Friday, June 25, 2010

Hoover on Taxing Capital Gain

From an editorial in the June 24, 1931 Wall Street Journal, as summarized at News from 1930:
Pres. Hoover's apparent recent stand against all capital gains taxes on grounds they intensify both booms and busts may be logical, but is probably too radical a change for the US tax system. Current concept of capital gains as income is so deeply ingrained in our income tax system that its elimination would require "pretty complete rewriting and reinterpretation of this complex law."

1 comment:

Jim Gust said...

Interesting coincidence.

Just a couple days ago I heard Daniel Okrent discuss his new book on Prohibition on NPR. Seems that one of the big reasons for the repeal was that there were no capital gains left to tax in the early '30s, so the feds needed to bring back the liquor taxes.