REAL ESTATE TAX: A PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION CREATES A 3.8% MEDICARE TAX ON REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS 26JAN12 & 24APR10

GOT this e mail from a friend who wanted to know if it is true or not. Here is the link to the Snopes page on it http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp 
Too bad more people aren't like her and be responsible enough to check things out before forwarding something that is deceptive, misleading and actually works against their own best interest. Their voluntary ignorance ends up hurting themselves, how stupid is that? Check this out and then click the link and get the truth from Snopes....

The National� Association of REALTORS is all over this and working to get it repealed, before it takes effect.� But, I am very pleased we aren't the only ones who know about this ploy to steal billions from unsuspecting homeowners.� How many REALTORS do you think will vote Democratic in 2012?� Did you know that if you sell your house after
2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it?� That's $3,800 on a $100,000 home, etc.� When did this happen?� It's in the health care bill and goes into effect in 2013.� Why 2013?� Could it be to come to light AFTER the 2012 elections?� So, this is "change you can believe in"?
Under the new health care bill all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax.� If you sell a $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax.� This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes.� Does this make your November and 2012 vote more important?� Oh, you weren't aware this was in the Obamacare bill?� Guess what, you aren't alone.� There are more than a few members of Congress that aren't aware of it either.�
http://www.gop.gov/blog/10/04/08/obamacare-flatlines-obamacare-taxes-home�

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I hope you forward this to every single person in your address book.��VOTERS NEED TO KNOW.�

Real Estate Tax Claim:   A provision of health care legislation creates a 3.8% Medicare tax on real estate transactions. MIXTURE OF TRUE AND FALSE INFORMATION: FALSE: Health care legislation imposes a 3.8% tax on all home sales.   TRUE: Health care legislation imposes a 3.8% transaction tax on profits over the capital gains threshold. Example:   [Collected via e-mail, April 2010] 3.8% tax on real estate transactions Under the new health care bill - did you know that all real estate transactions are subject to a 3.8% "Sales Tax"? You can thank Nancy, Harry & Barack (and your local Congressmen) for this one. If you sell your $400,000 home, this will be a $15,200 tax. Remember Obama’s battle cry — take from the workers and give to the drones. TAX ON HOME SALES Imposes a 3.8 percent tax on home sales and other real estate transactions. Middle-income people must pay the full tax even if they are "rich" for only one day — the day they sell their house and buy a new one.   Origins:   One of the provisions of the recently passed Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA) health care legislation calls for high-income households to be subject to a new 3.8% Medicare tax on investment income starting in 2013: The PPACA creates a new Code Section 1411, which will generally impose a 3.8 percent tax on the lesser of "net investment income" or the excess of modified adjusted gross income over a "threshold amount" (generally, $250,000 for taxpayers filing a joint return, $125,000 for married taxpayers filing a separate return and $200,000 in all other cases). Net investment income generally means the excess of (i) interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, rents, income from passive activities, income from trading financial instruments and commodities, and gain from the disposition of certain non-business property, over (ii) allowable deductions properly allocable to such income. In determining the amount of net investment income, special rules apply with respect to dispositions of equity interests in certain partnerships and S corporations, and to distributions from certain qualified plans. This additional tax applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012. This is a complicated section of a complicated piece of legislation, and the 3.8% Medicare tax has been frequently misreported as amounting to a 3.8% "sales tax" on all real estate transactions. This is incorrect: the Medicare tax is not a sales tax, nor does it apply to all real estate transactions; it is a tax on investment income (income which may or not derive from the sale of property) for persons who earn more than the amounts specified in the bill: As Sara Orrange, Government affairs director of the Spokane Association of Realtors noted in response to a repetition of the "sales tax" rumor in the Spokane Spokesman-Review: In his recent guest column regarding the impact of the health care bill, Paul Guppy of the Washington Policy Center claimed that a 3.8 percent tax on all home sales was a part of the recently passed legislation. This is inaccurate and needs to be corrected. The truth about the bill is that if you sell your home for a profit above the capital gains threshold of $250,000 per individual or $500,000 per couple then you would be required to pay the additional 3.8 percent tax on any gain realized over this threshold. Most people who sell their homes will not be impacted by these new regulations. This is not a new tax on every seller, and that correction needs to be made. This tax is aimed at so-called "high earners" — if you do not fall into that category you will not pay any extra taxes upon the sale of your home. (In other words, a couple who sold their home would be subject to the 3.8% tax only if they made a profit of at least $500,000 on the sale, and the tax would apply only to the portion of that profit in excess of $500,000.) The referenced tax is therefore not a tax on all real estate sales; it is an investment income tax which could result in a very small percentage of home sellers paying additional taxes on home sales profits over a designated threshold amount. In short, if you're a "high earner" and you sell your home at a substantial profit, you might be required to pay an additional 3.8% tax. However, given that the existing home sale capital gains exclusion on a principal residence ($250,000 allowable gain for individuals, or $500,000 for couples) still stands and no Medicare tax will apply for gains within those limits, that the bill's definition of "high earners" encompasses less than 5 percent of all taxpayers, and that the median sales price of existing single-family homes in the U.S. was only $170,700 in March 2010, the Medicare tax will likely affect only a small percentage of home sellers when it is implemented in 2013. Last updated:   24 April 2010 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2012 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com. Sources:     Donmoyer, Ryan J. and James Rowley.   "Health Bill Would Add 3.8% Tax on Investment Income."     BusinessWeek.   18 March 2010.     Sahadi, Jeanne.   "Medicare Tax Hikes: What the Rich Will Pay."     CNNMoney.com.   25 March 2010.