copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2024-08-20): Biden budget stepped-up basis Additionally, the Biden budget proposes to eliminate the practice of "stepping up" the basis for gains exceeding $5 million per person and $10 million per married couple. - A stepped-up basis involves raising the cost basis in appreciated inherited assets to the fair market value at the time of the decedent’s death.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2023-11-22): - Taxes long-term capital gains and qualified dividends at the ordinary income tax rate of 39.6 percent on income above $1 million and eliminates step-up in basisThe step-up in basis provision adjusts the value, or "cost basis," of an inherited asset (stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.) when it is passed on, after death. This often reduces the capital gains tax owed by the recipient. The cost basis receives a "step-up" to its fair market value, or the price at which the good would be sold or purchased in a fair market. This eliminates the capital gain that occurred between the original purchase of the asset and the heir’s acquisition, reducing the heir’s tax liability. for capital gains taxation.[2] [...] In modeling the repeal of step-up in basis on capital gains taxA capital gains tax is levied on the profit made from selling an asset and is often in addition to corporate income taxes, frequently resulting in double taxation. These taxes create a bias against saving, leading to a lower level of national income by encouraging present consumption over investment. , we assume Biden’s plan would lead to taxing capital gains at death, which means that death would be treated as a realized event for capital gains.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2021-10-14): At issue is the value of capital gains passed on to an heir. Under current law, a person who inherits stock, for example, and later sells it would pay capital gains taxes on the increase in value of the stock compared with its value at the time it was inherited — known as step-up in basis or stepped-up basis — not compared with the value when it was originally purchased. ("This is called a "step-up in basis" because the basis of the decedent’s asset is stepped up to market value," as the Tax Policy Center explains.) [...] Biden would eliminate "the practice of ‘stepping-up’ the basis for gains in excess of $1 million" (or "$2.5 million per couple when combined with existing real estate exemptions"), making sure "the gains are taxed if the property is not donated to charity." [...] The point may now be moot. Biden’s proposal to eliminate the stepped-up basis was nowhere to be found in a package of proposed tax hikes outlined by the House Ways and Means Committee in mid-September. A spokeswoman for the committee confirmed to us that it was not included in the legislation advanced by House Democrats.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2023-12-07): If an individual’s assets increase in value, that appreciation is income in an economic sense, but the tax code considers it income only when the individual sells the asset and realizes the capital gain as a profit, which is included in taxable income. But when appreciated assets are left to heirs, the unrealized capital gains accumulated up to that point escape the personal income tax forever because of a tax break called the "stepped-up basis."[7] The estate tax is the only tax that might touch these unrealized capital gains on assets left to heirs. [...] The Treasury Department estimates that President Biden’s proposals to close these and other loopholes in the gift and estate taxes would raise $77 billion over 10 years.[8] Sen. Sanders’ estate tax bill also has similar provisions to close these loopholes.[9] [...] [7] Realized capital gains are usually calculated as the profit from selling an asset, meaning the money received for the asset minus the "basis," which is usually the amount paid to purchase the asset. When assets are passed on to heirs, the basis is "stepped up" to the value of the asset when it is inherited. For example, if some asset is originally purchased at a value of $50 million and is then passed to an heir at a current value of $100 million, the heir can immediately sell the asset for $100 million without reporting any capital gain. This rule allows an enormous amount of capital gains to go untaxed.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2024-03-14): - By removing what’s called the "step up in basis," a family business will be taxed according to the value it accrued since its beginning, even if it remains in the family – devastating to farms and ranches that are passed down through generations.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2024-03-11): Ends Capital Income Tax Breaks and Other Loopholes for the Very Wealthy. The President’s Budget will end one of the most unfair aspects of our tax system—the fact that the tax rate the wealthy pay on capital gains and dividends is less than the tax rate that many middle-class families pay on their wages. Households making over $1 million—the top 0.4 percent of all households—will pay the same 39.6 percent marginal rate on their income just like a high-paid worker pays on their wages. Moreover, the Budget eliminates the loophole that allows the wealthiest Americans to entirely escape paying taxes on their wealth by passing it down to heirs. Today, our tax laws allow these accumulated gains to be passed down across generations untaxed, exacerbating inequality. The Budget will close this loophole, ending the practice of "stepping-up" the basis for gains in excess of $5 million per person and $10 million per married couple ($5.25 and $10.5 million, respectively, when combined with existing real estate exemptions), and making sure the gains are taxed if the property is not donated to charity. The reform is designed with protections so that family-owned businesses and farms will not have to pay taxes when given to heirs who continue to run the business. Without these changes, billions in capital income would continue to escape capital gains taxation entirely.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2020-07-02): Joe Biden has said he wants to get rid of the step up in basis at death for capital gains taxes. That sounds like kind of a boring thing to get rid of. He should spice up his campaign by calling this tax thing what it is sometimes also known as—the angel of death loophole. [...] Well, the Internal Revenue Code says that you, in your dead state, do not have to pay any income taxes on that Walmart stock. And, even better, whoever you leave the stock to also does not have to pay any income taxes on all that increase in value that happened before you kicked the bucket. Instead, they get the stock, and get to pretend as if they bought it for $100. In other words, their "basis" is now $100—it gets stepped up to whatever it is when you die. The difference between the $10 you bought it for and the $100 it was worth when you gave up the ghost never faces any income tax. Never. It might face some estate tax, but, it is income tax free. And that is the angel of death loophole. And that is what Joe Biden wants to get rid of. [...] So, next time you hear someone talk about the step up in basis at death for capital gains, you will know they are really talking about the angel of death loophole, and, you will know what it is.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2021-05-03): Third, we have a loophole in our tax system called "stepped-up basis." It’s also known as the trust fund loophole. For example, if I had a million dollars in stock that I bought and it made a million dollars and I was going to cash it in, I’d have to pay capital gain on that million dollars. [...] It’s not an inheritance tax. It was a tax was owed two — two seconds earlier. But that’s what "stepped-up basis" means. It’s a person passes away and leaves the stock in their — to their son or daughter; son or daughter don’t have to pay anything on that multimillion-dollar gain when they sell that stock. And that’s worth a lot of money.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2023-08-17): - Restore the top 39.6 percent tax rate for married couples with taxable income of more than $450,000 and single earners with taxable income above $400,000. The TCJA lowered the top rate to 37 percent.34 - Equalize the tax rate on capital income with the rate on work for millionaires. Currently, long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed at a rate of 20 percent. The new rate would only apply to the extent that the taxpayer’s taxable income exceeds $1 million ($500,000 for married people filing separately) and would be indexed for inflation after 2024.35 - End the so-called stepped-up basis at death for assets that are passed on to heirs by taxing capital gains at death or the date of transfer.36 The proposal would also impose a 25 percent minimum tax on the total income of taxpayers with wealth exceeding $100 million. The tax would apply to income from unrealized capital gains and would function as a pre-payment of the tax that would ultimately be owed when the gain is recognized at sale or death.37 Taken together, these provisions would close loopholes that currently allow the very wealthy to avoid ever paying taxes on appreciated investments.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2024-03-17): For any grantor trust that is not fully revocable, the Biden proposal would treat an asset transfer between the trust and you as the grantor as regarded for income tax purposes. That means taxable. That will make a basis step up on assets inside trusts impossible to achieve. Also, swapping to revise or restructure your estate plan will be impossible. For example, you may have put a business asset into a trust and named certain beneficiaries, the son running the business. Years later, your son changed his mind and wanted to do something completely different. Your daughter, who had nothing to do with the business when the trust was created, is now running the business. Under current law, you can swap the business outside of the trust back into your name, and put different assets in the trust. Then you can do a new plan to get the business to your daughter. You lose a lot of flexibility for personal planning reasons, not just the basic step up with the Biden change.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2023-04-29): Proposals in the budget include boosting the top capital gains rate for income over $1 million, eliminating the so-called "step-up in basis" loophole, expanding who has to pay investment income tax and at what rate, and bumping up the corporate tax rate. [...] Eliminating the "step-up in basis" would hit family businesses. Biden is once again floating the idea of ending the "stepped-up basis" rule that allows preferential tax treatment for assets held until death.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2024-05-17): Currently, a decedent’s unrealized gains aren’t hit with income tax at death, and heirs get a step-up in basis in inherited assets equal to fair market value. Biden wants to end the effects of the stepped-up basis for wealthy individuals. His proposal generally doesn’t adopt carryover basis, by which the heir would take the same federal tax basis in the inherited assets as the decedent. [...] Let’s illustrate the current rules and Biden’s proposal with a simple example: When Amy’s dad dies, she inherits stock that her dad bought years ago for $300,000 that is now worth $7 million. [...] Biden also calls for nearly doubling the capital gains tax for upper-incomers by taxing gains as ordinary income to the extent taxable income exceeds $1 million. His realization regime detailed above would act as a backstop so that taxpayers subject to high tax rates while alive wouldn’t hold onto assets until death to escape tax.
Claim: Joe Biden “wants to get rid of something called ‘stepped up basis’” that reduces inheritance taxes. (Facebook post, 2020-10-25)
Evidence (2022-02-16): As a candidate, President Joe Biden proposed getting rid of the "step-up" in basis. This is a provision that erases capital gains upon the death of the owner. Here’s how it works: [...] This relief from capital gains taxes originally made sense as a trade off with the estate tax when the threshold for the federal estate tax was $600,000. The policy was to protect heirs from being double-taxed on the same inheritance, being subject to both the estate tax and the tax on capital gains. But now the federal estate tax threshold is set at $11.7 million, so almost no estates pay any estate tax. There is no longer a need for the step-up in basis to avoid double-taxation. [...] Given this seemingly unfair benefit to real estate investors, it seems quite reasonable that President Biden and other progressives are proposing getting rid of the step-up. So, why do I disagree? Here are three reasons:
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): President Joe Biden published the letter as a candidate and not for official presidential business, so the letter did not require a presidential seal. ​
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): President Joe Biden announced Sunday in a letter to the nation posted on X that he had decided not to seek re-election, a move that followed mounting pressure from the Democratic Party for him to end his re-election bid after his disastrous debate performance last month. Read Biden's letter to the nation stepping aside The president announced he is ending his re-election campaign, saying, "It is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down."
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): Read Joe Biden's letter announcing his decision to drop out of the 2024 election [...] Read the letter Joe Biden sent dropping out of the race "My Fellow Americans, "Over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a Nation. [...] Joe Biden drops out: Biden exits out of 2024 race amid growing pressure from top Democrats
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): Read Joe Biden’s letter in full as he announces he’s dropping out of 2024 presidential race President Joe Biden announced that he is stepping down from the 2024 White House race in a letter shared on social media on Sunday. Read the letter in full below:
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): Read President Joe Biden's full letter announcing he's leaving 2024 race Biden announced his departure from the 2024 campaign on Sunday. [...] Read Biden's full letter announcing his departure from the 2024 race below:
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): Biden drops out: Read the full text of the letter announcing his decision to end his reelection bid [...] Read Biden’s full letter below. [...] Timeline: Biden exit caps tumultuous three weeks in U.S. politics. "Here’s a summary of the milestone events in a roller coaster period in U.S. politics." [The Guardian]
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-25): Sitting at the Resolute Desk, where many Presidents before him had addressed the nation in times of crisis and decision, Biden attempted to cement his legacy as a leader who prioritized the defense of democracy over personal ambition. "I revere this office but I love my country more," the President said of his decision to drop out of the race, as his wife Jill Biden and several family members watched from inside the room. "It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your President. But in defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title." [...] Read More: Why Joe Biden Dropped Out [...] Biden, 81, explained his decision to suddenly abandon his reelection bid after insisting that he would remain in the race, declaring that it is time for a new generation of leadership in America. "There’s a time and a place for long years of experience in public life," he said. "There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now."
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2021-11-22): The claim: The presidential seal is blurred in videos of Joe Biden because he's not the real president [...] As other independent fact-checking organizations have noted, those claims are wrong – Biden is the president. The presidential seal is blurred in some of his videos on social media because of how a federal statute governs its use in promotional materials. [...] Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that the presidential seal is blurred in videos of Biden because he's not the real president. The seal is blurred in videos from Biden and Harris' personal social media accounts due to a federal law that prohibits its use in a way that could give "a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the government of the United States." The seal is not blurred in videos from the president and vice president's government-run accounts. Biden won the 2020 election and is the U.S. president.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): In the end, President Joe Biden exited the political stage in isolation. [...] Biden’s final decision to leave the race was reached in the last 48 hours, a senior campaign adviser said, as he consulted family and top advisers by telephone while recovering from Covid. A source familiar with the matter said the plans to exit the race began Saturday night and were finalized Sunday. [...] "While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch," Schiff said in a statement.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-23): Did Joe Biden's letter withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race require the presidential seal? No, that's not true: The letter was written by Biden in his capacity as then-candidate -- not by Biden as president. The seal is only used for official presidential correspondence. [...] Contrary to what the post implies, there should not be a presidential seal on Biden's letter. That's because it was not written by Biden in his capacity as president. He wrote it as a then-candidate for the 2024 election. [...] Lead Stories has previously debunked the false claim that the lack of the presidential seal means Biden is not president. You can read that story here.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): Want to know what Biden said when he dropped out? The full letter is here President Biden announced in a letter distributed Sunday afternoon he would step down from the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. In a later tweet, he endorsed Vice President Harris to become the party's nominee. The announcement comes after numerous Democrats called on Biden to step down from the race after a disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump. For more on Biden's decision and the now open 2024 race, head to the NPR Network's live updates page.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): By — News Desk News Desk Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/read-bidens-full-letter-announcing-the-end-of-his-2024-reelection-bid Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Read Biden’s full letter announcing the end of his 2024 reelection bid Politics Jul 21, 2024 2:33 PM EDT President Joe Biden announced he’s dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, following mounting calls from Democrats in recent weeks. READ MORE: What political leaders have said about Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid The president faced pressure to exit the race amid concerns about his age and ability to win in November after his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump in Atlanta last month. Read the full letter here. "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden said in a letter released on Sunday. "And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-22): WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday posted a letter to social media announcing that he would no longer seek reelection. The decision by the Democrat came after building pressure from lawmakers, donors, activists and voters within his own party who had concerns about his ability to beat Republican Donald Trump in November’s election. The letter ended weeks of speculation after the 81-year old’s troubling performance at the June 27 presidential debate. Below is the text of the letter that Biden sent on his personal stationery: [...] - Biden drops out: The president ended his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after a disastrous debate inflamed age concerns. Read Biden’s letter announcing his withdrawal.