3.8% Of Your Booty

Hello People.
Lots of scaredy cat talk out there re the new healthcare program and how it's going to be funded. One of the stories floating around is a new 3.8% tax on American's income. Fractionally true.
The tax is for "unearned" (I hate that verbiage. Even if I win $$ in Lotto I earned it. Who bought the scratcher & who actually scratched it?) income of people who's yearly income is considered high ($200K for singles & $250K for married folk. Guess married folk will be doing the heavy lifting...). N.A.R. (National Association of Realtors)  says "Unearned is the income that an individual derives from investing his/her capital. It includes capital gains, rents, dividends and interest income. It also comes from some investments in active businesses if the investor is not an active participant in the business". So, passive investments. You give your money to someone else to invest & manage it, like a stockbroker or drug dealer.
Landlords get a little bit of a break because it is the net rents that get taxed.
Other good news is:
Appreciation is not taxed until sold.
Home owners still get the exclusion of taxes on the gain of there house ($250K for singles & $500K for married types)
If your job is real estate investing than that is considered "Earned" as opposed to "Unearned" and the tax will not apply to you.
This is NOT a real estate sales tax.
So, click on the title or the highlighted "N.A.R." to find out more about how much you're getting screwed. It might be less than you think.
God Bless.
Jack Rowell