Washington, D.C. – September 29, 2023 – This week, former U.S. Senator John Breaux, a spokesman for Saving America’s Family Enterprises (SAFE), joined “The Lars Larson Show” to talk about the importance of protecting Americans from new taxes on unrealized income.
SAFE and Sen. Breaux recently filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to declare taxes on unrealized gains–which have been proposed in Congress and President Biden’s budgets–unconstitutional.
Listen to the interview here.
On how taxing unrealized gains doesn’t make sense: “What they’re simply going after is taxing money before you get it.”
“The administration has proposed a tax on unrealized gains, and some members of Congress are pushing that idea, too. And what they’re simply going after is taxing money before you get it. We think it’s unconstitutional, it’s unworkable, and our organization has filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court. … Looking at previous cases, they will find that this effort to tax income before you get it is unconstitutional.”
On the unworkability of taxes on unrealized gains: “I call it the guess tax”
“I call it the guess tax. They’re going to guess what income you might get if you sell it, and we’re going to tax you on what we guess your income might be. That’s unconstitutional. The courts have said that, but there are people who want to pursue this as a concept. We want to make sure that members of Congress understand it and also the American taxpayer so they can let their members of Congress know that they should not support any concept of taxing unrealized gains.”
On protecting family businesses: “A concept that is dangerous”
“A family farm, for instance, may have property and farmland and also a lot of equipment and may be worth a lot of money, but they haven’t gotten any money until they sell it. And so this, I think, is a concept that is dangerous. We’re trying to educate the American public and we’re also working to educate members of Congress that this is something that’s unworkable.”
Sen. Breaux is appearing on radio shows across the country to discuss the threat of a tax on unrealized gains. Other recent guest appearances include Philadelphia’s The Chris Stigall Show and Montana Talks, which you can read more about here.
