Comment by cperciva
16 years ago
In Canada, capital gains are 50% taxable and the first $750k of capital gains on small business stock (subject to fairly reasonable definitions) is exempt.
I'm curious to know how this compares to other countries; could HNers from elsewhere please reply to this with the details from where they are?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_gains_tax_in_the_United_States
and, more generally en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_gains_tax
Briefly, in the US cap gains are taxed at a special rate separate from regular income; if you hold the associated asset for at least 6 months, this rate only applies to half the capital gains, and if you fall into a low enough income bracket, your rate is significantly reduced.
there are many countries with no CGT (Capital Gain Tax)..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_gains_tax
http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Asia/Hong-Kong/capital-ga...
it would be really interesting (for the people migrating to other countries for better opportunities) if someone compares cost of living in different countries based on their CGT ... may be this would really change the whole scenario ...
for example if a family wants to decide between new-zealand and canada and lets say that their total saving (as per history) is around 10 to 20% which they regularly invest in real-estate/stock then CGT can change their decision or help them to make decision; of-course there are other factors such as job opportunities, cost of living etc. But for large amount of immigrants CGT plays a big role after they settle down in a new country.