 20% as long as they were held at least one year.
Assets held less than one year will still be taxed as ordinary income.
Assets sold on or after July 29, 1997 will be taxed at a maximum capital-gains rate of 28% if they were held at least one year but less than 18 months. This is the same as the old top rate for one-year holdings.
Assets sold on or after July 29, 1997 will be taxed at a maximum capital-gains rate of 20% if they were held at least 18 months. (If you're in the 15% ordinary income tax bracket, the top capital-gains rate drops to 10% for assets held at least 18 months.)
Beginning in 2001, a new five-year holding period structure kicks in. The maximum capital-gains rate will be 18% on assets purchased in or after 2001 and held for five years. (For investors in the 15% ordinary income tax bracket, the five-year tax rate is only 8%.)
There's also a special provision allowing investors to pay accumulated taxes in 2001 at the 20% rate. Then if they continue to hold the stock an additional five years, the future gains would be taxed at 18%.
One more complexity was added as well, the "little old lady provision." If your total income puts you in the 15% tax bracket (for example, a retiree with little income but a significant portfolio), the longer-term 8% capital gains rate applies to assets sold in 2001 that have been held for at least five years, no matter when they were purchased.
Clear as mud? Thought so. To sum up. For most investors, if you want to continue
using an annual holding period for the Dow Approach, absolutely nothing changes
for you. The top rate remains 28%. If you can extend your holding period
to 18 months, the top rate drops to 20%, however, a boon to long-term investors.
Next up, I'll try to figure out the new IRA provisions.
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Stock Change Last -------------------- T - 1/8 36.88 GM +1 15/16 62.00 CHV - 11/16 79.00 MMM - 5/16 94.75
Day Month Year
FOOL-4 +0.27% 3.72% 5.97%
DJIA -0.39% 7.05% 27.52%
S&P 500 +0.21% 7.81% 28.83%
NASDAQ +0.36% 10.52% 23.45%
Rec'd # Security In At Now Change
1/2/97 153 Chevron 65.00 79.00 21.54%
1/2/97 120 3M 83.00 94.75 14.16%
1/2/97 179 Gen. Motor 55.75 62.00 11.21%
1/2/97 479 AT&T 41.75 36.88 -11.68%
Rec'd # Security In At Value Change
1/2/97 153 Chevron 9945.00 12087.00 $2142.00
1/2/97 120 3M 9960.00 11370.00 $1410.00
1/2/97 179 Gen. Motor 9979.25 11098.00 $1118.75
1/2/97 479 AT&T 19998.25 17663.13 -$2335.13
CASH $767.60
TOTAL $52985.73