Nope. There is no transfer tax. You or your clients can transfer the deed to your home without fear of any ACA taxation.
There is a 3.8% surtax. It is a capital gains tax. Further, it applies only in excess of Adjusted Gross Income ("AGI") of over $200,000.00 for taxpayers filing singly, or over $250,000.00 for couples filing jointly. Furthermore, even then it only applies to "certain types of investment income targeted by the law, specifically dividends, interest, net capital gains and net rental income." If your or your clients' income is only "earned" such as by salary or compensation for work, then "you have nothing to worry about as far as the new surtax." Kenneth R. Harney, "Healthcare Law's Surtax Could Affect a Few Home Sellers in 2013 / The Vast Majority of People Who Sell Their Primary Residence Next Year Won't be Affected by the 3.8% Levy, Which Takes Effect Jan. 1." (Los Angeles Times Online, posted Sunday, July 15, 2012).
However, if you are among the 0.1%, or if you are not but somehow in Good Faith you accumulated a vacation home or rental property which you want to sell after the law takes effect on January 1, 2013, then you should probably consult a tax adviser.
Question: Why is there a surtax on limited capital gains of the rich and famous, so to speak, in the Affordable Care Act of all places?
Dennis Wall is Co-Chair of the Health, Life and Disability Insurance Subcommittee of the American Bar Association's Insurance Coverage Litigation Committe. He will be a co-presenter of a webinar, "The U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act," for West Legal Education Center. The webinar will be broadcast live beginning at Noon E.T. from the West Legal Ed Center web site on Friday, July 20, 2012, and will thereafter be available 24/7, registration for any of which is available through West Legal Ed Center for a charge.
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