retirement community

One of my right-wing friends sent an email to me that lies about Senator Barack Obama’s stance on taxes. This would be interesting if one piece of this email were correct. Nothing that is written about Obama in this excerpt is even close to being correct.

Here’s the email:

Another reason to keep a socialist out of the White House. In fact, below is a reason to throw the entire Congress out on the street. Very few of them can be trusted.

DATA ON FUTURE TAXES (Spread the word…)

This is something you should be aware of so you don’t get blind-sided. This is really going to catch a lot of families off guard. It should make you worry.

Proposed changes in taxes after 2008 General election:

CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples) McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.

OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales

How does this affect you?
If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes.

If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.

From FactCheck.org:

Capital Gains Rate: It’s untrue that Obama is proposing a 28 percent capital gains tax rate. He said in an interview on CNBC that he favors raising the top rate on capital gains from its present 15 percent to 20 percent or more, but no higher than 28 percent. And as for a 28 percent rate, he added, “my guess would be it would be significantly lower than that.” Furthermore, he has said only couples making $250,000 or more (or, his policy advisers tell us, singles making more than $200,000) would pay the higher capital gains rate. That means the large majority of persons who pay capital gains taxes would see no increase at all. (more…)