QUINCY (WGEM) — One of the issues under discussion at the Democratic National Convention is Vice President Kamala Harris’ tax plan, which includes a capital gains tax increase and a new tax on unrealized gains, a proposed tax item also included in Joe Biden’s 2025 budget proposal released in March.

Dana Walker, associate professor of business administration at Quincy University, explained that a capital gains tax is imposed when someone buys stocks, bonds or real estate for business purposes and pays taxes on them when they sell them. The proposed tax rate for this is 44.6%. Walker explained that a tax on unrealized gains is imposed when someone buys stocks or anything of value and the value of it increases. The person would pay 25% taxes on those gains at the end of the year.

“So let’s say you bought stock for $100,000 on January 1, 2026, and on December 31, 2026, it’s worth $200,000. You would pay 25 percent tax on that amount,” Walker said.

He said if there were losses on those gains, they could come in the form of a tax credit. He said the important thing about the proposals was that they would only apply to gains worth $100 million or more.

He said the proposed taxes would fund things like a child care tax credit that would benefit working people.

“They’re trying to balance things out. So if they give benefits to wage earners, they have a way to fund them so the deficit doesn’t increase. So they’re taking extremely wealthy people who can afford it and who don’t suffer much. They’re paying their fair share so they can actually support without increasing the deficit,” Walker said.

He said it’s important to note that these are just proposals, so they could change. He said if they made it to Congress, Congress would be slow to act and pass them. He also said if these changes did pass, it would likely happen by 2026.

He said it was important for people to keep an eye on this as changes could happen and wage earners and workers wanted to make sure that if the proposals went through, they would only benefit the people they were intended to target and not themselves.

He urges people to contact their local MP and Senator to make sure they are aware of these proposals.

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