Billionaire tax gains momentum

Democrats are facing hurdles to making a new annual tax on billionaires’ investment gains a reality. The proposal, championed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), is seen as a way to help pay for the party’s social spending package while accommodating Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D-Ariz.) opposition to raising tax rates. But some Democratic lawmakers have expressed reluctance to including a new tax proposal in the package, and tax experts say there could be challenges in crafting its details. Taxing billionaires’ unrealized capital gains annually, a concept known as “mark-to-market,” is gaining steam as an alternative given Sinema’s objection to raising rates on corporations and high earners. Currently, people do not pay taxes on capital gains until investments are sold…. (Excerpts from The Hill)