RG Launches Tax Justice Campaign and Platform!

Dear RG community,
Last week the stock market hit record highs–but President Obama still released a budget that would cut Social Security and Medicare by hundreds of billions of dollars.   
In this context, on Tax Day, we launched RG’s  new Tax Justice Platform, and a campaign to eliminate a special low tax rate for rich people by taxing Capital Gains and Dividends–profits from the stocks, bonds, mutual funds and corporate payouts to shareholders–at the same rate as wages and salaries.
RG members, alumni, and supporters from around the country called their representatives, demanding that we raise taxes on the rich instead of making cuts to the social programs that build strong and healthy communities.
QUICK FACTS ON THE CAPITAL GAINS AND DIVIDENDS TAX
The Capital Gains and Dividends Tax is a special, low tax rate for wealthy people that exponentially increases wealth disparity with each new generation.  Download our capital gains factsheet here!
Capital Gains are the profit made from selling things like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and homes that have increased in value over time. For example, if you buy a stock for $10 and then sell it for $100, your Capital Gain is $90.

  • In 2012, the top 1% of taxpayers received 71% of all Capital Gains.
  • The tax CGD is currently capped at just 20% – just half the rate of income from work, which can be taxed at close to 40%.
  • The current CGD tax rate is just half what it was in 1977.
  • By some estimates, this low CGD tax will cost the public more than $400 billion between 2011 and 2015
  • The capital gains preference is as racist as it is economically exploitative. Black people hold only 10 cents of net wealth and Latinos hold 12 cents of net wealth for every dollar that Whites hold.
  • There is no sound evidence that taxing capital gains at levels far below ordinary income increases economic growth at all.

Coming Up Next….
In the next several months, the tax team will be asking members to sign on to the Tax Justice Platform, and to reach out to their networks to get friends, family members, and other wealthy people in our lives to do the same.
Click here to download the platform and sign on!   Here’s a preview:
We want to live in a world where our friends, neighbors, and family members have enough, and hoarding wealth is not an option. We think raising taxes on the rich can get us closer to that dream: A world in which we all have access to healthy food, quality education and healthcare, reliable public transportation, meaningful work, vibrant cultural practices and community centers, and clean air, soil and water. Where we all live in strong communities that are interdependent, creative, and resilient, and we collectively make the decisions that impact our lives.
Isaac Lev Szmonko, Campaign Organizer