In what is increasingly feeling like an election season wake-up, the Biden administration and its agencies have gone on an offensive tackling various contentious issues.
In just a few days, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to ban noncompetes, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) restored net neutrality, and new rules forcing airlines into greater transparency and refunds came about.
Finally, President Biden made an attempt to tackle the fact that U.S. billionaires are known for paying little in taxes at exceptionally favorable rates – in fact, as Warren Buffett famously claims, at lower rates than their secretaries.
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A crucial part of this drive is a tax reform proposal that would see the maximum capital gains tax rate rise above 40% and implement a 25% tax on unrealized gains that would effect high net worth individuals – those with more than $100 million, according to some accounts.
A possibly unintended consequence of the new rules is that the U.S. politicians – infamous for what many consider serious insider trading – would also be compelled to pay millions in taxes annually and few as much as the best-known trader in Congress: Nancy Pelosi.
This is how much Nancy Pelosi would have paid in 2023
While far from her only trade, Representative Pelosi drew the most attention with a stunningly well-timed Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) bet as the semiconductor went on a rampage since the options purchase and surged from $487.16 to $826.32 – a 69.58% rise.
Overall, Nancy Pelosi is estimated to have accrued $43 million in unrealized gains in 2023, per the data compiled by Quiver Quantitative, a platform best-known for sharing politicians’ suspicious trades on X.
At a 25% unrealized gains tax rate, Nancy Pelosi would have paid as much as $10.75 million on her 2023 stock market activities.
Additionally, given that Representative Pelosi is estimated to have already had at least one trading day with more than $1 million in profits, it would be fair to estimate her 2024 taxes would be similarly substantial.
Generally, under the proposed scheme, congresspeople and senators would contribute substantially to the national treasury, given their frequently incredibly lucrative investments, though this fact makes it unlikely that the tax reform will pass for similar reasons to why legislators are not allowed to vote on pay raises for incumbent lawmakers.
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