🚨Another Problem with Capital Gains Tax: The $3,000 Loss Limitation
If you have more losses than gains, the amount you’re allowed to write off is capped at $3,000.
This is called the capital loss limitation.
But here’s the catch: that $3,000 hasn’t been adjusted for inflation. At today’s prices, $3,000 barely covers a month’s rent.
When that rule was introduced back in 1986, $3,000 was a significant amount. It could have covered several months of living expenses. And the intention behind it made sense, to give smaller investors some tax relief for taking the risk of investing and helping stimulate the economy.
But fast forward to today, and inflation has eroded the value of that deduction. Depending on how you measure it, that $3,000 should now be closer to $30,000 to $50,000 in real terms.
So why hasn’t it been updated?
If you're losing money as an investor, you should be allowed to deduct those losses in the year they happen, not carry them forward in tiny chunks that no longer reflect the cost of living or the real size of your losses.
What do you think?
Isn’t it time we brought some fairness back to the tax code?